Science

Archaeologists excavating the limestone cave of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have discovered a painting that is approximately 43,900 years old and which portrays a group of ‘therianthropes’ — abstract beings that combine qualities of both people and animals — hunting wild pigs and small …

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of extinct protocetid whale, based on the fossilized remains found in the Western Desert of Egypt. Named Aegicetus gehennae, the ancient animal represents an important step in the evolution of whale locomotion. An artist’s impression of Basilosaurus isis. Image …

Proton aurora, a type of Martian aurora first identified in 2016, forms when protons from the solar wind interact with hydrogen in the extended portions of the Martian atmosphere and travel to lower regions. According to multi-year observations made using the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) onboard NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere …

Using NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, a team of planetary researchers have measured the speed and direction of winds in the Martian upper atmosphere between about 150 and 200 km (93-124 miles) above the surface. The results are published in two papers in the journal Science and …

A team of researchers from the University of Stirling and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the UK has demonstrated that simulated Chernobyl-levels of radiation exposure negatively affect energy use in buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) by increasing their metabolic rate and driving elevated nectar consumption. Radiologically contaminated sites such as …

Using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey orbiter, a team of planetary researchers have crated a map of the water ice depth on the Red Planet. Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the new map shows that water ice is present sometimes just a few inches …

  NASA is working on the necessary technology to return to the moon, but that’s just a stepping stone to the agency’s goal of sending the first humans to Mars. Reaching Mars will be a challenge, but the agency is already working to narrow down landing sites. A new NASA-led …

A team of biologists at Tel-Aviv University, Israel, has discovered that stressed plants emit sounds — similarly to many animals — using ultrasonic clicks not detectable by human ears, and found that these sounds carry information about the physiological state of the plant. Stressed tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants emit remotely-detectable …

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft recently observed several particle ejection events on the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta and colleagues have analyzed the properties and behavior of particles ejected from Bennu to determine the possible mechanisms of ejection …

  Most people will break at least one bone in their lifetimes, but just think about all the stress your bones experience without breaking. Scientists from Cornell University, Purdue University, and Case Western Reserve University have taken inspiration from bone to create more durable 3D-printed structures. This could eventually make …