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Categories: Paleontology: Fossils, Space: The Solar System
Published How did a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way come to be?



Crater 2, located approximately 380,000 light years from Earth, is one of the largest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Extremely cold and with slow-moving stars, Crater 2 has low surface brightness. How this galaxy originated remains unclear. A team of physicists now offers an explanation.
Published Webb telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star system



Astronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming activity.
Published The solar system may have passed through dense interstellar clouds 2 million years ago, altering Earth's climate



Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in geologic climate models.
Published In a significant first, researchers detect water frost on solar system's tallest volcanoes



An international team of planetary scientists has detected patches of water frost sitting atop the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars, which are not only the tallest volcanic mountains on the Red Planet but in the entire solar system.
Published Small, cool and sulfurous exoplanet may help write recipe for planetary formation



Astronomers observing exoplanet GJ 3470 b saw evidence of water, carbon dioxide, methane and sulfur dioxide. Astronomers hope the discovery of this exoplanet's sulfurous atmosphere will advance our understanding of how planets forms.
Published In new experiment, scientists record Earth's radio waves from the moon



Odysseus, a tenacious lander built by the company Intuitive Machines, almost didn't make it to the moon. But an experiment aboard the spacecraft managed to capture an image of Earth as it might look to observers on a planet far from our own.
Published Lake under Mars ice cap unlikely



Researchers have provided a simple and comprehensive -- if less dramatic -- explanation for bright radar reflections initially interpreted as liquid water beneath the ice cap on Mars' south pole.
Published Tiny new species of great ape lived in Germany 11 million years ago



Ancient apes in Germany co-existed by partitioning resources in their environment, according to a new study.
Published Earth and space share the same turbulence



Researchers have discovered that the turbulence found in the thermosphere -- known as the gateway to space -- and turbulence in the troposphere, here closer to sea level, follow the same physical laws despite having drastically different atmospheric compositions and dynamics.
Published Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter



In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose. The gravitational pull from these tiny, invisible objects could potentially explain all the dark matter that we can't see today.
Published Planet-forming disks around very low-mass stars are different



Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers studied the properties of a planet-forming disk around a young and very low-mass star. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon composition seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, including the first extrasolar detection of ethane and a relatively low abundance of oxygen-bearing species. By including previous similar detections, this finding confirms a trend of disks around very low-mass stars to be chemically distinct from those around more massive stars like the Sun, influencing the atmospheres of planets forming there.
Published Tiny roundworms carve out unique parasitic niche inside pseudoscorpion's protective covering



In a parasitic first, a Baltic amber specimen has revealed that millions of years ago tiny worms known as nematodes were living inside of and feeding on the outer protective layer of pseudoscorpions.
Published Olivine unlocks the secrets of the Moon's interior



New partitioning coefficients of first-transition row elements, Ga and Ge between olivine and silicate melt have been reported. New high-temperature experiments have investigated the effects of oxygen fugacity and iron content on these partition coefficients. This newly compiled dataset offers insights into interpreting trace elements found in olivine phenocrysts within lunar basalts, shedding light on the deep interior composition of the Moon.
Published Fishy mystery of marine reptile solved



The identity of a prehistoric marine reptile has finally been revealed after experts discovered that some of its remains actually belonged to fish.
Published Scientists detect slowest-spinning radio emitting neutron star ever recorded



Scientists have detected what they believe to be a neutron star spinning at an unprecedentedly slow rate -- slower than any of the more than 3,000 radio emitting neutron stars measured to date.
Published 'Missing' early sea sponges discovered



Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.
Published 'Weird' new planet retained atmosphere despite nearby star's relentless radiation



A rare exoplanet that should have been stripped down to bare rock by its nearby host star's intense radiation somehow grew a puffy atmosphere instead -- the latest in a string of discoveries forcing scientists to rethink theories about how planets age and die in extreme environments. Nicknamed 'Phoenix' for its ability to survive its red giant star's radiant energy discovered planet illustrates the vast diversity of solar systems and the complexity of planetary evolution -- especially at the end of stars' lives.
Published Gigantic Jurassic pterosaur fossil unearthed in Oxfordshire, UK



A team of palaeontologists has discovered a fossil of a gigantic flying reptile from the Jurassic period with an estimated wingspan of more than three metres -- making it one of the largest pterosaurs ever found from that era.
Published Researchers call for strengthening sustainability regulations in laws governing space exploration



Researchers call for strengthening existing planetary protection policies beyond the space surrounding Earth to include requirements for preserving the Lunar and Martian environments.
Published Martian meteorites deliver a trove of information on Red Planet's structure



Mars has a distinct structure in its mantle and crust with discernible reservoirs, and this is known thanks to meteorites that scientists have analyzed. These results are important for understanding not only how Mars formed and evolved, but also for providing precise data that can inform recent NASA missions like Insight and Perseverance and the Mars Sample Return.