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Using new observational data from the space-based Solar Mass Ejection Imager and three different modeling techniques, astronomers have found that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation of Orion, has a radius of about 764 solar radii, a mass between 16.5 and 19 solar masses, and is 548 light-years away. This image from ALMA shows the M2 spectral-type supergiant star Betelgeuse. Image credit:…

BepiColombo, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), successfully completed its first flyby of Venus on October 15, 2020. The closest approach took place at 03:58 GMT at a distance of about 10,720 km from the planet’s surface. An artist’s impression of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft in cruise configuration, with Mercury…

An international team of researchers has discovered a long prehistoric human trackway at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, the United States. The 12,000-year-old human footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Image credit: Cornell University. The human tracks at White Sands National Park record more than 1.5 km (0.93 miles) of an out- and-return journey. They show the footprints…

The ancestors of both mammals and birds became warm-blooded at the same time, some 250 million years ago, in the time of the end-Permian mass extinction, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Posture shift at the end of the Permian period, 252 million years ago. Before the crisis, most reptiles had sprawling posture; afterwards they walked upright. This may have been the first…

A team of ornithologists from the United States, Colombia and Denmark has described six new cryptic species in the rufous antpitta (Grallaria rufula) complex from montane forests of South America. The Muisca antpitta (Grallaria rufula). Image credit: Nigel Voaden / CC BY-SA 2.0. The rufous antpitta complex is a group of passerine birds that includes three species — the Muisca antpitta (Grallaria…

A team of physicists and materials scientists from the University of Rochester, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Intel Corporation has created material that is superconducting at room temperature. This image shows the sample chamber inside of a diamond anvil cell, looking axially through the top diamond. The sample originally exists of carbon and sulfur, shown as a black powder, sitting inside…

While the cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, amyloid plaques that are toxic to brain cells are known indicators of the disease. A team of researchers from Australia and Iceland has found that these plaques start in the same place and spread in the same way in the brains of people with obstructive sleep apnea, as in those with Alzheimer’s. Owen et al. confirm links between obstructive…

An international team of scientists from China, Taiwan and the United States has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genomes of the Chinese banyan tree (Ficus microcarpa), which is famous for its extraordinary aerial roots; Ficus hispida, a related fig species lacking aerial roots; and Eupristina verticillata, a wasp coevolving with the banyan tree. They’ve identified regions in the banyan…

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…

Wearing blue-light filtering glasses before sleeping creates a form of physiologic darkness, thus improving both sleep quantity and quality, and is related to work engagement, and both task and non-task performance, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Guarana et al. investigated the effects of blue-light filtration on broad attitudinal and behavioral outcomes,…