Paleontologists have described two new species from the Cambrian period of Utah, which illuminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory features in ctenophores (comb jellies). An artist’s reconstruction of Ctenorhabdotus campanelliformis (top) and Thalassostaphylos elegans (bottom). Image credit: Holly Sullivan. Ctenophores are a group of over 200 living species …
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Earth has numerous properties that make it an ideal home for life as we know it, including a robust magnetic field that deflects radiation, a temperate climate with liquid water, a large moon that stabilizes the planet’s rotation, and a modest axial tilt. That last item may be more important …
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A team of paleontologists from Australia and the United Kingdom has found that ancient deep-sea creatures called radiodonts developed sophisticated eyes over 500 million years ago (Cambrian period), with some specially adapted to the dim light of deep water. An artist’s reconstruction of ‘Anomalocaris’ briggsi. Image credit: Katrina Kenny. Radiodonts …
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) mission to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu is designed to return a carbon-rich sample of the asteroid to Earth. This 500-m-diameter body was chosen as the mission target due to its spectral similarity to primitive and organic-rich carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. In …
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Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) have social systems to rival our own, according to new research led by marine biologists from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University. O’Corry-Crowe et al analyzed the relationship between group behaviors, group type, group dynamics, and kinship of beluga whales in 10 locations …
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AUSTIN – Information security has never been more front and center than it is now. The recent hacking of the Democratic National Committee; the implications that Russia — a sovereign country — may have been deeply involved; the potential implication it had on a national election; and the accusations, difficulty …
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