Page 558 | Sci.News: Breaking Science News

University of Copenhagen researcher Christoph Korte and his colleagues have shed light on the causes behind an ‘Ice Age’ that took place on our planet 174 million years ago. Image credit: Gerhard Boeggemann / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Scientists Shed Light on Causes behind Jurassic ‘Ice Age’

Dec 14, 2015 by News Staff

A group of researchers has found evidence of an abrupt, mid-latitude cooling of seawater during the Jurassic period, around 174 million years ago. University...

SEM images of Eokinorhynchus rarus. Abbreviations: A1-A20 - 1st to 20th trunk annulus; an - anus; cs - caudal spine; hsc - head scalid; ls - large sclerite; 1ls-5ls - 1st to 5th pair of large sclerites; mg - midgut; nsc - neck scalid; spl - small plate; ss - small spine; vls - ventral large sclerite. Image credit: Huaqiao Zhang et al.

535-Million-Year-Old Fossils of Microscopic Worms Unearthed in China

Dec 14, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists has discovered several early Cambrian (535 million years old) fossils of kinorhynch worms, including the new species Eokinorhynchus...

This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 shows the heavily obscured globular cluster Terzan 1. Image credit: ESA / NASA / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Terzan 1: Hubble Snaps Breathtaking Picture of Globular Cluster

Dec 14, 2015 by Natali Anderson

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of the globular cluster Terzan 1. This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary...

The L-type dwarf W1906+40 is a red object in the center of this image. Image credit: SDSS / Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD.

Astronomers Spot Giant Storm System on L-Type Dwarf

Dec 11, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s flagship space telescopes, Kepler and Spitzer, have discovered a raging, giant storm on a cool Jupiter-size star called W1906+40. The...

Kunbarrasaurus ieversi: New Armored Dinosaur Species Discovered

Dec 11, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A new species of armored dinosaur has been identified from bones discovered more than two decades ago in Australia. An artist impression of Kunbarrasaurus...

Mountainous shoreline of Sputnik Planum: in this enhanced color image, great blocks of Pluto’s water-ice crust appear jammed together in al-Idrisi mountains. Some mountain sides appear coated in dark material, while other sides are bright. Several sheer faces appear to show crustal layering, perhaps related to the layers seen in some of Pluto’s crater walls. The mountains end abruptly at the shoreline of Sputnik Planum, where exotic ices of the plain form a nearly level surface, broken only by the fine trace work of striking, cellular boundaries and the textured surface of the plain’s ices. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Reveals Enhanced Color Mosaic of Pluto’s Surface

Dec 11, 2015 by News Staff

The newly-released enhanced color mosaic combines sharp pictures of Pluto from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) taken 15 minutes...

A courting male Cuban burrowing cockroach (Byrsotria fumigata) performing a full wing raise. Image credit: Sophie Mowles / Natalie Jepson.

Study: Female Cockroaches Select Only Fittest Males to Mate With

Dec 10, 2015 by News Staff

A new study led by Dr Sophie Mowles of Anglia Ruskin University shows how energetic courtship displays of male Cuban burrowing cockroaches attract female...

Life restoration of Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis. Image credit: Portia Sloan Rollings.

Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis: New Species of Ceratopsian Dinosaur Discovered in China

Dec 10, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of hornless ceratopsian dinosaur, called Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis, in China. Life...

Occator crater (center) appears to be among the youngest features on Ceres. Dawn mission scientists estimate its age to be about 78 million years old. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Two Studies Offer Fascinating Insights about Ceres, Its Bright Spots

Dec 10, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

In two new studies, published today in the journal Nature, the dwarf planet Ceres reveals some of its most eye-catching secrets. In the first study, researchers...

This composite image shows an infrared view of Titan. In this image blue represents wavelengths centered at 1.3 microns, green represents 2.0 microns, and red represents 5.0 microns. A view at visible wavelengths would show only Titan’s hazy atmosphere; the near-infrared wavelengths in this image allow Cassini’s vision to penetrate the haze and reveal the moon’s surface. The view looks toward terrain that is mostly on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA Scientists Release Stunning New Image of Saturn’s Largest Moon Titan

Dec 10, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter captured this view of Titan during a moderately close flyby on November 13, 2015. This composite image shows an infrared...

This image of Venus was taken by the UVI instrument on JAXA’s Akatsuki orbiter from a distance of about 44,700 miles (72,000 km) on December 7, 2015. Image credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Japan’s Akatsuki Spacecraft Reaches Venus Orbit, Sends Back New Images

Dec 9, 2015 by Natali Anderson

JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft successfully entered Venus’ orbit on Monday, December 7, where it now will prepare to study the planet’s atmosphere. This...

This image of Saturn’s moon Epimetheus was taken by NASA’s Cassini robotic probe on December 6. The view looks toward the Saturn facing side of the tiny moon. North on Epimetheus is up. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Takes New Images of Saturn’s Small Moons: Atlas, Epimetheus and Prometheus

Dec 9, 2015 by Natali Anderson

New images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft offer close-ups of three of Saturn’s tiny moons – Atlas, Epimetheus and Prometheus. Cassini captured...

This image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the dwarf galaxy NGC 5291N (center). Image credit: ESO.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Focuses on Young Clumpy Galaxy NGC 5291N

Dec 9, 2015 by News Staff

ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has made the first detailed observations of a rare dwarf galaxy recently formed within the giant collisional ring surrounding...

Life restoration of Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans, with a pair ambushing coleoid cephalopods at night. Image credit: Tatsuya Shinmura / Ashoro Museum of Paleontology / Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans: Fossil Find in Japan Uncovers New Mosasaur Species

Dec 9, 2015 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a completely unexpected new mosasaur that lived 72 million years ago in Japan. Life restoration of Phosphorosaurus...

Triassic creatures escaping from an erupting volcano 235 million years ago in northwestern Argentina. These species, found as fossils in the Chañares Formation, include early mammal relatives - (the dicynodont Dinodontosaurus in the left background, and the cynodont Massetognathus in the left foreground) and early dinosaur relatives (Lewisuchus in the right background, and Lagerpeton in the right foreground). Image credit: Victor Leshyk.

Paleontologists: Origin of Dinosaurs Was Relatively Rapid Evolutionary Event

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational group of paleontologists has determined that the time elapsed between the emergence of early dinosauromorphs (dinosaur relatives) and the...

Upper respiratory system, with soft palate labeled near center. Image credit: BruceBlaus / CC BY 3.0.

Swedish Scientists Discover Unique Muscle Fibers in Human Soft Palate

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Umeå University in Sweden has discovered a special group of muscle fibers in the soft palate of the human mouth. Upper respiratory...

Synophis zaheri. Image credit: Pyron R.A. et al.

Synophis zaheri: New Species of Fishing Snake Found in Ecuador

Dec 8, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of herpetologists, led by Dr R. Alexander Pyron of the George Washington University, has described a new species of fishing snake...

Stonehenge Bluestones Came from Two Quarries in Wales, Scientists Say

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

Enormous standing stones at Stonehenge are of sarsen, a local sandstone, but the smaller ones, known as bluestones, came from two prehistoric quarries...

Visualization of the proto-Great Wall and submillimeter galaxies. Image credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Astronomers Discover Eight Giant Galaxies 11.5 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 7, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have discovered a cluster of monstrous young galaxies, called submillimeter galaxies,...