Using a technique called quasar microlensing, a team of astronomers at the University of Oklahoma has detected populations of free-floating planet-mass objects — exoplanets and/or primordial black holes — in two extragalactic systems: a lensing galaxy called Q J0158-4325 and the lensing galaxy cluster SDSS J1004+4112. These are only the second and third such detections in galaxies beyond…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft spied the new Jovian cyclone on November 3, 2019, during its 23rd science pass of the gas giant. A series of JunoCam images from Juno’s 23rd close science pass by Jupiter on November 3, 2019, revealed a sixth circumpolar cyclone in the cluster around Jupiter’s south pole. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS. Juno launched on August 5, 2011, with the ambitious…

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 buffalo-like animals with spears or ropes. This hunting scene is…

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 credit: Pavel Riha / CC BY-SA 3.0. Protocetidae (protocetids) are…

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 the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone…

Professor Attila Krasznahorkay and his colleagues at ATOMKI (the Institute of Nuclear Research in Debrecen, Hungary) recently published a paper that hints at the existence of a previously unknown subatomic particle dubbed X17. The team first reported finding traces of the particle in 2016, and they now report more traces in a different experiment. Anomalies in nuclear physics experiments may show…

Playing sports — including football, soccer and hockey — increases the gain of the external sound signal by turning down the background noise in the brain, according to new research from Northwestern University. Playing sports has many benefits, including boosting physical, cardiovascular, and mental fitness. Image credit: Mike Kaplan / U.S. Air Force photo. “No one would argue against…

A research team led by American University scientists has sequenced the genome of the thermophilic subterrestrial nematode Halicephalobus mephisto, one of the deepest living animals, and determined the mechanisms by which the nematode adapted to an extreme environment. Halicephalobus mephisto (magnified 200x). Image credit: John Bracht, American University. Halicephalobus mephisto was originally…

New research suggests that during the Late Cretaceous epoch to the Early Paleogene epoch (80-50 million years ago), much of the southwestern United States had elevations in excess of 3 km (10,000 feet) and looked more like the Tibetan plateau. This map shows locations of samples analyzed to estimate crustal thickness during the Laramide orogeny. Text in white boxes is the average crustal thickness…

Playing sports — including football, soccer and hockey — increases the gain of the external sound signal by turning down the background noise in the brain, according to new research from Northwestern University. Playing sports has many benefits, including boosting physical, cardiovascular, and mental fitness. Image credit: Mike Kaplan / U.S. Air Force photo. “No one would argue against…