‘Little Foot’ Skull Reveals How This Human Ancestor Lived More Than 3 Million Years Ago
Micro-CT scanning of “Little Foot” skull reveals new aspects of the life of this more than 3-million year-old-human ancestor.
Science
Parkinson’s Disease Linked To Gene Targeted By Blue-Green Algae Toxin
Scientists have discovered a possible link between Parkinson’s disease and a gene impacted by a neurotoxin found in blue-green algae.
Soldier Ants Reveal That Evolution Can Go In Reverse
Turtle ant soldiers and their oddly-shaped heads suggest that evolution is not always a one-way street toward increasing specialization.
New Minor Planets Found Beyond Neptune
Using data from the Dark Energy Survey, researchers have found and cataloged more than 300 minor planets beyond Neptune, including more than 100 new discoveries. This updated catalog of trans-Neptunian objects, and the methods used to find them, could aid in future searches for undiscovered planets in the far reaches of the solar system.
Exoplanet Where It Rains Iron Discovered
Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed an extreme planet where they suspect it rains iron. The ultra-hot giant exoplanet has a day side where temperatures climb above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporise metals. Strong winds carry iron vapour to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets.
Ancient shell shows days were half-hour shorter 70 million years ago
Earth turned faster at the end of the time of the dinosaurs than it does today, rotating 372 times a year, compared to the current 365, according to a new study of fossil mollusk shells from the late Cretaceous. The new measurement informs models of how the Moon formed and how close to Earth it has been over the 4.5-billion-year history of the Earth-Moon gravitational dance.
Earth Has Captured a Temporary New “Mini-Moon” Called 2020 CD3 In Its Orbit
A likely “mini-moon” found orbiting Earth last month is moving away from our planet now, but it could be a harbinger of new small moons to come.
Marsquakes and ancient magnetic fields: InSight’s first data (PHOTOS)
Last year, we activated the first useful seismograph on Mars.
Breathtaking Photo Captures Aftermath of Stellar Collision (PHOTOS)
Astronomers have captured a truly incredible image of two stars locked in a fight to the death, producing a stunning, if violent, cosmic masterpiece in the process.
One of the brightest explosions ever seen was actually a giant star EATING its neighbor
The record-setting stellar explosion SN 2006gy was 50 billion times brighter than our sun, with a blast so energetic it baffled the scientific community. Now scientists think they have uncovered what made it so incredibly bright.
Whole genome of the Wuhan coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, sequenced
The Institut Pasteur has sequenced the whole genome of the coronavirus known as ‘2019-nCoV’, becoming the first institution in Europe to sequence the virus since the start of the outbreak.
Novel coronavirus receptors show similarities to SARS-CoV, according to new analysis
Previous studies have shown how the SARS virus (SARS-CoV) interacts with animal and human hosts in order to infect them. The mechanics of infection by the Wuhan coronavirus appear to be similar.
The core of massive dying galaxies already formed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang
The most distant dying galaxy discovered so far, more massive than our Milky Way — with more than a trillion stars — has revealed that the ‘cores’ of these systems had formed already 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, about 1 billion years earlier than previous measurements revealed.
Ingestible medical devices can be broken down with light
New light-sensitive material could eliminate some of the endoscopic procedures needed to remove gastrointestinal devices.
Edible ‘Security Tag’ to Protect Drugs From Counterfeit (VIDEO)
Manufacturing prescription drugs with distinct markings, colors, shapes or packaging isn’t enough to protect them from counterfeiting, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports have shown.