Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), astronomers have discovered a transiting Saturn-like exoplanet circling NGTS-11 (also known as TOI-1847 and 2MASS J01340514-1425090), a mid K-type star located 624 light-years away in the constellation of Cetus. Named NGTS-11b (TOI-1847b), the planet has an equilibrium temperature…

In a new study published in the journal Microorganisms, a team of researchers from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany tested how mammalian immune cells responded to peptides containing two amino acids that are commonly found in carbonaceous meteorites. The immune response to these alien peptides was less efficient than the reaction to those common on Earth. The findings suggest extraterrestrial…

Archaeologists have uncovered 1,900 stone artifacts in Chiquihuite Cave, a high-altitude site in the Astillero Mountains in northern Mexico. DNA analysis of the plant and animal remains from the sediment packed around the tools dates the human occupation of the site to 25,000-30,000 years ago. These findings challenge the commonly held theory that the Clovis people were the first human inhabitants…

A team of scientists from the University of Tübingen has studied the diet of Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) that lived during the Paleolithic period in southwestern Germany. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Image credit: Shorty Ox. Foxes love leftovers. In the wild, they regularly feed on scraps left behind by larger predators like bears and wolves, but the closer foxes…

A team of microbiologists at Caltech has discovered a species of bacterium that feeds on manganese, one of the most abundant elements on Earth. This SEM image shows manganese oxide nodules generated by Candidatus Manganitrophus noduliformans. The nodules are generally about 0.1 to 0.5 mm in diameter. Image credit: Hang Yu / Caltech. “These are the first bacteria found to use manganese as their…

Physicists from CERN’s LHCb Collaboration have discovered a new tetraquark particle, named X(6900), composed of two charm quarks and two charm antiquarks. X(6900), a tetraquark particle composed of two charm quarks and two charm antiquarks. Image credit: CERN. Quarks are point-like elementary particles that typically come in packages of two (mesons) or three (baryons), the most familiar of which…

In a new study published in the journal Microorganisms, a team of researchers from the UK, the Netherlands and Germany tested how mammalian immune cells responded to peptides containing two amino acids that are commonly found in carbonaceous meteorites. The immune response to these alien peptides was less efficient than the reaction to those common on Earth. The findings suggest extraterrestrial…

A team of U.S. and U.K. scientists has generated the end-to-end gapless DNA sequence of the human X chromosome. A telomere is the end of a chromosome that protects the interior of a chromosome from damage during cell division. Image credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI. After nearly two decades of improvements, the reference sequence of the human genome is the most accurate and complete vertebrate genome sequence…

An international team of geologists has found the first direct evidence that volcanic eruptions in the southern part of the Siberian Traps region 252 million years ago burned large volumes of coal and vegetation. Elkins-Tanton et al demonstrate that the volume and composition of organic matter interacting with magmas in the Siberian Traps region may explain the global carbon isotope signal and may…

Archaeologists have uncovered 1,900 stone artifacts in Chiquihuite Cave, a high-altitude site in the Astillero Mountains in northern Mexico. DNA analysis of the plant and animal remains from the sediment packed around the tools dates the human occupation of the site to 25,000-30,000 years ago. These findings challenge the commonly held theory that the Clovis people were the first human inhabitants…