Scientists use satellite to smash quantum entanglement distance record

Scientists have used satellite technology for the first time to generate and transmit entangled photons — particles of light — across a record distance of 1,200 kilometres on Earth.

Kepler mission finds 10 Earth-size exoplanets, 209 others

The NASA Kepler mission has discovered 219 more exoplanets, including 10 Earth-size planets.  Ten of the planets are potentially rocky, close to the size of Earth and within the habitable zone of the stars they orbit — meaning they could support liquid water on their surface.

First Use Of Gravitational Lensing To Measure Mass Of Star

Astronomers have used the gravitational warping of light, predicted by Einstein nearly a century ago, to measure the mass of a distant star for the first time.

Oldest Fossils of Homo Sapiens Found in Morocco, Altering History of Our Species

Fossils discovered in Morocco are the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens, scientists reported on Wednesday, a finding that rewrites the story of mankind’s origins and suggests that our species evolved in multiple locations across the African continent.

KELT-9b: most extreme planet ever discovered

A hellish alien Jupiter-like world that is hotter than most stars and glows like a comet has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. The most extreme world ever discovered is so hot it's likely that molecules break apart and atmosphere evaporates.

Third gravitational wave detection puts new spin on black holes

For the third time, physicists have detected a gravitational wave: a tiny ripple in the fabric of space-time.  Like the two previous detections, it came from two colliding black holes, but this pair was much further away and may have been spinning in different directions.

Mummy DNA reveals ancestry of the ancient Egyptians

Mummies from ancient Egypt have revealed that some of them share very little of the sub-Saharan African ancestry that dominates the genetic heritage of modern Egyptians.  Their DNA more closely resembles the genetic heritage of people from the Near East and Levant.

Jupiter: First data from Juno mission reveals massive cyclones and aurorae

The first close-up glimpse of Jupiter's poles reveals massive cyclonic storms, some as large as 1,400 kilometres in diameter, and powerful aurorae — the planet has a magnetic fields 10 times that of Earth.

The earliest-known life on land 3.5 billion years ago

Ancient red rocks in Western Australia's Pilbara contain traces of a hot spring that hosted the earliest-known life on land 3.5 billion years ago. A team of researchers discovered evidence of fossil stromatolites — structures formed by layers of cyanobacteria — in what appears to be an ancient freshwater hot spring.

Study claims humans reached the Americas 130,000 years ago

Some 130,000 years ago, scientists say, a mysterious group of ancient people visited the coastline of what is now Southern California. More than 100,000 years before they were supposed to have arrived in the Americas, these unknown people used five heavy stones to break the bones of a mastodon.

Key ingredient for life found spewing from Saturn's icy moon Enceladus

The likelihood of one of Saturn's moons harbouring life has received a huge boost, thanks to a new discovery made by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The probe has detected traces of molecular hydrogen (H2) in icy plumes spewing from fissures on the surface of Enceladus.

Astronomers detect ultra-faint galaxy from the very early universe

Astronomers have discovered the faintest galaxy ever detected in the early universe. No more than a few pixels in Hubble images, the galaxy appears as it did 13.1 billion years ago — just 700 million years after the big bang.

Dreaming Found To Occur In NREM Sleep

A new study has found a so-called "hot zone" near the back of the brain that is always active during dreaming. The study also confirmed that dreaming does not just happen in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase, associated with fast rhythms of brain activity, but can also take place in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, when brain activity is slower.

Ancient dental plaque shows some Neanderthals ate plants and used drugs

DNA from prehistoric dental plaque shows some Neanderthals were vegetarians who used plant-based medicines. Reconstruction of the oldest microbe genome yet, sequenced from the plaque, also suggests Neanderthals may have kissed or swapped food with other humans at least 120,000 years ago.

Plant-like fossils, believed to be red algae, found in 1.6 billion-year-old rocks

New scanning technology has given scientists an extraordinary view inside the cells of what may be the oldest plant-like fossils ever found. The find pushes back the date of the oldest-known identifiable complex plant-like fossil — also red algae — by 400 million years.

Fossilised filaments from hot ocean vent claimed to be earliest evidence of life on Earth

Tiny mineralised filaments smaller than a human hair found in rocks more than 3.77 billion years old may be evidence of one of the oldest lifeforms on Earth.

Bees learn new tricks from one another

Bumblebees can not only learn to use tools by observing others, they can improvise and make the task even easier.

Seven Earth-Size Exo-Planets Discovered Around Single Star

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.  The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. All of these seven planets could have liquid water – key to life as we know it – under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

Organic material discovered on Ceres hints at potential for life

Simple organic molecules have been detected on the dwarf planet Ceres, adding to evidence it contains key ingredients essential for life. The substances most likely evolved within Ceres, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, rather than being delivered by a cosmic collision.

Pregnant reptile fossil suggests bird ancestors gave birth to live young

The discovery of a fossil of a pregnant marine reptile, Dinocephalosaurus, has provided the first evidence that an ancestor of modern-day birds and crocodiles gave birth to live young.

DNA reveals how pitcher plants evolved to become flesh-eaters

Carnivorous plants around the world all developed their killer habit in surprisingly similar fashion, according to a genetic study of distantly related pitcher plants from Australia, Asia and America.

Most complex bacterium yet discovered

The bacterium Gemmata obscuriglobus has been described as the "platypus of microbiology" because it appears to contain features associated with eukaryotes.  These include a membrane-bounded nucleus, the ability to transport molecules such as proteins into the cell, and its ability to reproduce by a unique way of budding.

Electron microscope image of Gemmata obscuriglobus bacterium reveals several pore-like structures that resemble those found in the membrane of the nucleus in complex cells.

Saccorhytus coronarious

Thought to have lived as long as 540 million years ago, the creature is the oldest known member of a large group of animals known as deuterostomes, which includes vertebrates – such as humans – as well as starfish, sea urchins and a host of other fauna.

Fossils of huge otter unearthed in China

Scientists have unearthed fossils of an intriguingly large otter as big as a wolf that frolicked in rivers and lakes in a lush, warm and humid wetlands region in south-western China about 6.2 million years ago.  Researchers say the outsized otter, called Siamogale melilutra, weighed about 50 kilograms and measured up to two metres long, making it bigger than any of its cousins alive today.

Ants select the most functional tools and further adapt them for use

Ants have been shown to experiment with tools and choose those that were easiest to handle and could soak up plenty of liquid, such as bits of sponge or paper, despite them not being found in the insects’ natural environment.  This suggests that ants can take into account the properties of both the tool and the liquid they are transporting. It also indicates they can learn to use new tools.  Some ant species are known to use tools, such as mud or sand grains, to collect and transport liquid to their nests. But this is the first time they are shown to select the most suitable ones.

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.

Oldest known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in arid Australia found in Flinders Ranges rock shelter

The chance discovery of a rock shelter in the Flinders Ranges has unearthed one of the most important prehistoric sites in Australia. The site, known as Warratyi, shows Aboriginal Australians settled the arid interior of the country around 49,000 years ago — some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. The shelter, about 550 kilometres north of Adelaide, also contains the first reliably dated evidence of human interaction with megafauna. Artefacts excavated at the site also push back the earliest-known dates on the development of key bone and stone axe technologies and the use of ochre in Australia.

Fragments of fossilised dinosaur brain found for the first time

A brown bit of rock picked up in the UK by a professional fossil hunter a decade ago is the first piece of fossilised dinosaur brain tissue ever to be found. The roughly 133-million-year-old tissue comes from a species of dinosaur known as Iguanodon, and comes from a brain that is similar in structure, although larger, to that of modern-day crocodiles and birds.

Carbon nanotubes turn spinach plants into bomb detectors

A group of MIT engineers has converted ordinary spinach plants into biological bomb detectors.  The engineers implanted customised carbon nanotubes into the leaves of living plants to turn them into a real-time monitoring system for explosive molecules.

New titanosaur stretched half the length of a basketball court

A new species of giant long-necked dinosaur called Savannasaurus elliottorum sheds light on the likely origin of Australian titanosaurs.

Oldest syrinx suggests dinosaurs were no songbirds

CAT scans of fossils from a bird called Vegavis iaai that lived in Antarctica 66 million years ago, reveal the presence of a syrinx, an organ unique to birds, which enables birds to produce their amazing array of sounds.

DNA confirms Lapita ancestors of Pacific Islanders came from Asia

The earliest seafaring ancestors of people living in South Pacific islands such as Vanuatu and Tonga arrived from Asia, an analysis of ancient DNA from four skeletons reveals.

Ancient bee fossil reveals secrets of human ancestor’s habitat

A fossilised bee’s nest provides an insight into the local habitat in which the 'Taung child' Australopithecus lived almost 3 million years ago – and hints that more fossils could be waiting to be discovered.

Genome study reveals rich history of Aboriginal Australians

The most comprehensive genomic study of Indigenous Australians to date has revealed modern humans are all descendants of a single wave of migrants who left Africa about 72,000 years ago.  It confirms modern Aboriginal Australians are the descendants of the first people to inhabit Australia.

Blogger Comments:

1. Some modern humans never left Africa, so they are not descended from those who left.
2. The humans that left Africa interbred with descendants of those humans who had left Africa earlier than them.
3. Those descended from these latest emigrants are therefore also descended from the earlier waves of emigrants.

Scientists stop light in a cloud of atoms

The development could be used to make a quantum logic gate, which is an important building block in the development of quantum computers.

Starving black hole at the heart of the mysterious dimming of Markarian 1018 galaxy

An international team of astronomers has cracked the case of a mysterious galaxy that has suddenly dimmed after shining brightly for 30 years.

How Pluto's moon Charon got its red cap

The north pole of Pluto's moon Charon is dark red due to the accumulation of long-chain hydrocarbons called "tholins".

Teleportation of light particles across cities achieved

Scientists have shown they can teleport photons across a city, a development that has been hailed as "a technological breakthrough".

Indigo dye discovered in 6,000-year-old textiles from Peru

Their use of the complex technique involved in creating indigo dye predates its use by ancient Egyptians by about 1,500 years.

Star cluster Terzan 5: a relic from the early universe

An unusual cluster of stars is a "living fossil" from the early Milky Way.  The cluster, known as Terzan 5, contains two distinct types of stars with an age gap of up to 7 billion years.  The discovery has important implications for our understanding of how galaxies formed in the early universe.

Greenland stromatolite fossils push evidence for life back by 220 million years

The oldest fossils known to date have been discovered in 3.7 billion-year-old rocks in Greenland.

Australopithecus afarensis may have spent some time in trees

The Australopithecus afarensis 'Lucy' died after falling from a tree, according to a new study.

Mind-controlled nanobots could release drugs inside your brain

A man has used thought alone to control nanorobots inside a living creature for the first time. The technology released a drug inside cockroaches in response to the man’s brain activity.

Scientists develop small, reprogrammable quantum computer

Quantum computing has hit another "milestone" with the development of a small quantum computer that can be reprogrammed.

Ghost particles may explain why gravity is so surprisingly weak

A new theory claims that the cosmos is full of unseen particle families that don’t interact with each other. If true, the model could explain why gravity is so puzzlingly weak.