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Scientists in China say they have found the oldest flower bud in the fossil record, finally aligning the fossil evidence with the genetic data suggesting flowering plants, or angiosperms, evolved tens of millions of years earlier than we initially thought. The team hopes their discovery will help “ease the pain” around a nagging, centuries-old mystery that … Read more
By Gege Li Two views of LEGEND’s scintillation light detector fibre modules (above and below) with light-capturing fibres (green), part of the equipment needed to try to spot antineutrinos annihilating each other Enrico Sacchetti Photographer Enrico Sacchetti THESE gleaming images, taken by photographer Enrico Sacchetti, show key components of an experiment that could finally shed … Read more
A new cosmic survey project known as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) today released its first results: the most detailed 3D map of the universe to date, which shows the locations of 400,000 galaxies up to distances of 10 billion light-years. The map is the fruit of the project’s first 7 months of operation. … Read more
This zoomed image of the “mystery hut” spotted by China’s Yutu 2 rover in Von Kármán crater on the far side of the moon shows it to be a rabbit-shaped rock called “jade rabbit.” (Image credit: Ourspace/CNSA) China’s Yutu 2 rover has reached the so-called “mystery hut” on the far side of the moon that … Read more
Giant cyclones around the poles of the solar system’s largest planet are generated by the same forces that move water in Earth’s oceans, a new study has found. Jupiter’s gargantuan polar cyclones, which are up to 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) across, were first spotted in 2016 by NASA’s probe Juno. Since then, scientists have speculated … Read more
Earth and Jupiter don’t have a lot in common. One is relatively small, rocky, and habitable. The other is absolutely enormous, completely lacking in solidity, and raging with colossal storms. Yet, if you look at some satellite pictures of marine phytoplankton blooms here on Earth next to pictures of atmospheric turbulence at Jupiter’s poles, it … Read more
The universe is full of mysteries. In observations gathered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers stumbled on yet another mystery, and a dusty one at that. In new research, a team of scientists examines potential causes of strange signals emitted by an object dubbed TIC 400799224. Based on what astronomers have seen so … Read more
The nature and origin of black holes and their role in the evolution of the universe still puzzles scientists. Now, a new study suggests that the existence of black holes from the earliest moments of the universe could explain more than one astronomical mystery. The new study suggests that small primordial black holes filled the … Read more
An artistic visualization of AT2018cow. (Image credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) Science studying a mysterious star explosion known as “the Cow” think the blast could have created a black hole or neutron star. In 2018, scientists spotted the super-bright stellar explosion known as AT2018co, and nicknamed “the Cow”, in a galaxy called CGCG 137-068 … Read more
China’s Yutu 2 lunar rover recently spotted something intriguing on the far side of the moon, but it’ll take the vehicle a few months to reach the object for a closer look. Yutu 2 photographed a strangely cube-shaped rock last month, during the robot’s 36th lunar day of activities. The rover drive team estimates that … Read more