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Science

All articles tagged with #science

science49 minutes ago•41 min saved

Feather in Dino Dung Offers Clues to Birds’ Survival After the Mass Extinction

Researchers analyzed a 66-million-year-old feather preserved in dinosaur dung and suggest that differences in feather insulation helped Neornithes—the modern birds—survive the asteroid-triggered winter, potentially explaining why this lineage endured while others did not; the dung also yielded hesperornithiform remains, illustrating an evolutionary bridge in feather type. Published in Current Biology, the study advocates CT-scanning more fossil dung to uncover additional clues about avian survival.

via Good News Network|

#birds #dinosaurs #extinction

science1 hour ago•23 min saved

Mastodon Tooth Unearthed in California Creek, Spotlighting Open-Space Protections

Brigid Lynch found a 9-inch fossilized Pacific mastodon tooth in a creek at a San Mateo County open-space preserve. Donated to Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability, the tooth—crown and root intact—will be 3D-printed for public outreach, highlighting how protecting open spaces helps reveal ancient wildlife and supports conservation.

via AP News|

#california #fossil #mastodon

science2 hours ago•4 min saved

Ancient Mammal Peptides Offer Fresh Clues Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Scientists used ancestral sequence reconstruction to resurrect lactoferrin-derived antimicrobial peptides dating up to 160 million years, finding some ancient variants more potent against drug-resistant bacteria than modern versions, suggesting evolutionary history can guide future antimicrobial design while noting challenges with stability and delivery.

via SciTechDaily|

#ancestral-sequence-reconstruction #antibiotic-resistance #antimicrobial-peptides

science3 hours ago•2 min saved

New Congo Colobus Species Identified, Called Likweli

Scientists formally describe Colobus congoensis (Likweli), a distinct orange-mouthed, crested black colobus in Lomami National Park, DRC. The species was confirmed through morphology, DNA, and unique calls and is limited to about 656 square miles with small groups (~6 individuals). Weighing ~6.8 kg, it is most closely related to the black colobus, diverging 4–5 million years ago. First photographed in 2008 and later confirmed via evidence collected through 2018–2021, the finding was published in PLOS One in July 2026. With hunting and habitat loss threatening its tiny range, researchers propose Endangered status to protect the species and its forest home.

via DOGO News|

#congo #conservation #endangered

science4 hours ago•8 min saved

Higgs decay at the LHC uncovers entangled Z-boson pair, edging toward a quantum discovery

Physicists at the LHC report strong evidence (4.7 sigma) that a Higgs-boson decay into two Z bosons yields entangled spins, with Z bosons acting as qutrits. The analysis uses the rare Higgs→ZZ→4 leptons channel to infer the spins and show entanglement, including the involvement of a virtual Z due to energy constraints. While not hitting the 5-sigma discovery threshold, the result published in Physical Review Letters provides the strongest evidence to date for entanglement between Z bosons produced in Higgs decays.

via ScienceAlert|

#entanglement #higgs-boson #quantum-mechanics

science5 hours ago•5 min saved

Inductive effect reimagined: Textbooks may have misdescribed electron distribution for a century

A 2024 international study argues the inductive effect in neutral molecules does not extend beyond one bond, challenging a century of textbook explanations and prompting reviews by A-level exam boards and potential changes to how chemistry is taught and understood.

via Science Daily|

#chemistry-education #education-reform #inductive-effect

science5 hours ago•2 min saved

Tracks of a Titan: New T. rex Footprints Reveal Its Ancient Walk

Paleontologists report the first known trackway of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex: a 23-foot-long series of four three-toed footprints in North Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation. 3D scans confirm the massive prints date to about 66.5 million years ago, with a stride of roughly 13 feet and a walking pace of 3.5–4.5 mph, offering rare behavioral insight beyond bones. The site, discovered in 2025 near Marmath, will have three footprints excavated and transported to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where researchers hope to learn more about how the predator moved across its ancient landscape.

via Gizmodo|

#footprints #hell-creek-formation #north-dakota

science6 hours ago•12 min saved

Oldest Crinoid Soft Tissue Found, Hidden in a Montreal Drawer

A Montreal museum specimen of the Ordovician crinoid Dendrocrinus simcoensis, about 450 million years old, preserves the second-ever and oldest-known soft tissue in a crinoid fossil: tube feet along the arms mineralized in place. Discovered by University of Oklahoma paleontologists Lena Cole and David Wright after a student spotted pinhead-sized structures, the find suggests the ancient crab-like filter-feeding could differ from modern relatives and provides a crucial data point rather than a full rewrite of crinoid ecology. The fossil’s exceptional preservation arose from a rare Konservat-Lagerstätten-like sequence, and the study, published in Royal Society Open Science, highlights how discoveries can hide in museum drawers just waiting to be noticed.

via Space Daily|

#crinoid #fossil-preservation #ordovician

science6 hours ago•136 min saved

Moon city dreams meet water reality: a sobering look at lunar settlement

An op-ed argues that despite water ice at the Moon’s poles and abundant solar power, a sustainable Moon city is unlikely: with optimistic water estimates (about a billion tons) and 98% recycling, a one‑million‑person city would run dry in roughly a century, though smaller settlements could persist for centuries. Feasible lunar habitation would require dramatically better recycling, reduced water use (e.g., via vertical farming), imported water, or discovering more water; overall, water is the key bottleneck to real, lasting lunar bases.

via space.com|

#lunar-ice #lunar-sustainability #moon

science6 hours ago•3 min saved

Crescent Moon Guides the Brilliant Venus in Monday Evening Sky

Look west just after sunset Monday to spot a slim crescent Moon near brilliantly bright Venus, which will reach its greatest brightness around Sept. 18 (about magnitude -4.8). In Raleigh, sunset is around 7:23 PM, so find a clear western horizon and enjoy the close pairing, though the objects are millions of miles apart in space (Moon ~240,000 miles from Earth; Venus tens of millions of miles away). Venus’ crescent phase (~25% illuminated) will be easier to see with a telescope or binoculars, and nearby guide stars Spica (to the right) and Antares (to the left) can help with orientation.

via WRAL|

#astronomy #crescent-moon #evening-sky

science7 hours ago•2 min saved

Brilliant Michigan fireball lights up sky, possible Great Lakes landing

A bright fireball meteor was observed over Michigan around 8:47 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 13, 2026), with unconfirmed reports that fragments may have fallen into the Great Lakes (Lake Huron or Lake Ontario). Michigan Storm Chasers circulated sightings and videos, while the piece also explains meteor terminology and offers USGS guidance on identifying meteorites if found.

via Detroit Free Press|

#fireball #great-lakes #meteor

science7 hours ago•213 min saved

LZ Detector Teases Dark Matter Signal, Awaiting Confirmation

A global team analyzing data from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector reports a potential dark matter signal—the strongest hint yet but not a discovery. The event, observed in 2023, has about 2.6-sigma significance with a 0.5% chance of being caused by known background, and researchers are expanding the analysis to ~700 days of data with bias-reduction techniques. Confirmation would require ~5-sigma; independent experiments like XENONnT and PandaX-4T could verify the signal if more events appear.

via CNN|

#dark-matter #lz-experiment #particle-physics

science8 hours ago•18 min saved

Thought-to-Speech Breakthrough Lets a Disabled Patient Speak via Brain Implant

A 68-year-old Michigan woman with a paralyzing neurological disorder used Paradromics’ wireless brain implant to converse in real time, even when she only imagined speaking, as brain signals are decoded by AI and spoken aloud by a computer, letting her talk on the phone with grandchildren and marking a notable advance in brain-computer interfaces.

via The New York Times|

#brain-computer-interface #neural-implant #paradromics

science10 hours ago•15 min saved

Beefalo Genomes Challenge Three-Eighths Standard, Uncover Zebu Influence

A genome-wide study of 47 Beefalo semen samples from founding lines shows 39 animals have no detectable bison ancestry, calling into question the breed standard of three-eighths bison; the eight with bison DNA show only 2–18% ancestry. The analysis also reveals widespread zebu ancestry in 38 of the animals, including Joe’s Pride, which was recorded as over a third bison. The researchers suggest zebu introgression may have shaped the breed’s appearance and that backcrossing patterns explain how bison DNA could appear in a largely taurine/cattle background. Using preserved germplasm and multiple genomic approaches, the study provides a genomic audit that pedigrees alone could not reliably establish the breed’s composition.

via Space Daily|

#ancestry #beefalo #bison

science10 hours ago•14 min saved

Mercury Shrinks Faster Than Thought, Revealing a Cooling Core

New estimates show Mercury has contracted by as much as 14.5 miles since its formation about 4.5 billion years ago, or nearly 1% of its current radius, and at a faster rate (up to 30% quicker) than previously thought, driven by cooling and contraction of its metallic core that wrinkles the planet’s surface; findings rely on surface features and data from missions like BepiColombo, which will orbit Mercury later this year.

via The New York Times|

#bepicolombo #geophysics #mercury