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Limpet Teeth are Strongest Known Biological Material, Scientists Say

Scanning electron microscope image of limpet teeth. Image credit: Asa H. Barber et al / University of Portsmouth.
Feb 18, 2015 by News Staff

According to a group of researchers headed by Prof Asa Barber of the University of Portsmouth, UK, the teeth of limpets – small aquatic snails – are the strongest biological material yet discovered. Scanning electron microscope image of limpet teeth. Image credit: Asa H. Barber et al / University of Portsmouth. “Until now we thought that spider silk was the strongest biological material because of its super-strength and potential applications...

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This false-color composite image shows the Scholz’s binary star (center). Image credit: V. D. Ivanov et al., 10.1051/0004-6361/201424883.

Scholz’s Star: Binary System Passed through Outer Oort Cloud 70,000 Years Ago

Feb 18, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of scientists led by Dr Eric Mamajek of the University of Rochester has determined that 70,000 years ago the recently discovered,...

This image of Ceres was acquired by the Dawn space probe on February 12, 2015. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

NASA’s Dawn Returns New Images of Ceres

Feb 17, 2015 by News Staff

Two new images from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft show mysterious bright spots and craters on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. This image of Ceres...

Early Earth. Image credit: Christine Daniloff.

Life May Have Flourished on Earth as Early as 3.2 Billion Years Ago

Feb 17, 2015 by News Staff

The ability to use atmospheric nitrogen to support more widespread life was thought to have appeared 2 billion years ago. Now, a study led by Dr Eva Stüeken...

Four-image mosaic of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comprising images taken on 14 February 2015 during the first dedicated close flyby; this image set was taken from a distance of 8.9 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NavCam / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Rosetta Captures New Close-Ups of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Feb 17, 2015 by News Staff

The Navigation Camera (NavCam) instrument on ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has captured close-up high-resolution images of the comet surface, revealing details...

This image shows the location of the mysterious plume (circled) on Mars; south is up. Image credit: W. Jaeschke / D. Parker.

High-Altitude Clouds or Auroras? Researchers Puzzled by Mysterious Plumes on Mars

Feb 17, 2015 by News Staff

Strange plumes that have been observed above the surface of the Red Planet are baffling scientists. This image shows the location of the mysterious plume...

This image shows the globular star cluster Palomar 12. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.

Hubble Spies Distant Globular Cluster Palomar 12

Feb 16, 2015 by News Staff

The Advanced Camera for Surveys on board NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a beautiful image of a globular star cluster called Palomar 12. This...

Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) swimming underwater at Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium, Nagasaki, Japan. Image credit: Ken Funakoshi / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Penguins Lack Three Basic Tastes, Genetic Researchers Say

Feb 16, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of genetic scientists led by Prof Jianzhi Zhang from the University of Michigan has found that penguins lost three of the five basic...

New ALMA data reveal a diffuse envelope of carbon monoxide gas (shown in red), which surrounds regions of active star formation (yellow); by dissecting these regions with this powerful radio telescope, astronomers are uncovering clues to the processes and conditions that drive furious star formation; the ALMA data are superimposed on a Hubble image. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / A. Leroy / STScI / NASA / ST-ECF / ESA / CADC / NRC / CSA.

Astronomers Peer into Heart of Nearby Starburst Galaxy NGC 253

Feb 16, 2015 by News Staff

To understand why some galaxies burst while others do not, Dr David Meier of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the New Mexico Institute of Mining...

This color image of the Earth, dubbed Pale Blue Dot, is a part of the first ever ‘family portrait’ of our Solar System taken by Voyager 1. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Pale Blue Dot: 25th Anniversary of Amazing Images from NASA’s Voyager 1

Feb 16, 2015 by News Staff

The cameras of Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990, pointed back toward the Sun and took a series of pictures of the Sun, Earth and other planets, making the...

An electron (green) hits a proton in a nucleus, creating a pion (green-skinned particle) and transforming the proton into a neutron. Image credit: Joanna Griffin / Jefferson Lab.

CERN Physicists Measure Polarizability of Pion

Feb 16, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists from CERN’s COMPASS collaboration have made the most precise measurement ever of the polarizability of pion – the fundamental low-energy...

A supermassive black hole digesting the remnants of a star. Image credit: NASA.

Interstellar Science Team Provides New Insights into Rapidly Spinning Black Holes

Feb 14, 2015 by News Staff

In a new paper published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, the team responsible for the visual effects at the center of Christopher Nolan’s...

The two seals on the right are a life restoration of Eotaria crypta, whose adult size was only slightly larger than a sea otter; the pinniped depicted above them is the larger-bodied seal Allodesmus, which also existed at the time. Image credit: Robert Boessenecker.

Paleontologists Discover Oldest Known Fur Seal

Feb 13, 2015 by News Staff

Fossil remains of a 16 million-year-old fur seal, named Eotaria crypta, have shed light on the evolution of fur seals and sea lions. The two seals on the...

Scientists calculated that 275 million metric tons of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons entering the ocean. This map shows the estimated mass of mismanaged plastic waste from each coastal country; the darker the color, the larger the amount; countries shaded in white were not included. Image credit: University of California, Santa Barbara.

Study Estimates Amount of Plastic Waste Entering Ocean from Land

Feb 13, 2015 by News Staff

A new study, reported in the journal Science, has found that more than 4.8 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the oceans from land each year,...

North American drought projections: soil moisture 30 cm below ground projected through 2090-2100 for high emissions scenario RCP 8.5. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Global Warming Could Increase Risk of U.S. Megadroughts

Feb 13, 2015 by News Staff

Droughts in the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains during the second half of the XXI century, could be drier and longer than drought conditions seen in...

Petrogale wilkinsi: New Species of Rock-Wallaby Discovered in Australia

Feb 13, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A new cryptic species of rock-wallaby has been described by a team of scientists led by Dr Sally Potter from the Australian Museum Research Institute and...

This is an illustration of Agilodocodon scansorius (top left) and Docofossor brachydactylus (bottom right). Image credit: April I. Neander / University of Chicago.

Two New Jurassic Mammals Discovered in China

Feb 13, 2015 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from China and the United States has described two shrew-sized mammals that lived during the Jurassic period, between 165 and...

Flower of Sirdavidia solannona. Image credit: Thomas Couvreur.

New Genus of Flowering Plants Discovered in Gabon, Named after Sir David Attenborough

Feb 12, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of botanists led by Dr Thomas Couvreur from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in Montpellier has described a new genus...

German Shepherd puppy. Image credit: Marilyn Peddle / CC BY 2.0.

Dogs Can Tell Difference between Happy, Angry Human Faces

Feb 12, 2015 by News Staff

Dogs can discriminate human emotional expressions, according to a new study carried out by scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna,...

Kepler-432b: Astronomers Discover New Super-Jupiter Exoplanet

Feb 12, 2015 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Kepler mission, two teams of astronomers, led by Mauricio Ortiz from the University of Heidelberg and Simona Ciceri of the...

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