Science

Exceptionally well-preserved trilobite fossils from the Cambrian Wulongqing Formation near Guangwei Village in southern Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province of China, contradict previous assumptions about trilobite digestive systems. Palaeolenus lantenoisi showing evidence of crop, digestive glands, alimentary canal along thorax, and excreted waste posterior to pygidium. Scale bar …

There’s usually a stark difference between asteroids and comets, but so-called “active asteroids” blur the line. These space rocks produce a cloud of dust and gas as they drift around the solar system, making them look very comet-like. Astronomers spotted one of them in 2011, but upon closer inspection, Body …

Advances in 3D printing have been slow to replace traditional manufacturing, but NASA is looking toward the technology as a way to fabricate parts for rockets. It’s already experimented with rocket components that were 3D printed from a single metal, but now it’s testing a process for printing in two …

The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction — an event 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and was triggered by a massive asteroid that slammed into Earth — led to acceleration in the rate of genetic evolution among its avian survivors, and these survivors were much smaller than their pre-extinction …

Using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, researchers have found new evidence for the occurrence of ground ice on Vesta, the second largest asteroid of the asteroid main belt. Large, smooth areas on Vesta correlated with higher concentrations of hydrogen. Image credit: Elizabeth Palmer / Essam Heggy. Discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm …

SpaceX has been using its Falcon 9 rocket to launch satellites for governments and companies around the world, but it might launch some of its own soon. The space firm headed by Elon Musk is working on plans for a satellite network that provides broadband internet access. This network may …

Cassiopea jellyfish, a genus of true jellyfish found throughout the tropics in shallow ocean waters and mudflats, exhibit reversible behavioral quiescence during the night, according to a team of biologists at Caltech. Reported in the journal Current Biology, this finding is the first example of a sleep-like state in an …

A new study led by Brown University planetary researchers adds three new large members to the list of water ice-filled craters near Mercury’s north pole and shows evidence that smaller-scale deposits scattered around the north pole; those deposits may be small, but they could add up to a lot more …

The solar system is rife with space rocks that never became planets, many of them orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. Scientists have been able to examine a few asteroids close up, and the OSIRIS-REx mission will soon grab a sample from one asteroid and return it …

Arizona State University archaeologist Michael E. Smith has conducted a comparative analysis of Teotihuacan with earlier and later Mesoamerican urban centers and proved, for the first time, the uniqueness of the ancient city. A view over the smaller pyramids on the eastern side of Plaza de la Luna from Piramide …