Science

Through excavation of the Debra L. Friedkin site northwest of Austin, Texas, a team of archaeologists has identified a particular style of projectile point dated between 13,500 and 15,500 years ago — this is earlier than typical Clovis-style technologies dated to 13,000 years ago. A 15,000-year-old stemmed point at the …

Archaeopteryx was first described as the ‘missing link’ between reptiles and birds in 1861 — and is now regarded as the link between dinosaurs and birds. Only 12 specimens have ever been found and all are from the late Jurassic of Bavaria, Germany, dating back approximately 150 million years. Now, …

An international team of researchers has identified a cryptic new species of slender-snouted crocodile living in Central Africa. The Central African slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops leptorhynchus). Image credit: Shirley et al, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4504.2.1. “The African slender-snouted, or sharp-nosed, crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) is medium-sized, lives in freshwater habitats, and, as its name …

October started out rough for NASA with the failure of the Hubble and Chandra observatories in the space of a week. However, Hubble is coming back online after the team got its backup gyroscope working again. Now, Chandra is working again after NASA engineers implemented a fix for its gyroscope …

New evidence indicates the primary cause of the extinction of one of Australia’s top predators, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), around 40,000 years ago was likely a result of changing weather patterns and loss of habitat, not human impacts. The aridificaiton of Australia impacted the hunting effectiveness or preybase of …

Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) have developed a novel therapeutic that can deliver oxygen specifically to under-oxygenated tissues, thereby restoring the contractile function of cardiac cells, which is heavily affected under hypoxic conditions. The study is published in the journal PLoS Biology. A new oxygen-delivery …

It has been a harrowing few weeks for the Hubble Space Telescope, but NASA believes it is one step closer to restoring the instrument to full functionality. NASA engineers initially feared the telescope’s backup gyroscope was busted, which would have limited Hubble’s ability to observe the universe. However, a series …

Marine archaeologists from the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) have discovered the 2,400-year-old intact shipwreck of an ancient Greek vessel on the floor of the Black Sea. The world’s oldest intact shipwreck discovered in the Black Sea. Image credit: Black Sea MAP / EEF Expeditions. During the …

An international research team led by scientists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, has discovered a new structure in human cells — a new type of protein complex that the cell uses to attach to its surroundings and proves to play a key part in cell division. 3D projection of a cancer …

A study carried out by Kagoshima University researchers shows that linalool, a constituent of lavender, peppermint and many other essential oils, must be smelt — not absorbed in the lungs — to exert its calming effects, which could be used to relieve preoperative stress and anxiety disorders. Harada et al …