WASP-76b, a gas-giant exoplanet located some 640 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces, has a day side where temperatures climb above 2,400 degrees Celsius (4,352 degrees Fahrenheit), high enough to vaporize metals; strong winds carry iron vapor to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets. This illustration shows a night-side view of the exoplanet WASP-76b. To the left…

The High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has captured stunning images of Moreux crater, a huge impact crater in the Terra Sabaea region of the Red Planet. This image of Moreux crater comprises data gathered on October 30, 2019. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. When compared to other impact craters on both Mars and Earth, Moreux crater appears a little…

The remains of a previously unknown Canaanite temple, dating from the 12th century BCE, have been uncovered in the north-eastern corner of the site of Tel Lachish in Israel. The ruins of the 3,100-year-old Canaanite temple at Tel Lachish, Israel. Image credit: Fourth Expedition to Lachish. Lachish was one of the most important Canaanite cities in the Land of Israel during the Middle and late Bronze…

Torreites sanchezi, an extinct species of rudist clam that lived during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, grew fast, laying down daily growth rings. In a new study, a team of researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University used lasers to sample minute slices of Torreites sanchezi’s shell and count the growth rings. The rings allowed the scientists to determine…

The Brain Atlas explores the protein expression in the mammalian brain by visualization and integration of data from three species of mammals: human, pig and mouse. The open-access resource is based on the analysis of nearly 1,900 brain samples covering 27 brain regions. Genome-wide transcriptomics analysis of anatomically dissected regions in mammalian brains uncovers regional and species-specific…

Dark matter is the mysterious substance that makes up roughly a quarter of the Universe. There is strong indirect evidence for its existence from measurements of cosmic primordial radiation, anomalies in the radial dependence of galactic rotational curves and gravitational lensing. Despite its apparently pivotal role in the Universe the physical origin of dark matter remains unknown. Scientists suspect…

An analysis of data on infections from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel human coronavirus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, yielded an estimate of 5.1 days for the median disease incubation period. This median time from exposure to onset of symptoms suggests that the 14-day quarantine period used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

An analysis of DNA from wild populations of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) has found that there is not just one species but enough genetic differences to recognize two distinct species. The Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani). Image credit: Yunfang Xiu, Straits (Fuzhou) Giant Panda Research and Exchange Center, China. The red panda is an endangered mammal endemic to the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains…

The surface of Earth was likely covered by a global ocean 3.24 billion years ago (Archean Eon), according to a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. An artist’s impression of a water-world planet. Image credit: Sci-News.com. “Our findings could help scientists to better understand how and where single-cell organisms first emerged on Earth,” said Dr. Boswell Wing, a researcher…

Torreites sanchezi, an extinct species of rudist clam that lived during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, grew fast, laying down daily growth rings. In a new study, a team of researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University used lasers to sample minute slices of Torreites sanchezi’s shell and count the growth rings. The rings allowed the scientists to determine…