In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) delivered the first resolved images of M87*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87). Those images were produced using EHT observations performed in April 2017. Additional observations were required to investigate the persistence of the primary image feature and to quantify the image variability. To address…

A significant portion of some of the oldest terrain on Venus, known as tesserae, has striations consistent with layering, according to new research led by North Carolina State University. A simulated view from above Tellus Tessera, one of the regions on Venus where Byrne et al identified the presence of layering. Image credit: NASA. Tesserae were first identified as a terrain type on Venus from radar…

An international team of archaeologists from University College London, the Cyprus Institute and the University of Cambridge has analyzed finds from the 11th-century CE archaeological site of Chahak in southern Iran and found evidence for the intentional and regular addition of the chromium mineral chromite to the crucible charge, resulting in steel containing around 1 wt% chromium. Crucible slag…

Gnathomortis stadtmani, the only species of the newly-described mosasaur genus, swam in the seas of North America between 79 and 81 million years ago (Cretaceous period). A skeletal mount of the mosasaur Gnathomortis stadtmani at BYU’s Eyring Science Center. Image credit: BYU. The partial skull and skeleton of Gnathomortis stadtmani was discovered in the Mancos Shale of Delta County in western…

A team of scientists from the University of Queensland and King’s College London has found that the venom of Australian Dendrocnide trees contains previously unidentified neurotoxic peptides and that the 3D structure of these pain-inducing peptides is reminiscent of spider and cone snail venoms targeting the same pain receptors, thus representing a remarkable case of inter-kingdom convergent evolution…

HL Tauri, a young star located 450 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, is glowing at the center of an system of concentric protoplanetary rings and is producing planets, one for each gap in the ring. Worcester Polytechnic Institute mathematical physicist Dr. Mayer Humi believes HL Tauri provides an apt study target for theories about protoplanetary rings around stars. This image shows…

Before the age of 2 or 3 years, the human brain grows very rapidly and, during REM sleep, is busy building and strengthening synapses. After 2 or 3 years, however, sleep’s primary purpose switches from brain building to brain maintenance and repair, a role it maintains for the rest of our lives, according to new research led by the University of California, Los Angeles. Cao et al show that differences…

A team of researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and CABI has successfully sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming’s original fungal strain behind the discovery of penicillin, now classified as Penicillium rubens, and compared it to those of two ‘high producing’ industrial strains of Penicillium rubens and the closely related species Penicillium nalgiovense. Penicillium…

A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals a mechanism that may contribute to the formation of sharply pointed rock spires in striking landforms called stone forests. Stone forest in Yunnan province, China. Image credit: Zhang Yuan. Stone forests are pointed rock formations resembling trees that populate regions of China, Madagascar, and many other locations…

Before the age of 2 or 3 years, the human brain grows very rapidly and, during REM sleep, is busy building and strengthening synapses. After 2 or 3 years, however, sleep’s primary purpose switches from brain building to brain maintenance and repair, a role it maintains for the rest of our lives, according to new research led by the University of California, Los Angeles. Cao et al show that differences…