Cloudina fossils push animal-made reefs back in time

A 548-million-year-old reef in central Namibia is the earliest known ecosystem built by hard bodied animals, according to a new study. Until now, the oldest reefs on record made of hard-bodied animals had been dated to about 530 million years of age.  The reefs were built by tiny, filter-feeding animals called Cloudina that lived on shallow equatorial seabeds during the Ediacaran Period, which ended 541 million years ago.

Neanderthals ate vegies with their meat

The oldest known samples of Neanderthal faeces have revealed these early humans actually enjoyed some salad with their steak. The findings challenge the image of Neanderthals as unrepentant carnivores, and the theory that their high meat intake may have contributed to their extinction.

Ancient skulls trace Neanderthal evolution

An analysis of skulls found in a Spanish cave reveals the oldest-known humans to have Neanderthal-like features lived about 430,000 years ago.  The skulls however also show characteristics associated with an earlier, primitive human suggesting a more complex evolution of humans than previously thought.

'Waves' spotted on Titan's seas

Mysterious features that look like waves have been detected on the seas of Saturn's moon Titan, according to a new study.  The authors believe the features, which only appeared for a short time, are driven by seasonal winds that are generated as Titan's northern hemisphere moves into summer.

Tectonic plate movement may be speeding up

The movement of Earth's major tectonic plates is speeding up, suggests a new study.

Climate forced ancient Peruvians to migrate

DNA testing of Peruvian mummies has revealed how climate change led to the forced migrations of the ancient people of the Central Andes. The research shows these migrations led to an eventual genetic homogenisation of the highland and coastal people of southern Peru. This finding overturns a previously held view that this homogenisation was the result of the expansion by the highland empire of the Wari towards the coast.

3-D fossil eggs reveal how pterosaurs lived

The spectacular discovery of three dimensional 120-million year old pterosaur eggs provides a unique insight into the ancient flying reptiles' lifestyle. Until now, only four pterosaur eggs had ever been found, and all were flattened during the process of fossilisation. But Chinese scientists have unearthed five three-dimensional pterosaur eggs at a site in northwestern China that also includes no fewer than 40 adult individuals of a newly identified species that lived in a bustling colony near a large freshwater lake.

'Booting up' the brain after anæsthesia

The way the brain "boots up" from anæsthesia has been detailed in a new paper that shows the return to consciousness is a staged journey rather than a direct leap.

Jupiter’s “Red Spot” shrinking dramatically

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot — a swirling storm feature larger than Earth — has shrunk to its smallest size ever measured, astronomers report.  The reasons for the shrinkage are unknown, but it’s accelerating, astronomers said. If it continues at recently measured rates, the famous blotch will be gone by about 2030.

Scientists identify Sun’s “long-lost brother”

Astronomers say they’ve found the Sun’s first known “sibling” — a star almost certainly born from the same cloud of gas and dust as our star.

Fruit flies found to “think” before they act

In experiments in which the insects had to tell apart ever more similar concentrations of an odour, researchers found that the flies don’t act instinctively or impulsively, but seem to accumulate information before acting. That has been considered a sign of higher intelligence.  The re­search­ers al­so found that a gene called FoxP, ac­tive in a small set of brain cells, facili­tates the choos­ing.

Long-snouted T. rex cousin reported found

The newfound species, nicknamed “Pinocchio rex,” had a longer skull and longer, narrower teeth than T. rex, with its deeper, more powerful jaws and thick teeth.

Physicists add another element to table

A new superheavy element looks set to be added to the periodic table: atoms of element 117.

Monotreme sex 'master switch' identified

The gene that most likely determines the sex of the platypus and echidna has been identified. The study also shows that the Y chromosome, contrary to previous assumptions, carries genes that are important to the basic viability of male mammals.

Ancestor of ancient flying reptiles found

Scientists have found a fossil from 163 million years ago that represents the oldest known example of a lineage of advanced flying reptiles that later would culminate in the largest flying creatures in Earth's history.  The newly identified Jurassic period creature, a species named Kryptodrakon progenitor, was unearthed in the Gobi desert in northwestern China.

Tiny planet found to have Saturn-like rings

The object, called Chariklo, lies two billion kilometres out in the solar system between Uranus and Saturn.

Radar shows mirror-smooth sea on Saturn moon

The radar readings, taken last year, show the surface of Ligeia Mare, Ti­tan’s second largest sea.

Saturn may be spawning tiny new moon

Astronomers suspect the object may be going through stages that characterised the birth of other moons, and planets.

Big, unseen planet may inhabit outer Solar System

A dwarf planet just found far outside the known Solar System also hints that a far bigger one lurks.

Possible exomoon detected

Though unconfirmable, the finding is seen as a tantalising first step toward finding exomoons.

First Earth-sized planet in a 'habitable zone'

In a long-awaited first, astronomers report finding an Earth-sized exoplanet possibly able to support life.

Odour memory

Long-term, odour-memory formation in the brain is linked to smell perception by affecting the expression of olfactory receptors in the nose.

Sea fossil has oldest cardiovascular system

Scientists claim to have found a fossil of a shrimp-like creature that lived 520 million years ago with an exquisitely preserved heart and blood vessels that represent the oldest-known cardiovascular system. Named Fuxianhuia protensa, the creature was a primitive arthropod, a group of invertebrates with external skeletons that includes crustaceans like crabs, lobsters and shrimp as well as insects, spiders and millipedes.

Ocean found on Saturnian moon

An ocean of liquid water exists below the frozen surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, according to new data from the Cassini spacecraft.

Researchers believe the water is in contact with a rocky floor below, making it more suitable for a hypothetical origin of life.

Elephants console those in distress

Asian elephants console other elephants who are in distress, using physical touches and vocalisations.

Bees demonstrate 'top down' attention

Bees playing video games show they actively choose what they want to pay attention to in a similar way to humans, rather than simply reacting to external stimuli.

Europeans have evolved lighter skin in past 5,000 years

Europeans have evolved lighter skin, eyes and hair in past 5,000 years.  The skin changes may be a result of the body’s need to produce more Vitamin D in lower-sunlight areas, although the other changes are harder to explain.

Gravitational waves from cosmic inflation detected

Astronomers say they have detected “ripples” in space and time caused by a process in which our universe expand­ed out of control during its first fleet­ing fraction of a second.

Scientists found and measured a key polarisation, or orientation, of the microwaves caused by gravitational waves, which are miniature ripples in the fabric of space.

Laser singles out an atom

Ultraviolet laser light has been used to pick apart a diamond atom by atom, a breakthrough that has implications for the development of quantum computers and other areas of diamond technologies.

Tiny tweezers made from bowtie of light

Researchers have built the world's smallest tweezers, capable of picking up a single virus or molecule.

'Life as we know it' unlikely on super Earths

For a rocky planet to be habitable it must be no bigger than Earth or its crushing atmosphere will be deadly to life.  The findings have dashed hopes that life as we know it can exist on super Earths — planets larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.  The gravity of super Earths causes the planets to have thick, crushing hydrogen atmospheres.

Songbirds give clues to babies' babble

Singing zebra finches could one day shed light on how some babies learn to talk faster and more accurately than others.

Pulsar rocked by billion-tonne asteroid

A pulsar 37,000 light-years away has been hit by a billion-tonne asteroid.  Astronomers made the discovery while studying the dusty, high-radiation environment surrounding the tiny spinning husk of the pulsar PSR J0738-4042.

Star-rich galaxy found from universe's early years

Astronomers have found an old and distant galaxy that is believed to date back to a time when the universe was just 650 million years old, a fraction of its current age.  The galaxy, known as Abell 2744_Y1, is about 30 times smaller than the Milky Way, but pumping out stars at a prodigious rate.

Prehistoric carnivore had 'steak knife' teeth

Before dinosaurs walked the Earth, Dimetrodon lived at what are now the southwestern United States and parts of Europe between 298 million and 272 million years ago.

Brown dwarf weather map

The first weather map of an unusual type of star called a brown dwarf has revealed a world where it rains molten iron. A brown dwarf is a low-temperature star that has failed to accumulate enough mass to reach the core temperatures and pressures needed to ignite. Some astronomers suggest brown dwarfs bridge the gap between the largest planets and the smallest stars.

Prairie dogs may do version of “the wave” as alertness test

Black-tailed prairie dogs use a “jumping display” that spreads through their community to test how alert their neighbours are for predators.

How Mars lost its fresh water

The surface of Mars once flowed with water fresh enough to sustain life, according to data collected by two of NASA's Martian rovers. The findings suggest freshwater rivers and streams once existed in the Meridiani Plains region near the Martian equator, 3.8 billion years ago. But all that changed when a huge asteroid impact turned the fresh water into a highly acidic soup.

Astronomers 'see' strands of cosmic web

Astronomers say they have for the first time seen the gas strands theorised to hold the universe together in a "cosmic web". Cosmologists believe that matter between galaxies is distributed in a network of strands known as the cosmic web. The vast majority of atoms in the universe are thought to reside in this web as hydrogen left over from the Big Bang, and galaxies are believed to form at network nodes. Until now, this web had never been seen. Small sections of it had been detected by its absorption of light from bright background sources, but those results didn't reveal its overall structure.

Fossil fish re-defines origins of walking

Fossils of a creature that looked part-fish and part-limbed animal, Tiktaalik roseae, the precursor to walking land animals, represents the best-known transitional species between fish and land-dwelling animals.

Scientists get Pre-RNA molecule to self-assemble

Chemists have found a way to make a pre-RNA molecule assemble itself in a pond-like setting — potentially suggesting a key step in how life originated. Pre-RNA is hypothesised to have eventually evolved via RNA in­to DNA.

“Impossibly” large stellar explosions identified

A newly identified type of stellar explosion breaks all the old rules — and records — for such explosions. The “superluminous” outbursts have been coming to scientists’ attention since the end of the last decade, but no one knew what they were at first. The new study proposes that the blasts are probably associated with the formation of a magnetar, an extraordinarily magnetized, dizzyingly fast-spinning neutron star.

Inbreeding Neanderthals Interbred with Denisovans

DNA sequencing of an ancient toe has revealed long-term inbreeding amongst a Siberian-based Neanderthal population.  The sequencing results also reveal Neanderthals, and a sister group, Denisovans, met and reproduced in the Late Pleistocene between 12,000 and 126,000 years ago.

Scientists discover second, secret DNA code

Scientists have now discovered a second DNA code that suggests the body uses the same alphabet to speak two different languages.  The newfound genetic code was written right on top of the DNA code scientists had already cracked. Rather than concerning itself with proteins, this one instructs the cells on how genes are controlled.

First documented tool use by reptiles

Though the use of objects as hunting lures is very rare in nature, a study says at least two species of crocodiles and alligators use twigs and sticks to lure birds.

Scientists decode oldest DNA of extinct human

Researchers say they have decoded a key part of the DNA for a 400,000-year-old extinct human related to a species of ancestral humans called Denisovans.

Colours help chameleons avoid conflict

Male chameleons use bright and fast-changing colours to give opponents a two-stage warning against fighting them for territory or females.

3,000 year old wine cellar found

Archaeologists have unearthed what they say may be the oldest and largest wine cellar in the Near East, containing 40 jars. Each would have held 50 litres of strong, sweet wine — wine flavoured with mint, honey and a dash of psychotropic resins.

Scientists identify brain area integral to bird intelligence

A brain region known as the nidopallium caudolaterale may be responsible for some of birds’ strategic, intelligent behaviour.

Strong evidence of jet at Milky Way centre

Astronomers have found strong evidence that the huge black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy is shooting out a jet of high-energy particles.

Find said to confirm time of Buddha’s life

Archaeologists say they have dug up evidence of a sixth-century-B.C. structure at the Buddha’s birthplace — the first archaeological material linking his life to a specific century.

Neanderthal living space

Neanderthals organized their living spaces in ways that today’s people would recognize as familiar, scientists say. The finding suggests new similarities between modern humans and Neanderthals, our close evolutionary cousins who died out an estimated 30,000 years ago.

New species of giant clam identified

A colourful new species of giant clam, thought to have been another well-known species, has been discovered on reefs in Western Australia and the Solomon Islands.

Environmental factors found to alter gene expression

Lab mice trained to fear a particular smell can transfer the impulse to their unborn sons and grandsons through a mechanism in their sperm, a study reveals.  The research claims to provide evidence for the concept of animals "inheriting" a memory of their ancestors' traumas, and responding as if they had lived the events themselves.  It is the latest find in the study of epigenetics, in which environmental factors are said to cause genes to start behaving differently without any change to their underlying DNA encoding.

See also

Learn­ed experiences can be transferred through genetic structures — not by changes to genes themselves, but rather, to how they’re “marked” by other molecules.

Chasmosaurus: a horned, plant-eating a relative of Triceratops

A newly unearthed fossil of a baby dinosaur is so complete that it appears to hop out of the rock in which it was entombed. The dinosaur is now believed to be among the best preserved dinosaurs in the world and it is the first known baby Chasmosaurus belli fossil.