Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an amazing new photo of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Markarian 178. This Hubble image shows the blue compact dwarf galaxy Markarian 178. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Annibali / S. Hong. Markarian 178 is located approximately 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. Also known as Mrk 178, LEDA 35684...

During November 2025, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) used five of its science instruments to observe 3I/ATLAS, the second interstellar comet ever spotted in our cosmic neighborhood. In addition, the probe captured a new image of the interstellar visitor with its Navigation Camera (NavCam). This image from ESA’s Juice spacecraft shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: ESA...

Ethnohistoric and recent archaeological evidence suggest that Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was a politically decentralized society organized into small, relatively autonomous kin-based communities across the island. The more than 1,000 monumental statues (moai) thus raise a critical question: was production at Rano Raraku — the primary moai quarry — centrally controlled or did it mirror the...

The Carreras Pampa site in the Torotoro National Park, Bolivia, records 1,321 trackways and 289 solitary tracks, totaling 16,600 theropod dinosaur tracks; 280 swim trackways, totaling 1,378 swim tracks; and several trackways with tail traces. Dinosaur footprints at the Carreras Pampa tracksite in the Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. Image credit: Esperante et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0335973. Bolivia...

Although dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus) can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, hybridization between the two is far more rare than domestic and wild populations of other species. In new research, scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the University of California Davis combined highly sensitive...

In his new book ‘A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time,’ Wake Forest University’s Professor Adrian Bardon proposes that our sense of the passage of time is an example of psychological projection — a type of cognitive error that involves misconceiving the nature of your own experience. Time is an example of psychological projection. Image credit: Gemini AI. ‘Time flies,’ ‘time...

Black cumin seeds have traditionally been valued for their medicinal properties. In a new study, researchers explored its potential in addressing obesity-related conditions. Ahmed et al. suggest that black cumin seed (Nigella sativa) may serve as a promising natural agent in obesity-related conditions. Image credit: Andre Holz / CC BY-SA 3.0. Nigella sativa, or black cumin, is a flowering plant from...

Scientists have successfully extracted and sequenced ancient RNA from permafrost-preserved tissues of 10 woolly mammoths. One of these, dated to be 39,000 years old, represents the oldest ancient RNA sequences recorded to date. Mármol-Sánchez et al. found ancient RNA molecules in Late Pleistocene woolly mammoth tissues. Image credit: Mármol-Sánchez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.10.025. Sequencing...

For decades, scientists have been baffled by two enormous structures buried deep inside Earth. These anomalies may retain geochemical signatures distinct from the surrounding mantle. Yet, their origin remains enigmatic. Rutgers University geodynamicist Yoshinori Miyazaki and colleagues offer a striking explanation for these anomalies and their role in shaping Earth’s ability to support life. The...

In a new paper published in the journal ChemSystemsChem, Hiroshima University’s Professor Tony Jia and colleagues outline the ‘prebiotic gel-first’ framework, which considers how the origin of life could have potentially emerged within surface-attached gels. The authors also discuss the potential existence of ‘xeno-films,’ i.e., alien biofilm-like structures composed of non-terrestrial...