The James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed the spacecraft’s 70-foot sunshield, a key milestone in preparing it for science operations. The sunshield – about the size of a tennis court at full size – was folded to fit inside the payload area of an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket’sContinue Reading
Social bonds extend beyond the roost and may save time and energy when hunting Vampire bats may be bloodthirsty, but that doesn’t mean they can’t share a drink with friends. Fights can erupt among bats over gushing wounds bit into unsuspecting animals. But bats that have bonded while roosting oftenContinue Reading
Humanity is heading back to the Moon, and this time, we’re planning to stay. But for long-term space missions, astronauts would need infrastructure to live and work, to move around, to communicate with Earth, and to produce oxygen and water vital for survival. Taking all this infrastructure from Earth wouldContinue Reading
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, TESS, was launched in 2018 with the goal of discovering small planets around the Sun’s nearest neighbor stars. TESS has so far discovered 172 confirmed exoplanets and compiled a list of 4703 candidate exoplanets. Its sensitive camera takes images that span a huge field ofContinue Reading
The magnetic ropes may surround our planet. Our planet, along with the rest of the solar system and some nearby stars, may be trapped inside a giant magnetic tunnel — and astronomers don’t know why. A tube of vast magnetized tendrils, 1,000 light-years long and invisible to the naked eye,Continue Reading
A new fossil skeleton of an extinct species of bird from northeastern China that lived alongside dinosaurs 120 million years ago unexpectedly preserves a bony tongue that is nearly as long as its head. The skull is very well preserved, showing that it had a relatively short snout and smallContinue Reading
A new study has found that a class of toxins found in snake and mammalian venom evolved from the same ancestral gene. A new study has found that venoms found in snakes and mammals share a common origin Researchers traced the origin of a class of toxins, called kallikrein serineContinue Reading
Male elephants are more aggressive when fewer older males are present, new research suggests. The research, by the University of Exeter, suggests that the removal of old male elephants, which are often the targets of trophy hunting, could lead to increased human-wildlife conflict. The study, in collaboration with Elephants forContinue Reading
Cooperation and aggression. Meerkats are showing us that one may not be possible without the other. In a study appearing this week in the journal Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by Christine Drea, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University, shows that testosterone-fueled aggression may be a crucialContinue Reading
Theropod dinosaurs evolved more robust jaws through time allowing them to consume tougher food, a new study reveals. Researchers used digital modeling and computer simulation to uncover a common trend of jaw strengthening in theropods — expanding the rear jaw portion in all groups, as well as evolving an upturnedContinue Reading
