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505-Million-Year-Old Fish Fossils Shed Light on Origin of Jaws

Reconstruction of Metaspriggina walcotti. Image credit: M. Collins.
Jun 13, 2014 by News Staff

Several fossil specimens of a Cambrian fish called Metaspriggina walcotti recently discovered in Canada shed new light on the development of the earliest vertebrates, including the origin of jaws. Reconstruction of Metaspriggina walcotti. Image credit: M. Collins. Fish fossils from the Cambrian period are very rare and usually poorly preserved. Previously, only two incomplete specimens of Metaspriggina walcotti had been identified. About 44 well-preserved...

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Tyrannosaurus rex.

Were Dinosaurs Cold- or Warm-Blooded? New Study Tries to Answer Longstanding Question

Jun 13, 2014 by News Staff

Dinosaurs fit in between warm-blooded mammals and cold-blooded reptiles, according to a study reported in the journal Science. The study is the first to...

Eucalyptus grandis. Image credit: HelloMojo.

Genetic Researchers Sequence Genome of Eucalyptus grandis

Jun 13, 2014 by News Staff

A large international team of scientists has sequenced and analyzed the 640 million base pair genome of Eucalyptus grandis (known as the Flooded Gum or...

Lycodon zoosvictoriae. Image credit: Neang Thy / Fauna & Flora International.

New Wolf Snake Species Discovered in Cambodia

Jun 12, 2014 by Enrico de Lazaro

Herpetologists from Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Germany have described a new species of wolf...

This image shows the Tadpole galaxy (Arp 188), a disrupted barred spiral galaxy located 420 million light-years from our planet. Material stripped from the galaxy during its collision with a smaller galaxy (seen in the upper left corner of the larger interaction partner) forms a long tidal tail. Young blue stars, star clusters and tidal dwarf galaxies are born in the tidal debris. These objects move in a common direction within a plane defined by the orientation and motion of their tidal tail. A similar galaxy interaction might have occurred in the Local Group in the past, which could explain the distribution of dwarf galaxies in co-rotating planes. Image credit: H. Ford, JHU / M. Clampin, STScI / G. Hartig, STScI / G. Illingworth, UCO, Lick / ACS Science Team / ESA / NASA.

Nearby Dwarf Galaxies Don’t Fit Standard Model of Cosmology, Study Says

Jun 11, 2014 by News Staff

According to a study led by Dr Marcel Pawlowski of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, dwarf galaxies that orbit our Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda...

An illustrative bromine sample. Image credit: Alchemist-hp, Pse-mendelejew.de / CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Bromine Found to be Essential to Human Life

Jun 10, 2014 by News Staff

Bromine – an element with atomic number 35 and the chemical symbol Br – is the 28th chemical element essential for tissue development in humans...

This artist's concept shows the LDSD test vehicle. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA to Test Flying Saucer-Shaped Vehicle

Jun 10, 2014 by News Staff

Engineers and scientists from NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project are about to test a new technology for landing heavy payloads on...

Rats show regret too. Image credit: Duke University.

Rats Can Feel Regret Like Humans, Study Reveals

Jun 10, 2014 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, rats can feel regret – a cognitive behavior once thought to be uniquely human. Rats...

Standard interpretation of the Turing Test: player C, the interrogator, is tasked with trying to determine which player - A or B - is a computer and which is a human. Image credit: Hugo Férée / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Supercomputer Program Passes Turing Test Posing as 13-Year-Old Ukrainian Boy

Jun 10, 2014 by News Staff

A supercomputer program dubbed ‘Eugene Goostman’ has passed the iconic Turing Test by fooling human judges into thinking they were talking to a 13-year-old...

The Wakatobi flowerpecker (Dicaeum kuehni), male. Image credit: Kelly SBA et al.

Wakatobi Flowerpecker: New Species of Bird Discovered in Indonesia

Jun 9, 2014 by News Staff

A group of ornithologists from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has described a new species of flowerpecker from the Wakatobi Islands of Indonesia, off...

Top to bottom: skull reconstructions of the common chimpanzee Pan troglodytes, Australopithecus afarensis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Scale bar - 10 cm. Image credit: University of Utah.

Study Sheds New Light on Hominin Face Evolution

Jun 9, 2014 by News Staff

Hominin faces – especially those of australopithecines – evolved to minimize injury from punches to the face during fights between males –...

Domestic sheep. Image credit: Jaime Vasquez Sapunar / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Domestic Sheep Genome Sequenced

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

Genetic researchers from the International Sheep Genomics Consortium have sequenced the complete genome of domestic sheep (Ovis aries). Domestic sheep....

Cissampelos arenicola, herbarium. Image credit: Ortiz RdC / MH Nee.

New Species of Sand-Dwelling Plant Discovered in Bolivia, Paraguay

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

Biologists have described a new species of moonseed plant from the dry forests and transient sand dunes of Bolivia and Paraguay. Cissampelos arenicola,...

Life restoration of Hamipterus tianshanensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

New Pterosaur Species, Well-Preserved Eggs Found in China

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered remains of about 40 male and female individuals of a new pterosaur species with five exceptionally well-preserved 3D eggs...

This is an artist's depiction of a catastrophic collision between two celestial bodies; such an impact between the proto-Earth and Theia likely formed the Moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

New Evidence for Protoplanet Theia Found in Moon Rocks

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

A study published in the journal Science provides new evidence that the Moon formed from the catastrophic collision of the proto-Earth with a hypothetical...

Angkor Wat temple complex.

500-Year-Old Wall Paintings Found in Angkor Wat

Jun 5, 2014 by News Staff

A series of previously unnoticed images consisting of paintings of boats, animals, deities and buildings has been discovered on the walls of Cambodia’s...

This image shows the giant, variable star HV 2112. Image credit: Digital Sky Survey / Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg.

First Thorne-Zytkow Object Found 200,000 Light-Years Away

Jun 5, 2014 by News Staff

HV 2112 – a giant, variable star in a nearby galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud – represents a long-sought class of stars called Thorne-Zytkow...

This drawing shows several of the most important brain structures. Image credit: National Institute for Aging.

Bilingualism Benefits Aging Brain, Scientists Say

Jun 5, 2014 by News Staff

Individuals who speak two or more languages, even those who acquired the second language in adulthood, may slow down cognitive decline from aging, according...

Thermal image of a koala hugging the cool lower limb of a tree, illustrating a posture typically observed during hot weather. Image credit: Natalie J. Briscoe et al.

Australia’s Koalas Hug Trees to Stay Cool, Study Finds

Jun 5, 2014 by News Staff

 Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) cope with extreme heat by resting against cooler tree trunks, according to a new study led by Dr Michael Kearney from...

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014. Image credit: NASA / ESA / H. Teplitz, M. Rafelski, IPAC, Caltech / A. Koekemoer, STScI / R. Windhorst, Arizona State University / Z. Levay, STScI.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014

Jun 4, 2014 by News Staff

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014 – the most colorful and comprehensive picture ever assembled of the evolving Universe – has been captured...

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