Ancient DNA in Modern Mammals

Research on 38 different species of mammals have revealed traces of ancient endogenous retrovirus DNA that invaded the genome of a common ancestor some 100 million years ago and has propagated by incorporating its genes into our own.

Dark Matter Near Solar System

The most accurate study to date of the motions of more than 400 stars in the Milky Way galaxy has shown no evidence of the presence of dark matter in a large volume around the Sun and solar system, contradicting widely held theories about the prevalence of dark matter.

Evidence for Female Gladiators

New analysis of a 2000-year-old bronze statue of a shirtless woman holding an unidentified tool adds to the support for evidence of females participating as gladiators in fights to the death in Roman amphitheaters, a rare occurrence but a practice acknowledged by first-century historians.

New Purple Crab Species

A new colorful purple crab (Insulamon palawanense) is one of four new crab species recently discovered on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, with its brilliant coloration possibly evolving by chance and not associated with a specific function or adaptation.

New Molecules Carry Genes

Biologists have discovered six new artificial XNA (xeno-nucleic acids) molecules that are capable of encoding genetic information and then copying that information onto a new XNA molecule, a life process that was previously thought unique to DNA.

Printable, Flexible Electronics

The application of a nanoscale conducting polymer as a stable functioning electrode has advanced the technology of flexible and printable electronics, allowing the technology to be mass-produced and avoiding the chemical oxidation used in conventional thin-film electronics.

Ferroelectricity in Amino Acid

Researchers have detected the first proof of ferroelectricity in the simplest known amino acid, glycine, a rare property for biological materials that may lead to a new field of bioelectronic devices and biological interfaces with conventional electronics.

3000 Buddhas Found in China

Archaeologists have unearthed more than 3000 Buddha statues in Handan, China, made of white marble and limestone, estimated to be about 1500 years old and most likely buried to preserve them from an emperor's attempted purge of Buddhism.

Lack of Neutrinos from GRBs

The failure of the South Pole's IceCube telescope to detect any neutrinos knocked down the leading theory on  their connection to gamma ray bursts (GRB), removing a leading explanation for the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays.

Geologic Cause for Cambrian Life

New research suggests a dramatic sedimentary boundary named the "Great Unconformity" of about 600 million years ago represents a shift in geologic conditions resulting in continental weathering of rock exposed by retreating seas, leading to biomineralization and the sudden great diversity of life known as the Cambrian Explosion and the emergence of hard shells and skeletons.

Electron Decay Observed in Solid

Electrons has been observed splitting into two particles (named "spinion" and "orbiton") within the copper-oxide compound Sr₂CuO₃, each carrying the spin and orbital quantum properties but restricted only within the material in which they were produced.

Majorana Fermion Detected

The first evidence has been found of a theoretical particle called a Majorana fermion, a strange particle that is its own antiparticle and whose existence was first predicted by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana in 1937.

Earliest Farming Site in Europe

Closed to Western researchers until the collapse of communism, one of the earliest sites of human farming in continental Europe has been discovered in the town of Vashtëmi in a former wetlands region in southeastern Albania, dating to around 6500 B.C.

Auroras Seen on Uranus

With careful observations using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have viewed and photographed auroras  present on Uranus lasting only a few minutes, the first time such phenomena have been captured with an Earth-based telescope.