Science

It turns out solid-phase haze particles help cool the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. That’s according to new research by planetary scientists from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and elsewhere. According to Zhang et al, Pluto’s atmosphere is unique among Solar System planetary atmospheres, as its equilibrium temperature …

The number of people with Parkinson’s disease will soon grow to pandemic proportions, according to a commentary paper published in journal JAMA Neurology. Parkinson’s disease. Image credit: Blausen Gallery 2014 / Wikiversity Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.15347/wjm/2014.010. “Pandemics are usually equated with infectious diseases like Zika, influenza, and HIV. But …

A team of researchers led by California State University’s Professor Patrick Krug has discovered three cryptic new species of sea slugs, and named one of them after former U.S. President Barack Obama. Placida cremoniana. Image credit: Izuzuki Diver / CC BY-SA 2.5. The three new species belong to an enigmatic …

Progress, as they state, is sluggish. In science, this is often true even for major advancements; hardly ever is a whole field of research remade in a single swoop. The Human Genome Task took a decade. Finding the first gravitational waves took multiple years. It’s hard to overstate the huge …

    It was recently reported, to the pleasure of many, that a 4,000-year-old Assyrian baked clay tablet was likely a in a new working paper, a mindful translation of a number of them has exposed something absolutely remarkable: The areas of ancient metropolitan areas that have been long lost …

If you’re getting tired of Earth with all its breathable air and gravity, there may soon be a home for you among the stars. Well, at least in spirit. Asgardia has successfully gotten a satellite into orbit, thus gaining a foothold as the first “space nation” in history. It’s more …

In a paper published in the journal New Astronomy, theoretical physicist Ovidiu Racorean suggests that X-ray photons emitted by accretion disks around rapidly spinning black holes — also known as Kerr black holes — have properties that make them ideal information carriers for quantum computing. An artist’s impression of an …

A rare loss-of-function mutation in a gene called SERPINE1 identified among Old Order Amish in Indiana is associated with a longer lifespan, improved metabolism and a lower occurrence of diabetes, according to a Northwestern University-led study published this week. Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County, …

The Mars 2020 rover project is in full swing at NASA, and the agency has chosen to base the new rover on the phenomenally successful Curiosity design. That means the rover needs to slow down in the Martian atmosphere before engaging its rocket-based landing system. NASA has just completed the …

The trackway of a plant-eating sauropod dinosaur has been excavated in the Jura Mountains, France. This 508-foot (155 m) line of footsteps is the longest known trackway of a sauropod. The 110-step trackway represents a new ichnospecies, Brontopodus plagnensis, and extends over 508 feet — a world record for sauropods, …