Science

Mars Rover Snaps New Selfie Before Record Climb NASA is still aiming to get the Perseverance rover on its way to Mars this summer in spite of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the Curiosity rover is still setting records and doing science on the red planet even if it has …

Oldest Bilaterian Fossil Found in Australia Ikaria wariootia, a wormlike creature that lived more than 555 million years ago (Ediacaran period) in what is now Australia, is the earliest bilaterian, according to new research led by University of California, Riverside researcher Scott Evans. Reconstruction of Ikaria wariootia in life position. …

What Does Evidence Say Are Best Measures? COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has been spreading rapidly but at a different rate in different countries. A variety of emergency responses and policy strategies have been implemented with varying outcomes so far. This scanning electron microscope image shows …

Newly-Developed Device Detects Dangerous Bacteria in Bodily Fluids An international team of researchers has developed a micro- and nano-fluidic device stacked with magnetic beads that can rapidly isolate, retrieve and concentrate Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria from bodily fluids. This image shows bacterial cells trapped in a 3D microbead matrix. …

Third-Hand Tobacco Smoke is Real Threat to Public Health, Study Shows Third-hand smoke is a residual contamination from cigarette smoking that adheres to walls and other surfaces in places where smoking has previously occurred. A new study shows that this third-hand smoke can travel in large quantities into indoor, non-smoking …

Meet Wonderchicken, Bird from Final Part of Dinosaur Era A new species of ancient bird has been identified from a nearly complete, three-dimensionally preserved skull and associated bones found in Belgium. A detailed analysis of the skull shows that it combines landfowl- and waterfowl-like features, suggesting that the bird is …

NASA Pauses Work on James Webb Space Telescope Due to COVID-19 Pandemic The chronically delayed James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is looking at another setback, but this time it’s completely out of NASA’s control. The agency has announced it will pause work on the telescope immediately due to the ongoing …

NASA Uses InSight’s Robotic Arm to Push Heat Probe Into Mars NASA’s InSight lander is part of NASA’s budget-minded Discovery program, but it’s accomplishing a surprising number of “firsts” on Mars in spite of the smaller budget. It was the first mission to take seismic readings on another planet and …

Archaeologists Unearth 22,500-Year-Old Mammoth-Bone Structure An international team of archaeologists led by the University of Exeter has discovered a new circular mammoth-bone feature at the Paleolithic site of Kostenki 11 in Eastern Europe. The newly-discovered mammoth-bone structure at the site of Kostenki 11; the two visible scales are 5 and …

Devonian Four-Limbed Creature Reveals Insights into How Vertebrate Hand Evolved from Fish Fins A 1.57-m (5.2-foot) long specimen of Elpistostege watsoni from the Devonian period of Canada has yielded the missing evolutionary link in the fish to tetrapod transition. An artist’s reconstruction of Elpistostege watsoni fossil found in Miguasha, Canada. …