Dinosaur Mystery Solved

The true identity of a mysterious dinosaur known only from a pair of gigantic arms with huge claws that were found almost half a century ago has finally been revealed.  Two recently discovered skeletons show the appendages belonged to Deinocheirus mirificus, a massive, bizarre-looking omnivore that lived 70 million years ago.

Exploding star's fireball captured in action

The expanding fireball of a nova explosion has been observed in unprecedented detail for the first time.  The new observations show these eruptions are far more complicated than previously thought.

Ancient fish reveals the emergence of coupling

The sexual act where two creatures physically join together to create new life first began 385 million years ago. The extinct Devonian-age armoured fish Microbrachius dicki, a kind of antiarch placoderm (the first jawed animals), had genital structures that enabled it to reproduce by internal fertilisation — where the male inserts semen into the female.

Plasma 'bombs' and tornadoes detected on the Sun

The first detailed view of a poorly understood region of the Sun reveals plasma 'bombs', powerful tornadoes, and supersonic jets that may be the start of the solar wind.

New accuracy record set for quantum computing

Scientists have developed the first silicon quantum technology capable of holding data with over 99 per cent accuracy.  The breakthrough was achieved using two different types of silicon-based quantum bits or qubits, the basic information storing element in a quantum computer.

Dinosaur arms to bird wings

One of the last niggling doubts about the link between dinosaurs and birds may be settled by a new study that shows how bird wrists evolved from those of their dinosaur predecessors.