The youngest dinosaur preserved in the fossil record before the catastrophic meteor impact 65 million years ago has been discovered in Montana. [Read more...]
Shark scoops out flesh like melon-baller
Don’t let their size fool you. At only two feet, cookiecutter sharks can do serious damage by scooping out flesh with their unique jaws, leaving crater-like wounds. Unlike other sharks, a cookiecutter’s teeth are connected at the bottom in the lower jaw. When feeding, the shark bites its victim and then rotates to remove a plug of flesh, “kind of like using a melon baller,” says George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida. [Read more...]
Universe born in a spin—and still whirling?
New research suggests the shape of the Big Bang might be more complicated than previously thought. Physicists and astronomers have long believed that the universe has mirror symmetry, like a basketball. [Read more...]
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Universe’s most distant quasar
Astronomers have discovered the most distant quasar to date—around 100 million years younger than the previous title holder. This brilliant and rare beacon, powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the Sun, is by far the brightest object yet found from a time when the Universe was less than 800 million years old—just a fraction of its current age. [Read more...]
Bendy robot wiggles like a big worm
A robot built with a series of springs along the length of its body has the flexibility to move like a worm around obstacles. The super-sized “worm-bot” is modeled on the C. elegans nematode, a tiny free-living worm that uses an ultra-simple nervous system to control the way that it moves. [Read more...]
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Pollen fossils from Antarctic’s warmer days
By studying fossilized grains of pollen, researchers have reconstructed the climate history of the Antarctic Peninsula, which gave up its vegetation about 12 million years ago. Scientists are studying the region because it has warmed significantly in recent decades. [Read more...]
Better 3-D from amazing shrimp eyes
A shrimp with a sharp eye is giving researchers insight into how to improve CD, DVD, blu-ray, and holographic technology. Peacock mantis shrimp are one of only a few animal species that can see circularly polarized light—like that used to create 3-D movies. In fact, some researchers believe the mantis shrimp’s eyes are better over the entire visual spectrum than any existing man-made waveplates. [Read more...]
Coated sand filters dirty water
A bit of nanotech “magic” is turning sand into a super-effective water purifier. By coating coarse grains of sand with graphite oxide, researchers at Rice University have created a material that is several times more efficient at removing contaminants than sand alone. The breakthrough may benefit developing countries where more than a billion people lack clean drinking water. [Read more...]
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Is Saturn moon hiding a salty ocean?
Samples of icy spray ejected from a Saturn moon and collected by the Cassini spacecraft make a strong case for the existence of a subterranean saltwater ocean. Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed “tiger stripes” near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. [Read more...]
Black hole eats star, spews light beam
A big, bright bang recorded by astronomers came from a distant black hole that ripped apart a star and blasted an energy beam to Earth. Seen above is an artist’s impression of the star just before it was ripped apart by the supermassive black hole. [Read more...]
