In new research, archaeologists analyzed five engraved artifacts from the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: two engraved Levallois cores from Manot and Qafzeh caves, an engraved plaquette from the site of Quneitra, as well as a flake and cortical blade from Amud Cave. Their findings highlight the intentionality behind the engravings, providing key insights into the development…
Cave-dwelling, orb-weaving spiders of the subfamily Metainae infected by Gibellula attenboroughii exhibit behavioral changes similar to those reported for zombie ants. Gibellula attenboroughii, habitat and paratype, on Meta menardi. Scale bars – 0.5 mm in (C) and 0.25 mm in (D). Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.3114/fuse.2025.15.07. Gibellula is a genus of fungi specific…
Using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) at W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers have identified nine rings — more than previously detected by any telescope in any galaxy — around the collisional ring galaxy LEDA 1313424. Pasha et al. detected nine rings around LEDA 1313424, a ring…
The field of SETI searches for technosignatures could provide the first detection of life beyond Earth through the technology that an extraterrestrial intelligence may have created. Any given SETI survey, if no technosignatures are detected, should set upper limits based on the kinds of technosignatures it should have been able to detect; the sensitivity of…
In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, paleontologists analyzed the fossilized remains of the alvarezsaurid dinosaur Bonapartenykus from the Allen Formation of Patagonia. Their results shed new light on the body plan of Bonapartenykus and other members of the alvarezsaurid dinosaur group Patagonykinae. Life reconstruction of an individual of Bonapartenykus from the…
Asteroid Bennu is thought to be made of rubble fragments from a 4.5-billion-year-old parent body, containing materials that originated beyond Saturn, which was destroyed long ago in a collision with another object. In two new papers, scientists report the detection of amino acids (including 14 of the 20 used in terrestrial biology), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,…
New research from Smithsonian Institution and the University of Maryland shows that lunar fault structures may be recently and potentially currently active within regions of interest for upcoming lunar missions. Small ridges on the Moon’s far side (yellow) reveal evidence that the Moon may not be as dormant as previously believed. Image credit: Tom Watters,…
The newly-discovered volcanic hotspot is larger than Earth’s Lake Superior, and belches out eruptions six times the total energy of all the world’s power plants. A massive hotspot can be seen just to the right of Io’s south pole in this image taken by the JIRAM infrared imager aboard NASA’s Juno on December 27, 2024,…
Over two billion tons of carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere globally each year. Diverse bacteria and archaea consume about 250 million tons of this, reducing carbon monoxide to safer levels. According to new research, these microbes use a special enzyme, called the CO dehydrogenase, to extract energy from this universally present but highly…
A team of planetary researchers led by Caltech has determined the chemical mechanisms by which the ancient Mars was able to sustain enough warmth in its early days to host water, and possibly life. Adams et al. estimate that Mars experienced episodic warm periods of an integrated duration of 40 million years, with each event…
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