A mosaic image of Mars created from over 100 images taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. (Credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA)
For years, astronomers have wondered where the Red Planet got its organic carbon compounds, which are thought to be necessary for life as we know it on Earth. That organic carbon often comes from biological sources on Earth, but researchers have been working to figure out how they’re created on Mars. Now, a new analysis of Martian meteorites indicates that the o ...read more
This artist’s concept shows the Dawn Spacecraft in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. (Credit: NASA/JPL)
Eleven years ago, NASA launched the Dawn spacecraft toward our main asteroid belt, bound for its two largest rocky worlds. In 2011, Dawn arrived at Vesta, then made its way to Ceres in 2015. After becoming the first spacecraft to orbit two worlds beyond Earth, as well as the first to visit a dwarf planet — arriving at Ceres just months before New Horizons’ flyby of Pluto ...read more
The gut microbiome may be an important window to our health and understanding the obesity epidemic. (Credit: Anatomy Insider/Shutterstock)
Immigrating to another country changes everything — including your gut bacteria.
When immigrants and refugees move to the United States, their gut microbiome rapidly Westernizes and becomes less diverse, according to a new study that analyzed the effects of migration on Hmong and Karen immigrant communities in Minnesota. Their findings ...read more
A time-lapse created by astronomer Yvette Cendes shows the shockwave of Supernova 1987A expanding outward and crashing into debris. (Credit: Yvette Cendes, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto)
Astronomers have been captivated by Supernova 1987A — the death of a supergiant star about 168,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud — since it was first spotted in the night sky in 1987.
Supernova 1987A remains the brightest supernova hu ...read more
Human cells infected with human papillomavirus. (Credit: Komsan Loonprom/Shutterstock)
One version of the human papillomavirus, which leads to most cases of cervical cancer, evolved in humans as a result of sex with Neanderthal, a new study shows.
The American Cancer Society estimates more than 13,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer this year and 30 percent will die from the disease. HPV is responsible for nearly every case of cervical cance ...read more
Onlookers view the critically endangered Chinese sturgeon at the Beijing Aquarium. (Credit: Wikimedia)
Critically endangered Chinese sturgeon may be even worse off than we thought, reports a team of researchers from the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research in Beijing.
These ancient fish are anadromous, which means they live in the ocean and migrate up rivers to spawn in fresh water. For the Chinese sturgeon, this annual spawning quest brings them up China’s Yangtze ...read more
