Using sensitive instruments onboard ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) mission, astronomers have detected a gamma-ray burst named GRB 231115A from the center of Messier 82 (M82, NGC 3034 or the Cigar Galaxy), a starburst irregular galaxy located 12 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. They suggest that GRB 231115A’s spectral and timing properties,...

ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft have spotted the telltale traces of ‘spiders’ scattered across the southern polar region of Mars. This image of the Martian Inca City was captured by the High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter on February 27, 2024. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin. “Rather than being actual spiders, the Martian ‘spiders’ form when spring sunshine...

New archaeological excavations have revealed repeated phases of human occupation of Umm Jirsan lava tube in the Harrat Khaybar, north-western Saudi Arabia, ranging from at least the Neolithic through to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age (10,000-3,500 years ago). Photographs of Umm Jirsan Cave and its interior sections. Image credit: Stewart et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292. Intensified field research...

An extinct species of giant salmon called Oncorhynchus rastrosus sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks, according to new research. Oncorhynchus rastrosus: (A) CT model of holotype; (B) holotype in anterior view of skull, prior to complete preparation and CT scan; (C) artist’s rendering skull of male iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration;...

The cacao swollen shoot virus disease is among the most economically damaging diseases of cacao trees and accounts for almost 15-50% of harvest losses in Ghana. This virus is transmitted by several species of mealybugs when they feed on cacao plants. Cacao tree with cacao pods attached directly to the tree trunk and branches. Image credit: Gyamera et al., doi: 10.1094/PDIS-10-22-2412-FE. The cacao...

Goldene in the form of gold monolayer sheets has been prepared by etching away titanium carbide (Ti3C2) slabs from titanium gold carbide (Ti3AuC2). Preparation of goldene. Image credit: Kashiwaya et al., doi: 10.1038/s44160-024-00518-4. “If you make a material extremely thin, something extraordinary happens — as with graphene. The same thing happens with gold,” said Dr. Shun Kashiwaya,...

According to several international, regional, and national guidelines on high blood pressure, or hypertension, lifestyle interventions are the first-line treatment to lower blood pressure. Although diet is one of the major lifestyle modifications described in hypertension guidelines, dietary fiber is not specified. Suboptimal intake of foods high in fiber, such as in Westernized diets, is a major...

An international team of scientists has generated the highest quality reference genome to date of the world’s most popular coffee species, Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Their results suggest that this species developed more than 600,000 years ago in the forests of Ethiopia via natural mating between two other coffee species: Coffea eugenioides and Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). Coffea arabica....

Recovering ancient records of Earth’s magnetic field is challenging because the magnetization in rocks is often reset by heating during tectonic burial over their long and complex geological histories. Geoscientists from MIT and elsewhere show that rocks from the Isua Supracrustal Belt in West Greenland have experienced three thermal events throughout their geological history. The first event was...

Recovering ancient records of Earth’s magnetic field is challenging because the magnetization in rocks is often reset by heating during tectonic burial over their long and complex geological histories. Geoscientists from MIT and elsewhere show that rocks from the Isua Supracrustal Belt in West Greenland have experienced three thermal events throughout their geological history. The first event was...