Organisms lived on Earth 3.5B years ago Organic matter dating back 3.5 billion years has been identified in stromatolites first discovered in Australia in the 1980s. “The organic matter that we found preserved within pyrite of the stromatolites is exciting; we’re looking at exceptionally preserved coherent filaments and strands that are typically remains of microbial […]
Altered Ebola virus induces immune response in monkeys Researchers found that exposure to a slightly altered Ebola virus induced an immune response in monkeys that protected them from the parent virus. The goal is to produce a drug that knocks out the VP35 protein in the Ebola virus, although researchers cautioned that it may not […]
Hubble snaps stunning photo of Saturn Saturn and its rings shine in an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and released by NASA and the European Space Agency on Thursday. The image, taken on June 20, also shows four of Saturn’s moons: Enceladus, Mimas, Janus and Tethys. Space.com Assessing the long reach of microplastics […]
Einstein’s theory helps map pulsar’s beams Researchers used Einstein’s theory of general relativity to map the structure of the pulsar PSR J1906+0746 and, by doing so, they also confirmed the theory. Astronomers observed the pulses coming from PSR J1906+0746 over the course of 14 years. ScienceAlert Whale’s song can reveal where it has been The […]
Frog brain study looks for parenting clues Some poison dart frogs take an active role in parenting their young rather than disregarding eggs once they are laid, and researchers found brain regions in males and females that could offer clues about such behavior. Scientists compared neural activity in three species of poison dart frogs that […]
Pumping ocean water onto Antarctic ice sheet may save it Researchers say pumping massive amounts of ocean water onto the collapsing ice sheet in West Antarctica over a 10-year period may stabilize it and possibly prevent extreme sea level rise, but they also say such an effort would be expensive and could harm the area’s […]
Supermassive black holes heading for collision found A pair of supermassive black holes about 2.5 billion light-years away appear to be on a collision course with each other in a few more billion years, but astronomers say they can learn a lot about gravitational wave background noise now by observing them. Science Alert Ancient bird […]
Near-death experiences may be linked to REM sleep disorders Many people who report having had near-death experiences also report having had REM sleep disorder symptoms. REM is the sleep phase that features vivid dreaming, and researchers say a combination of the waking and REM states could be linked to the near-death experiences. Live Science Jellyfish-like […]
Fungus induces nonstop mating in cicadas Substances made by a fungus infecting cicadas, Massospora, are causing the insects to mate incessantly. The study discovered several firsts, including the first psilocybin to be produced by a fungus that was not a mushroom and the first nonplant organism to generate an amphetamine, cathinone. Science News New EEG […]
New crater spotted on Mars ranks among largest seen to date The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a fresh crater on the Red Planet, NASA officials say. The space agency released an image that shows a hole gouged on the planet’s surface, made sometime between September 2016 and February of this year. Space.com Artificial islands […]