Science

According to a new analysis of nuclear DNA from ancient individuals, many of today’s indigenous peoples living in southern Alaska and coastal British Columbia are descendants of the first humans to make their home in northwest North America more than 10,000 years ago (early Holocene epoch). A study by John …

Continuing on its path through the outer regions of our Solar System, New Horizons has now traveled half the distance from the dwarf planet Pluto to its next target, the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69. Artist’s impression of New Horizons encountering a Kuiper Belt object. Image credit: NASA / Johns …

A blood-engorged nymphal tick of the genus Amblyomma surrounded by fossilized mammalian erythrocytes (red blood cells) has been discovered in a piece of 15-45-million-year-old amber. The discovery is reported March 20 in the online edition of the Journal of Medical Entomology. This blood-engorged nymphal hard tick Amblyomma sp. (length – …

The Boeing Company this week unveiled concepts for the Deep Space Gateway and Transport systems that could help achieve NASA’s goal of having robust human space exploration from the Moon to Mars. Both of Boeing’s concepts leverage proven solar electric propulsion technology and hardware design from the 702 satellite family. …

Israeli archaeologists excavating near the city of Beit Shemesh have unearthed an extensive complex of ritual baths and underground refuges used by Bar Kokhba’s rebels. An underground chamber near the city of Beit Shemesh, Israel. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority. The newly-discovered settlement, whose ancient name is …

A phenolic-rich extract from maple syrup can make disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to common antibiotics, according to new research from McGill University. A maple syrup extract increases the potency of common antibiotics. Image credit: Three-Shots. “Native populations in Canada have long used maple syrup to fight infections. I’ve always been …

Paleontologists have unveiled a remarkable new species of tyrannosaurine dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous epoch — a cousin of the fearsome predator Tyrannosaurus rex. Life reconstruction of the integument of Daspletosaurus horneri, based on the distribution of texture on the facial bones. The face in tyrannosaurs was covered by an …

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has sent back some incredible images and data from the Red Planet of the years, and it just hit an important milestone. It has now made 50,000 orbits of Mars since it arrived more than 11 years ago. Lockheed Martin really built this spacecraft to …

According to an analysis of new data from NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft, solar wind and radiation are responsible for stripping the atmosphere of Mars. By measuring light and heavy isotopes of argon in the planet’s atmosphere, the authors have determined that the majority of the planet’s …

The sun is a giant nuclear fireball that, as a rule, melts anything that comes close. Yet, there’s a NASA plan to send a spacecraft into the sun’s upper atmosphere to get a closer look at it and gather data on coronal mass ejections (CME). The spacecraft is called Solar …