The globular cluster Messier 30 contains some of the oldest stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. New observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offer clues to how these stellar populations formed and evolved, and whether some of them originated beyond our home Galaxy. This image of Messier 30 includes the wide range of wavelengths Hubble can see: ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light;...

Haloferax volcanii, a model halophilic (salt-loving) archaeon, showed growth during a 160-day experiment simulating Martian subsurface brine, according to a paper published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors stress the result does not mean life exists on Mars. This SEM micrograph (12,000x magnification) shows Haloferax volcanii after 160 days of anaerobic incubation...

A new analysis by University of South Wales Professor Duncan Pirrie and his colleagues undercuts the leading theory that the 6-ton slab of sandstone came from northeastern Scotland, though the geologists stop short of ruling it out entirely. The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel. Image credit: Nick Pearce,...

A pennaceous (vaned) feather trapped in Burmese amber about 99 million years ago, during the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous period, is the longest three-dimensionally preserved example of its kind yet described. Morphology of ECNU A0033, the largest known pennaceous feather embedded in amber. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2026.09.020. “Feathers, the primary integumentary structures...

Haloferax volcanii, a model halophilic (salt-loving) archaeon, showed growth during a 160-day experiment simulating Martian subsurface brine, according to a paper published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors stress the result does not mean life exists on Mars. This SEM micrograph (12,000x magnification) shows Haloferax volcanii after 160 days of anaerobic incubation...

Physicists with the LHCb Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced today evidence for an extremely rare particle decay that scientists have chased for more than four decades, and their result agrees with the Standard Model of particle physics. The LHCb magnet. Image credit: CERN. “What we found in these latest results is an incredibly rare decay of one of these beauty particles,...

Scientists have identified a receptor on sensory nerves that appears to detect a fatty-acid byproduct found at high levels in psoriasis skin, and blocking it eased itch and skin thickening in mice. Wheeler et al. identify a metabolic- to-sensory axis in which EKODE, an endogenous dietary linoleic acid derivative, acts as a potent ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor 35 (Gpr35) to drive chronic...

Humans and chimpanzees share more than 96% of their protein-coding DNA, yet human brains are roughly three times larger and far more complex. New research led by Lund University scientists suggests that part of the explanation may lie in a viral infection that struck chimpanzee ancestors millions of years ago and never reached ours. Gerdes et al. show that LINC00662, a human-specific transcript expressed...

A new analysis by University of South Wales Professor Duncan Pirrie and his colleagues undercuts the leading theory that the 6-ton slab of sandstone came from northeastern Scotland, though the geologists stop short of ruling it out entirely. The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel. Image credit: Nick Pearce,...

Few people enjoy their first sip of coffee, yet millions come to crave it. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, say they have identified part of the reason: a slow dopamine signal that runs from the gut to the brain and teaches us to like foods that make us feel good. Their findings appear today in the journal Nature. Grove et al. identify a dopamine pathway that enables learning...