ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) has revealed a four-planet system whose outermost world is a small and rocky planet — not a gas giant. The unexpected arrangement around the nearby red dwarf star LHS 1903 suggests that the outermost member of the system formed long after the others, providing the strongest observational hint yet that planets can emerge in gas-poor conditions...

In a paper to be published in the Planetary Science Journal, scientists from SETI Institute, Southwest Research Institute, Caltech and the Observatoire de Paris argue that two Saturnian moons, Titan and Hyperion, are not primordial worlds, but the result of a dramatic merger between two ancient moons. The findings could rewrite theories about how Titan’s thick atmosphere emerged and may even help...

A tiny copper-alloy object long dismissed as a simple awl has been reclassified as the earliest known rotary metal drill from ancient Egypt. Original photograph of the Badari drill published in 1927 by Guy Brunton (left) and the actual artifact. Image credit: Martin Odler & Jiří Kmošek, doi: 10.1553/AEundL35s289. The ancient drill is only 6.3 cm (2.5 inches) long and weighs about 1.5 grams. Dating...

Apteribis, an extinct species of ibis that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands, occupied a niche similar to that of the New Zealand kiwi: a nocturnal, flightless bird that relies on tactile cues from its beak to detect prey, according to a new study by scientists from the University of Lethbridge, Flinders University and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Apteribis. Image credit:...

The consistent performance of Kanzi the bonobo in pretend play experiments suggests that the mental capacity to imagine nonexistent objects may trace back 6 to 9 million years, rewriting assumptions about the uniqueness of human imagination. Kanzi the bonobo. Image credit: Ape Initiative. “It really is game-changing that their mental lives go beyond the here and now,” said Dr. Christopher Krupenye,...

Physicists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst argue that an ultra-high-energy neutrino detected by the KM3NeT experiment could be the signature of an explosion of a ‘quasi-extremal primordial black hole,’ pointing toward new physics beyond the Standard Model. The KM3NeT experiment has recently observed a neutrino with an energy around 100 PeV, and IceCube has detected five neutrinos with...

New research reviewing decades of nutritional studies suggests that pecans — rich in polyphenols, healthy fats, and fiber — may improve diet quality and lipid profiles, offering potential cardiometabolic benefits beyond simple calorie counts. Pecans are a tree nut native to America with a rich content of unsaturated fatty acids, minerals, fiber, and a diverse array of bioactive components,...

The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is a cold-adapted herbivore that went extinct around 14,000 years ago, but little is known about their population decline prior to extinction. In new research, scientists from the Centre for Palaeogenetics and Stockholm University generated a high-coverage genome from one of the last known woolly rhinoceros remains, which was recovered from the stomach...

New orbital data reveal that the most recently active volcanic systems on Mars weren’t simple one-off blasts into space; instead, long-lived magmatic plumbing beneath Pavonis Mons, one of the Red Planet’s largest volcanoes, reshaped lava flows over time, with distinct eruptive phases and evolving chemical signatures, offering fresh insights into the planet’s inner dynamics and how rocky planets...

A new analysis of exquisitely preserved laminated rocks (varves) from the Port Askaig Formation on the Garvellach Islands, Scotland, shows that climate oscillations occurred on annual, decadal, and centennial timescales during the Sturtian glaciation (717-658 million years ago), the most severe Snowball Earth event. An artist’s impression of Earth around 700 million years ago during the Sturtian...