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Astronomers using NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have detected 97 disks of gas and dust around young protostars in the constellation of Orion, which is home to the closest star-forming regions to Earth. This image shows the Orion Molecular Clouds, the target of the VANDAM survey; yellow dots are the locations of the observed protostars...

Some icy moons in the outer Solar System likely contain an ocean beneath their ice shells. Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to have an ocean beneath its ice shell and may be especially suitable for life if radiolytic oxidants generated at its surface travel efficiently through the ice. A research team headed by University of Texas at Austin’s Dr. Marc Hesse proposes that oxidants can be transported...

Declining temperature has been thought to explain the abandonment of Norse settlements in southern Greenland in the early 15th century CE, although limited evidence is available from the inner settlement region itself. In a new study, scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and elsewhere reconstructed the temperature and hydroclimate history from lake sediments at a site adjacent...

By analyzing the density of bones of several spinosaurid dinosaurs and comparing them to other animals like penguins, hippos, and alligators, Field Museum of Natural History paleontologist Matteo Fabbri and his colleagues found that Spinosaurus and its close relative Baryonyx both had dense bones that would have allowed them to submerge themselves underwater to hunt. Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Image...

If the United Kingdom joins a handful of other nations to recognize the sentience of invertebrates, such as octopuses, crabs, lobsters and crayfish, by, for example, prohibiting the boiling of live lobsters, this will be based on evidence that emotions and felt experiences (i.e., sentience) are not limited to animals close to humans, such as the mammals. This topic has been heavily debated in both...

The signature feature of black holes is that they are black — objects which fall into the hole can no longer be seen and can no longer influence the outside Universe. In classical general relativity, ‘no hair’ theorems severely restrict the properties of a black hole which can affect other objects. These are limited to its total mass, spin, and charge. Now, four theoretical physicists show...

Queensland Brain Institute’s Dr. Timothy Bredy and colleagues have discovered an experience-induced non-coding RNA, named ADRAM (activity-dependent lncRNA associated with memory), while investigating how the human genome responds to traumatic experiences. This image shows subcellular localization of ADRAM (red) in primary cortical neurons. Scale bar – 20 μm. Image credit: Wei et al., doi:...

Queensland Brain Institute’s Dr. Timothy Bredy and colleagues have discovered an experience-induced non-coding RNA, named ADRAM (activity-dependent lncRNA associated with memory), while investigating how the human genome responds to traumatic experiences. This image shows subcellular localization of ADRAM (red) in primary cortical neurons. Scale bar – 20 μm. Image credit: Wei et al., doi:...

Calcium silicate perovskite (CaSiO3) is arguably the most geochemically important phase in the Earth’s lower mantle, because it concentrates elements that are incompatible in the upper mantle. No one has ever successfully retrieved this high-pressure compound from the lower mantle before. This is because CaSiO3-perovskite is ‘unquenchable,’ meaning that it cannot retain its structure after...

If the United Kingdom joins a handful of other nations to recognize the sentience of invertebrates, such as octopuses, crabs, lobsters and crayfish, by, for example, prohibiting the boiling of live lobsters, this will be based on evidence that emotions and felt experiences (i.e., sentience) are not limited to animals close to humans, such as the mammals. This topic has been heavily debated in both...