Gravitational waves detected for a second time

The cataclysmic collision of black holes is a frequent occurrence in space, according to a team of scientists that has just detected gravitational waves for the second time in history.

First mirror-image molecule found in interstellar space

Scientists have detected the first chiral molecule in interstellar space, propylene oxide, within an enormous star-forming cloud of gas and dust only 390 light-years away.

Hobbit discovery: 700,000-year-old find could shed new light on evolution

A 700,000-year-old hobbit has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores, shedding new light on human evolution.  The dwarf-like ancient relative of modern man stood just one metre tall and has been dated at half a million years older than a hobbit found on the island a decade ago.  The researchers argue their fossil find descended from Homo erectus, which would suggest an incredible case of evolutionary reversal where human bodies — including brains — actually shrunk.

Blogger Comment:

The simplest explanation is that the "hobbits" are Australopithecines.  The material evidence is consistent with this and inconsistent with both Homo habilis and Homo erectus.  The view that they were later species that "shrunk" is not the simplest theory, and the proposition that smaller primate brains would be more adaptive than larger brains is exceedingly unlikely and needs plausible supporting argument.  There are many examples of other primates (orang utans, gibbons, japanese macaques) migrating enormous distances from their place of speciation.

New DNA technology confirms Aboriginal people as first Australians

A new look at ancient bones with the latest DNA technology has confirmed Aboriginal Australians as the continent's first people. Researchers say the findings overturn a 2001 paper that argued the oldest known Australian human remains found near Lake Mungo in New South Wales were from an extinct lineage of modern humans that occupied the continent before Aboriginal Australians.

Dark radiation may be causing universe to expand faster than expected

The universe is expanding 5 to 9 per cent faster than expected and scientists speculate the finding may be explained by a mysterious force called dark radiation.

Madagascan ancestors crossed Indian Ocean from South-East Asia

Ancient charred grains of rice and mung beans excavated from Madagascar provide the first archaeological evidence that ancestors of people living on the East African island known as Malagasy came from South-East Asia.

Asteroids delivered bulk of the Moon's water

Water-rich asteroids that bombarded the Moon between 4.5 billion and 4.3 billion years ago were the main source of water in the Moon's interior.

Mars is emerging from an ice age

Mars is at the tail-end of an ice age that would have seen large swathes of the dusty red planet covered with ice.