Researchers "Translate" Bat Talk

A machine learning algorithm helped decode the squeaks Egyptian fruit bats make in their roost, revealing that they "speak" to one another as individuals.

Molten iron river discovered speeding beneath Russia and Canada

Deep below our planet’s surface a molten jet of iron nearly as hot as the surface of the sun is picking up speed.  This stream of liquid has been discovered for the first time by telltale magnetic field readings 3000 kilometres below North America and Russia taken from space.

Antimatter atom trapped and measured with a laser for first time

Antihydrogen atoms are made of a positron (a positively charged version of the electron) orbiting a negatively charged antiproton. According to the standard model of particle physics, these anti-atoms should absorb and emit light at the same wavelengths as hydrogen. Now antihydrogen’s spectrum has been measured at last, and it confirms the prediction.

Weather observed for first time on a hot, giant, Jupiter-like alien planet

A weather system — including strong winds and changing cloud cover — has been observed in the atmosphere of a giant gas planet outside our solar system for the first time. HAT-P-7b is 16 times the size of Earth and lies more than 1,000 light years away in the Cygnus constellation.

Feathered dinosaur tail preserved in amber

Exquisitely preserved bones and feathers from the tip of a dinosaur tail have been discovered in a piece of 99-million-year-old amber. The "astonishing" fossil contains the first skeletal remains of a dinosaur ever found preserved in amber.

Ancient eclipse records revise modern calculations of Earth's spin

The observations of ancient astronomers from the time of the Babylonians onwards have revealed our modern days are not getting quite as long as they should be.

Galaxy formation appears to be fuelled by a cold gas cloud

The discovery of an enormous reservoir of ultra-cold gas surrounding a distant galaxy has reshaped our scientific understanding of how stars and galaxies formed in the early universe.