First Record of Mirror Neurons

Previously only a theory, researchers have proven the existence of so-called mirror neurons in the human brain, the mechanism by which we recognize, sympathize and empathize with others and which makes us unique among animals.

Greco-Roman Mummy

Archaeologists have discovered 14 Greco-Roman tombs dating to the third century A.D., including a female mummy still wearing jewelry, in the Egyptian necropolis at Bahariya Oasis south of Cairo.

Lightning Grows Mushrooms

Recent Japanese experiments have demonstrated that lightning bolt-strength applications of electricity to the soil can more than double the yield of certain varieties of mushrooms, essentially proving an old farmer's superstition.

"Revolutionary" Kidney Genes

The identification of 20 key genes that control kidney functions such as filtering wastes from the blood is being described as "revolutionary" toward an effective treatment for chronic conditions and disease.

Venus Is Geologically Active

New data from the ESA's Venus Express mission has shown evidence of recent lava flows on the surface of Venus, making it one of the few bodies in the solar system to be geologically active within the past 3 million years.

New Hominid Discovered

Two skeletons of a new hominid (Australopithicus sediba) discovered in South Africa are being called the "Rosetta stone" of anthropology, possessing species traits of both older hominid ancestors and modern humans.

Animals Living Without Oxygen

Deep-sea studies in the Mediterranean have revealed new multicellular organisms (loriciferans) up to a millimeter in length living in 10,000-feet deep basins of completely anoxic (oxygen-free) water loaded with toxic levels of sulfides.

New Dragon-Sized Lizard

A newly discovered fruit-eating monitor lizard (Varanus bitatawa) that lives in trees in the Philippines island of Luzon and can grow to six feet in length has been recognized as a new species, an extremely rare find for large land-dwelling vertebrates.

Element 117 Discovered

Russian and American scientists have created a mere six atoms of a new heavy element with atomic number 117, for now named "ununseptium" and awaiting confirmation from other laboratories.

Velociraptor Caught Feeding

Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of a Velociraptor caught feeding on the remains of a herbivore Protoceratops and suggesting a scavenging role for the predator, a rare example of evidence for dinosaur behavior.

Acoustic Lens Developed

Inspired by an office toy, researchers have developed an acoustic lens comprised of parallel rows of stainless-steel spheres that could lead to near photo-quality images of internal organs or even "sound bullets" that could be focused to act as sonic scalpels.

"Roaming" Magnetic Fields

NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope has discovered massively large but weak "roaming" magnetic fields throughout the universe that may have served as "seed" fields for galactic formation but whose origins predate the galaxies and remain unclear.

"Roadrunner" Dinosaur Found

Paleontologists have discovered a tiny "roadrunner" dinosaur (Xixianykus zhangi) in China, one of the smallest dinosaurs ever known and the first of its particular type, known as an alvarezsaurid theropod.

First Southern T. rex Found

Paleontologists in Australia have discovered the first tyrannosaur fossils in the Southern Hemisphere, a distant and smaller relative to T. rex, where previously the species had only been known from fossils found on northern continents.