Science

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft observed Phobos — the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of the Red Planet — on September 29, 2017. This image combines two products from the first pointing at Phobos by Mars Odyssey’s THEMIS camera. Surface-temperature …

A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health has discovered lymphatic vessels in the dura, the leathery outer coating of the brain. Described in the journal eLife, the discovery holds promise for better understanding the normal physiology of lymphatic drainage from the central nervous system and potential aberrations …

An international team of chemists led by Florida State University researchers has found that the theory of quantum mechanics does not adequately explain how the last 21 elements of the periodic table function. Instead, another well-known scientific theory — Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity — helps govern the behavior of …

A team of paleontologists in the UK has identified the smallest and youngest specimen of the ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurus communis on record, and found the remains of a prehistoric squid within its stomach. Reconstruction of a newborn Ichthyosaurus communis. Image credit: Julian Kiely. The ichthyosaur fossil has a total length of …

An international research team led by University of Texas at Arlington scientist Zui Pan has discovered that zinc selectively halts the growth of cancer cells but not normal esophageal epithelial cells. Zinc selectively inhibits cancer cell growth. Image credit: Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. According to the …

In 1916, the famed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein postulated certain events in the universe would produce gravitational waves. The detection of such waves would be even more confirmation of general relativity, but Einstein suspected the waves would be too faint to be detected on Earth. Now, 100 years later, three …

New research from the University of Cambridge and Oxford Brookes University predicts which species acted as an intermediary between the ancestors of Homo sapiens and those of chimpanzees to carry the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) — a human herpesvirus found worldwide that causes genital lesions and more rarely causes …

Damsin, a natural compound isolated from the South American medicinal plant Ambrosia arborescens, has been found to inhibit the growth of cancer stem cells, according to new research. Ambrosia arborescens is a species of plant native to the Andes from Colombia south to Bolivia. Image credit: Dick Culbert / CC …

We once thought of Mars as a dried up husk of a planet with no significant water resources on its surface. After further study, scientists have discovered the Red Planet has vast amounts of water ice, and there may even be some water flowing on its surface. Mars’ water reserves …

A solar event on September 11, 2017 sparked a global aurora on the Red Planet more than 25 times brighter than any previously seen by NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft. The event also produced radiation levels on the Martian surface more than double any previously measured by …