Barnard’s star, a 10-billion-year-old red dwarf just 6 light-years from Earth, is still very active and potentially destructive for the atmospheres of any exoplanets orbiting around it, according to new research led by University of Colorado astronomers. This illustration shows radiation from flares from a red dwarf star like Barnard’s star eroding the atmosphere of an orbiting, rocky planet….

On October 28, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully stowed its Sample Return Capsule (SRC) with a sample of surface material from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This image shows OSIRIS-REx’s collector head hovering over the Sample Return Capsule after the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism arm moved it into the proper position for capture. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space…

Archaeologists have discovered figures of animals, mainly bison, engraved in a Gravettian style in three caves in northern Spain. Engravings in the A panel of Aitzbitarte III cave in Spain. Top: tracing of the panel formed by the bird and the bison, engraved on the left wall. Bottom left: detail of the bird’s head. Bottom right: detail of the bison. Image credit: Garate et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240481. The…

Scientists have studied the morphology and structure of Cretaceous-period dinosaur eggshells collected from the El Gallo Formation of Baja California, Mexico. Elejalde-Cadena et al. present a detailed structural and morphological analysis of different dinosaur eggshells such as Spheroolithus, lambeosaurinae, Prismatoolithus, and one unidentified eggshell performed by high-resolution scanning electron…

Two Australian bee species, Reepenia bituberculata and Meroglossa gemmata, have adapted their vision for night-time conditions, according to a paper published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research; both species possess enlarged compound and simple eyes which allow more light to be gathered when compared to their daytime kin. Meroglossa gemmata. Image credit: James Dorey, Flinders University. Bees…

In a paper published this month in the journal Physical Review Letters, an international team of physicists described a new mechanism of dark matter production. Baker et al. described a new mechanism of dark matter production: if dark matter particles acquire mass during a first order phase transition, it is energetically unfavorable for them to enter the expanding bubbles; instead, most of them…

Consuming a high-flavanol diet was associated with a significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure and was inversely associated with blood lipids in a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Flavanols are a large group of flavonoids, which include catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate and epigallocatechin gallate. They are found in teas, cocoa, fava…

In 1980, the 160,000-year-old fossilized partial jawbone of a Denisovan — the so-called Xiahe mandible — was found in Baishiya Karst Cave, a limestone cave at the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Now, an international team of researchers has extracted genetic material from the sediments in Baishiya Karst Cave and identified mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Denisovans indicating…

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…

In 1980, the 160,000-year-old fossilized partial jawbone of a Denisovan — the so-called Xiahe mandible — was found in Baishiya Karst Cave, a limestone cave at the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Now, an international team of researchers has extracted genetic material from the sediments in Baishiya Karst Cave and identified mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Denisovans indicating…