Can feces save the species?
It's a tough job, but somebody, or at least some dogs, have to do it. In the Cerrado region of Brazil, four dogs trained to detect animal feces by scent are helping researchers monitor rare and threatened wildlife such as jaguar, tapir, giant anteater and maned wolf in and around Emas National Park, a protected area with the largest concentration... view more... (2008-05-13)
Was male domination deadly for dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs suddenly died out because they gave birth to too many males as a result of climate change. This is the theory put forward by David Miller of medicine and Jonathen Summers of mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds. They believe that dinosaur populations died out because the sex of their offspring was determined by temperature.... view more... (2004-05-10)
Mars Express discovers aurorae on Mars
ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has for the first time ever detected an aurora on Mars. This aurora is of a type never previously observed in the Solar System. view more (2005-06-10)
When animals evolve on islands, size doesn't matter
A theory explaining the evolution of giant rodents, miniature elephants, and even miniature humans on islands has been called into questions by new research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. view more (2007-11-07)
Orphan stars found in long galaxy tail
Astronomers have found evidence that stars have been forming in a long tail of gas that extends well outside its parent galaxy. This discovery suggests that such "orphan" stars may be much more prevalent than previously thought. view more (2007-09-21)
Ancient volcanic eruptions caused global mass extinction
A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260million years ago has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds. view more (2009-05-29)
UBC astronomers discover how white dwarf stars get their 'kicks'
University of British Columbia astronomer Harvey Richer and UBC graduate student Saul Davis have discovered that white dwarf stars are born with a natal kick, explaining why these smoldering embers of Sun-like stars are found on the edge rather than at the centre of globular star clusters. view more (2007-12-05)
Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution
Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas, microbiologists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at... view more... (2008-09-08)
Astronomers Discover Mysterious New Star Clusters
A UK-led team of astronomers has discovered a completely new type of star cluster around a neighbouring galaxy. view more (2005-04-02)
What is wrong with intelligent design?
In a thought-provoking paper from the March issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology , Elliott Sober (University of Wisconsin) clearly discusses the problems with two standard criticisms of intelligent design: that it is unfalsifiable and that the many imperfect adaptations found in nature refute the hypothesis of intelligent design. view more (2007-02-23)
Spongy-looking hyperion tumbles into view
Two new Cassini views of Saturn's tumbling moon Hyperion offer the best looks yet at one of the icy, irregularly-shaped moons that orbit the giant, ringed planet. view more (2005-07-13)
Extinct moa rewrites New Zealand's history
DNA recovered from fossilised bones of the moa, a giant extinct bird, has revealed a new geological history of New Zealand, reports a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. view more (2009-11-18)
Three new 'Trojan' asteroids found sharing Neptune's orbit
Three new objects locked into roughly the same orbit as Neptune—called "Trojan" asteroids—have been found by researchers from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) and the Gemini Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii. view more (2006-06-16)
Earlier global warming produced a whole new form of life
Researchers from McGill University, along with colleagues from the California Institute of Technology, the Curie Institute in Paris, Princeton University and other institutions, have unearthed crystalline magnetic fossils of a previously unknown species of microorganism that lived at the boundary of the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, some 55 million... view more... (2008-10-23)
Watching a Cannibal Galaxy Dine
A new technique using near-infrared images, obtained with ESO's 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT), allows astronomers to see through the opaque dust lanes of the giant cannibal galaxy Centaurus A, unveiling its "last meal" in unprecedented detail - a smaller spiral galaxy, currently twisted and warped. view more (2009-11-23)
1,000 tags reveal mysteries of giant bluefin tuna
A giant Atlantic bluefin tuna weighing more than half a ton had the honor of being fitted with the 1000th electronic tracking tag placed on this threatened species when it was caught and released on Monday (October 20) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Port Hood, Nova Scotia. view more (2008-10-30)
Data show Antarctic ice stream radiating seismically
A seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have found seismic signals from a giant river of ice in Antarctica that makes California's earthquake problem seem trivial. view more (2008-06-05)
NASA'S Chandra finds black holes stirring up galaxies
Black holes are creating havoc in unsuspected places, according to a new study of images of elliptical galaxies made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. view more (2006-01-11)
High Energy Mystery lurks at the Galactic Centre
A mystery lurking at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy - an object radiating high-energy gamma rays - has been detected by an international team of astronomers. Their research, published today (September 22nd) in the Journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, was carried out using the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), an array of four... view more... (2004-09-22)
Search for the water of life -- UCL astronomers find water on extra-solar planet
Researchers at UCL (University College London) are part of an international team which has discovered water on an extra-solar planet for the first time. view more (2007-07-12)
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