EDUCATION

Paleontologists have studied and described three previously unknown dinosaur track-bearing surfaces from a locality near Biloela in Queensland, Australia. Dinosaur track-bearing surface from the Dunn Creek mining area of the Precipice Sandstone, Callide Basin, Queensland, Australia. Image credit: Romilio et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2472153. Dr. Anthony Romilio, a researcher at the University of Queensland, and his…

For a century, astronomers have been studying Barnard’s star in the hope of finding planets around it. First discovered by E.E. Barnard at Yerkes Observatory in 1916, it is the nearest single star system to Earth. Now, astronomers using the MAROON-X instrument on the Gemini North telescope, one half of NSF’s International Gemini Observatory, have…

A small mixodectid mammal called Mixodectes pungens had skeletal features adapted to living in trees, largely dined on leaves, and weighed about 1.3 kg, according to an analysis a remarkably complete skeleton discovered in New Mexico. Mixodectes pungens (foreground) inhabited the same forests as early primates like Torrejonia wilsoni (background). Image credit: Andrey Atuchin. Mixodectes…

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have explored the lowest mass limit of brown dwarfs within the Flame Nebula, a hotbed of star formation in the constellation of Orion. This collage of images from the Flame Nebula shows a near-infrared light view from Hubble on the left, while the two insets at the…

The megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon, is an iconic shark represented primarily by its gigantic teeth in the Neogene fossil record, but the lack of well-preserved skeletons has hampered the understanding of various aspects of its biology. In new research, paleontologists reassessed some of its biological properties using a new approach, based on known vertebral specimens…

Paleontologists working in northern Patagonia, Argentina, have unearthed the fossils of a previously unknown species of small rinconsaurian titanosaur. Chadititan calvoi. Image credit: Gabriel Lio. The newly-discovered dinosaur roamed Earth during the Late Cretaceous epoch, some 78 million years ago. Named Chadititan calvoi, the ancient species belongs to a group of Argentinian titanosaurs called Rinconsauria….

Physicists have long known that electrons can form vortices in quantum materials. What’s new is the proof that these tiny particles create tornado-like structures in momentum space. In a quantum material called tantalum arsenide (TaAs), electrons form vortices in momentum space. Image credit: Think-Design / Jochen Thamm. Momentum space is a fundamental concept in physics…

Arp 105 is characterized by a tidal tail of stars and gas more than 362,000 light-years long. The elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B (upper left) and the spiral galaxy NGC 3561A (lower right) form a shimmering guitar shape in the ongoing merger known collectively as Arp 105. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. West, Lowell…

The mass of the supermassive black hole in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, is about 600,000 solar masses. Artist’s impression of a hypervelocity star ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud (shown on right). When a binary star system ventures too close to a supermassive black…

Atmospheric gravity waves play a crucial role in driving latitudinal air currents on the Red Planet, particularly at high altitudes, according to a new study by University of Tokyo planetary researchers. This image from the Emirates Mars Mission shows Mars and its thin atmosphere. Image credit: UAESA / MBRSC / Hope Mars Mission / EXI…