Solitary Superstar Discovered

Astronomers have found an unusually bright star (VFTS 682) in the Large Magellanic Cloud that is about 150 times as massive as our Sun, unusual because stars this massive are generally found in the centers of star clusters but this one exists on its own, leaving its origin unexplained.

Pyramids Found by Satellite

More than 3000 ancient sites including 1000 tombs have been located in Egypt using advanced infrared imaging that has revealed underground structures during a satellite survey of the country.

Earliest Mammals Smelled

Research into the fossils of the earliest evolved mammals living 190 million years ago suggests their larger than average brains first developed to process a sense of smell and tactile sensations.

Giant Saturn Storm Revealed

From infrared observations of the NASA's Cassini probe and the Very Large Telescope array in Chile, a massive subsurface storm has been discovered raging across the entire width of Saturn, reaching some 370 miles into the planet's stratosphere.

Oldest Mine in the Americas

Archaeologists have recently discovered a 12,000-year-old iron oxide mining site in northern Chile dug by the Huentelauquen people, believed to be the oldest evidence for organized mining activity in the Americas.

New Minerals in Meteorites

Two new minerals, named krotite and wassonite, have been discovered inside two different meteorites and join about 60 unique minerals known to date to the formation of our solar system.

Red-Crested Tree Rat

Thought extinct since 1898 and eluding all organized searches since then, the red-crested tree rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) has been rediscovered in a nature reserve of northern Colombia, where it is now designated as "critically endangered."

Billions of Planets Adrift

New data from gravitational microlensing observations estimates there are two Jupiter-mass or larger exoplanets adrift between star systems for every one of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, either ejected from their original planetary systems or stars that failed to form.

Lizard-Snake Fossil Divide

A 47-million-year-old lizard fossil (Cryptolacerta hassiaca) found in Germany appears to be a common ancestor of both a group of lizards called lacertids and snakes, helping to clarify the anatomical connection between snakes and lizards.

New Fossil Primate Species

Fossils of a previously unknown species of primate (Mescalerolemur horneri), having lived during the Eocene about 43 million years ago and resembling a modern-day lemur, have been discovered in the badlands of West Texas.

Crab Nebula's Gamma-Ray Flare

Astronomers are baffled as to the origin of an April 12th gamma-ray burst originating from the Crab Nebula and lasting for six days, reaching intensities some 30 times greater than normal from this exploded supernova that is generally without such energetic activity.

Tarantulas Shoot Silk from Feet

A new study of various tarantula species reveals the spiders shoot silk from their feet using tiny spigots to stay attached to surfaces instead of drawing it from a single silk-producing spinneret organ.

Ozone Hole Recovery

Twenty-two years after the Montreal Protocol banned the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), the first recovery in baseline springtime ozone levels has been detected, signalling the beginning of successful repair of the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic.

Io's Magma "Ocean"

New analysis of data from the Galileo spacecraft reveals a large "ocean" of magma or partially molten rock below the crust of Jupiter's moon Io, explaining why this moon is the most volcanic body in the solar system.