Science

Ice Sheets Covered Southern The southern highlands of Mars are dissected by hundreds of ancient valley networks (3.9-3.5 billion years old), which are evidence that water once sculpted the Martian surface. According to new research, these valley networks were carved by water melting beneath glacial ice, not by free-flowing rivers …

Giant Cloud Reappears above Martian Volcano The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft has captured new images of a giant cloud over the 20-km (12.4-mile) high Arsia Mons volcano, the southernmost in a trio of giant Martian shield volcanoes known collectively as Tharsis Montes. These images, taken …

Archaeologists Pinpoint Source of Stonehenge’s Sarsen Megaliths A team of researchers from the UK and South Africa has discovered that most of the hulking sandstone boulders — called sarsens — that make up the famous Stonehenge monument appear to share a common origin 25 km (15.5 miles) away in West …

55-Million-Year-Old Fossil of Large-Sized Owl Found in Wyoming A new genus and species of owl that lived 55 million years ago (Eocene epoch) has been identified from a partial skeleton found in Wyoming, the United States. The discovery is reported in a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The …

Researchers Observe Formation of Four-Stranded DNA in Living Human Cells DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape — two strands wound around each other. Several other structures have been formed in the lab, but this does not necessarily mean they form within living cells. Quadruple helix structures, called DNA …

Study: Floral Vibrations by Buzz-Pollinating Bumblebees More Powerful Than Their Flight or Defensive Buzzes Buzzing by buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris audax) workers during pollen foraging is much more powerful than that used for defense or flight, according to new research from the University of Stirling. The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). …

Perseverance Rover Will Take a Tiny Piece of Mars Home to the Red Planet NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to lift off this week to begin its journey toward the red planet. The robot carries a plethora of instruments, a helicopter, and sample containers that might one day conduct pieces …

NASA Clears Perseverance Mars Rover for Thursday Launch NASA has confirmed that the Perseverance rover will launch on Thursday (July 30th) this week after years of development and testing. The robotic explorer, which is already bundled up in the nose section of an Atlas V rocket, will study the history …

Identified in Portugal A team of paleontologists from Portugal and Spain has found fossil fragments from a new genus and species of carcharodontosaurian dinosaur. An artist’s impression of Lusovenator santosi. Image credit: Carlos de Miguel Chaves. The new dinosaur, scientifically named Lusovenator santosi, lived in what is now Portugal between …

Key Enzyme behind Human Underarm Malodor Identified A team of researchers from the University of York, the University of St Andrews and Unilever RD has discovered a unique enzyme responsible for the characteristic human odor. Overview of bacterial biotransformation of the odorless physiological malodor precursor Cys-Gly-3M3SH, which is secreted onto …