Using data on a sample of 756 galaxy clusters identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), a team of astrophysicists from the United States and Egypt has determined that matter makes up 31% of the total amount of matter and energy in the Universe, with the remainder consisting of dark energy. Abdullah et al. determined that matter makes up about 31% of the total amount of matter and energy…

Using new radar data from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, researchers have detected three reservoirs of liquid water trapped below the south polar cap of the Red Planet. An artist’s impression of ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. In 2018, the Mars Express orbiter found evidence of liquid water under the ice in Ultimi Scopuli,…

The 13,000-year-old partial tusk of an adult mammoth found in western Siberia has four images of two-humped camels engraved on it. The 13,000-year-old engraved mammoth tusk from the Tom River, western Siberia. Image credit: Esin et al, doi: 10.1016/j.ara.2020.100180. The engraved tusk was found in 1988 at a locality known as Parusinka in the lower reaches of the Tom River. The artifact, which measures…

Dr. David Unwin from the University of Leicester and University of Portsmouth’s Professor Dave Martill believe Mesozoic flying reptiles called pterosaurs had a relatively smooth skin without any covering. An artist’s impression of a bald pterosaur and a feathered pterosaur. Image credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth. Pterosaurs were Earth’s first winged vertebrates, with birds and…

In 2018, University of Portsmouth’s Professor John McGeehan and colleagues engineered an enzyme that can digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the primary material used in the manufacture of single-use plastic beverage bottles. Now, the same team has created a two-enzyme cocktail that can digest PET up to six times faster. Knott et al. created a two-enzyme system for PET deconstruction, which…

Time travel with free will is logically possible in our Universe without any paradox, according to new research from the University of Queensland. Physicists seek to understand the underlying laws of the Universe. Image credit: Johnson Martin. “Classical dynamics says if you know the state of a system at a particular time, this can tell us the entire history of the system,” said Germain Tobar,…

Pterostilbene, a resveratrol-related polyphenolic compound found in blueberries, has strong immunosuppressive properties, according to a study published in The FASEB Journal. Yashiro et al. evaluated the effect of pterostilbene, a polyphenol found in blueberries, on immune regulation. Image credit: Free-Photos. Polyphenols are natural products that are consumed by humans as vegetables, fruits, and…

A team of scientists from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States has sequenced and assembled the chromosomal-level genomes of two very different millipede species: the orange rosary millipede Helicorthomorpha holstii and the rusty millipede Trigoniulus corallinus. Their results provide important insights into arthropod evolution and highlight the genetic underpinnings of unique features…

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…

The genomes of our closest relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, have been sequenced and compared with that of modern humans. However, most archaic individuals with high-quality sequences available have been female. In new research, a team of geneticists from the United States, China and Europe has sequenced the paternally inherited Y chromosomes from three Neanderthals and two Denisovans; comparisons…