Using data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), astronomers have discovered 335 new candidate strong lensing systems. These two columns show side-by-side comparisons of gravitational lens candidates imaged by the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (color) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (black and white). Image credit: Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey / NASA / ESA / Hubble /…

A new study shows that pockets of brine can form and persist from the equator to high latitudes on the Martian surface for a few percent of the year for up to six consecutive hours; however, they are not habitable because their water activities and temperatures fall outside the known tolerances for terrestrial life. This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows a beautiful slice of the Red Planet from…

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered a rare bronze coin from the period of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The obverse of this coin is decorated with a cluster of grapes and the inscription ‘Year Two of the Freedom of Israel;’ its reverse features a palm tree and the word ‘Jerusalem.’ The 1,890-year-old bronze coin, obverse. Image credit: Koby Harati, City of David…

Non-avian theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex relied less on speed, more on energy-saving, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE. Daspletosaurus chasing Spinops. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi. Theropod dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial carnivores during much of the Mesozoic era. These dinosaurs ranged in mass from 200 g to 9,000 kg and occupied much of the available…

Museums Victoria arachnologist Joseph Schubert has described seven new species of the peacock spider genus Maratus from Australia. Maratus azureus. Image credit: Joseph Schubert. Maratus is a relatively large genus of jumping spiders in the family Salticidae. Members of this genus are commonly referred to as peacock spiders due to the males’ colorful and usually iridescent patterns on the upper…

Physicists from the ASACUSA (Atomic Spectroscopy And Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons) Collaboration at CERN have successfully synthesized and studied theoretically predicted but never before verified atoms of pionic helium. Their results mark the first time such spectroscopic measurements have been made on an exotic atom containing a meson. Experimental apparatus used to synthesize pionic helium…

A team of researchers from China and the United States has sequenced the genome of pangolin-CoV-2020, a coronavirus isolated from sick Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica), and found that this virus is genetically similar to SARS-CoV-2 but isn’t its precursor. A Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica) climbing a lychee tree. Image credit: Jinping Chen. In December 2019, there was an outbreak of pneumonia…

A large international team of researchers has conducted the first in-depth, wide-scale study of the genomic history of pre-Columbian Andean civilizations such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, Nazca, and Inca. Published in the journal Cell, the findings reveal early genetic distinctions between groups in nearby regions, population mixing within and beyond the Andes, surprising genetic continuity amid…

Pūhāhonu (‘turtle rising for breath’ in Hawaiian), a 13-million-year-old volcano in the northwest Hawaiian Ridge, is twice the size of Mauna Loa volcano, which was assumed to be not only the largest Hawaiian volcano but also Earth’s largest known shield volcano, according to new research from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Gardner Pinnacles. Image credit: Andy Collins, NOAA. Scientists…

Pūhāhonu (‘turtle rising for breath’ in Hawaiian), a 13-million-year-old volcano in the northwest Hawaiian Ridge, is twice the size of Mauna Loa volcano, which was assumed to be not only the largest Hawaiian volcano but also Earth’s largest known shield volcano, according to new research from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Gardner Pinnacles. Image credit: Andy Collins, NOAA. Scientists…