A team of astronomers from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Japan may have solved the so-called ‘Galactic bar paradox,’ whereby different observations produce contradictory estimates of the motion of the central regions of our Milky Way Galaxy. When the bar (horizontal in yellow and white) is in its shorter phase on the left, a few spiral arms can be seen near, but not…

Planetary researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center have used dry paleolakes and riverbeds to determine how much precipitation was present on Mars 3.5-4 billion years ago. Open and closed lakes on early Mars. Image credit: University of Texas at Austin. The climate of the ancient Mars is something of an enigma to scientists. To geologists, the existence…

An international team of archaeologists has found and studied 104 enigmatic stone structures called ‘mustatils’ in the southern part of the Nefud Desert in northern Arabia. They’ve also provided the first chronometric age estimate for this type of structure — a radiocarbon date of 5000 BCE — and described their landscape positions, architecture and associated culture. A mustatil…

A new fossil of Guizhouichthyosaurus, a 5-m- (16.4-foot) long ichthyosaur that swam in Middle Triassic oceans some 240 million years ago, contains the remains of the 4-m- (13.1-foot) long thalattosaur Xinpusaurus xingyiensis, according to new research led by paleontologists from the University of California, Davis and Peking University. The work could be the oldest direct evidence that Triassic marine…

An international team of marine biologists has described two new species of the polychaete worm genus Melinnopsis from deep waters off the east coast of Australia. Light microscope images of Melinnopsis gardelli: (A) holotype, lateral view of complete specimen; (B) holotype, dorsal view of anterior region, arrow indicates postbranchial dorsal membrane; (C) holotype prostomium, arrow indicates slightly…

The inner core of our planet is between 1 and 1.3 billion years old, according to new research led by the University of Texas at Austin and Carnegie Institution for Science. Earth’s internal structure: dense solid metallic core, viscous metallic outer core, mantle and silicate based crust. Image credit: NASA. “People are really curious and excited about knowing about the origin of the geodynamo,…

Long napping over one hour per day is associated with increased risks of incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, according to a new meta-analysis of previous cohort studies. The habit of napping is prevalent worldwide and is often considered as an appropriate way to counteract the negative consequences of sleep debt. Image credit: Wok & Apix. Napping is a habit prevalent worldwide…

In a new study, an international team of scientists used 22 newly-sequenced genomes from 18 extant species of penguins to reconstruct the history of their diversification and adaptation. The authors found that ancient penguins diverged in the early Miocene epoch in Australia and New Zealand and identified the emperor and king penguins, the two largest species, as the sister group to all other extant…

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…

The inner core of our planet is between 1 and 1.3 billion years old, according to new research led by the University of Texas at Austin and Carnegie Institution for Science. Earth’s internal structure: dense solid metallic core, viscous metallic outer core, mantle and silicate based crust. Image credit: NASA. “People are really curious and excited about knowing about the origin of the geodynamo,…