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Dinosaurs May Have Been Wiped Out by β€˜Oddball’ Space Rock

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

By analyzing nickel isotopes preserved in the 66-million-year-old debris left by the Chicxulub impact, researchers conclude that the asteroid responsible for Earth’s last mass extinction most likely belonged to an exceptionally rare class of primitive meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites of the Ornans type (CO chondrites).

The post Dinosaurs May Have Been Wiped Out by β€˜Oddball’ Space Rock appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Potential Atmosphere Detected on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140b

An artist’s concept of rocky planets LHS 1140b and LHS 1140c. Image credit: Melissa Weiss / Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.

Using spectral data from the Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, astronomers detected helium escaping from LHS 1140b, a rocky exoplanet that orbits in the habitable zone of the nearby low-mass star LHS 1140.

The post Potential Atmosphere Detected on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140b appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Scientists Discover New Monkey Species in Democratic Republic of Congo

Colobus congoensis. Image credit: Daniel Rosengren, Frankfurt Zoological Society.

Researchers have identified and formally described a new species of the African monkey genus Colobus living in the remote interior of the Democratic Republic of Congo, marking only the fifth new monkey species found on the continent in the past 75 years.

The post Scientists Discover New Monkey Species in Democratic Republic of Congo appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Crested Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada

Life reconstruction of Plesiolophus warnerensis. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.

A new genus and species of lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur has been identified in southern Alberta, Canada, dating back 77 million years to the Campanian age of the Cretaceous period.

The post New Crested Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Paleontologists Discover New Species of Titanosaur in Uruguay

Mesetasaurus protector. Image credit: Merlina RamΓ­rez.

Paleontologists in Uruguay have identified a new species of aeolosaurine titanosaur from a pair of remarkably well-preserved tailbones unearthed in the 1980s near the Uruguay River.

The post Paleontologists Discover New Species of Titanosaur in Uruguay appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Beans and Broccoli Linked to Lower Heart Risk in Young Adults

Sotos-Prieto et al show that modifying dietary habits can have a significant impact on health outcomes. Image credit: Silvia Rita.

A new analysis of data from the Western Australian-based Raine Study suggests that two humble vegetable groups -- legumes and cruciferous vegetables -- may play an outsize role in protecting young adults from early cardiometabolic risk, though the benefits appear to diverge sharply between men and women.

The post Beans and Broccoli Linked to Lower Heart Risk in Young Adults appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution

A landscape from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil showing Cargninia enigmatica being observed by the sauropodomorph dinosaur Macrocollum itaquii. Image credit: Marcio L. Castro.

Today, lepidosaurs -- the reptile group that includes lizards, snakes and New Zealand’s tuatara -- are among the most diverse vertebrates on Earth, but their earliest evolutionary history remains poorly understood.

The post Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Astronomers Uncover Hidden Structures Surrounding Orion Nebula

Extended Orion nebula shell sampled by HI emission from the combined VLA and FAST observations (shown in red), HΞ± emission from the European Southern Observatory Digitized Sky Survey (shown in green), and 3.4-ΞΌm emission registered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite (shown in blue). Image credit: Juan D. Soler, University of Vienna / NRAO / VLA / NASA / WISE.

Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) s and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers have created the sharpest-ever radio maps of neutral hydrogen around the Orion Nebula.

The post Astronomers Uncover Hidden Structures Surrounding Orion Nebula appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Thailand

Life reconstruction of a herd of five individuals of Uragasaurus kalasinensis inhabiting a Late Jurassic forest in Thailand, accompanied by a pair of rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs and a metriacanthosaurid theropod. Image credit: Pakorn Chotchaiyaporn.

Paleontologists working in northeastern Thailand have identified a new species of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, offering fresh evidence that a group of giant sauropods once thought to be almost exclusively East Asian also roamed mainland Southeast Asia.

The post New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Thailand appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Astronomers Probe Chemistry of Giant Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b

This artist’s impression shows how the gas giant exoplanet inside the disc of Beta Pictoris may look. Image credit: L. CalΓ§ada / ESO.

Using the upgraded GRAVITY+ instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), astronomers have measured the ratio of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere of the young exoplanet Beta Pictoris, offering new insights into how giant planets form.

The post Astronomers Probe Chemistry of Giant Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Ancient Turkish Cave Reveals Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Shared Same Way of Life

A group of Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

ÜçağızlΔ± II Cave on TΓΌrkiye’s Mediterranean coast has yielded a rare and detailed record of two Homo species living the same way of life, one after the other, over more than 20,000 years, offering new evidence that the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans in the region was far more culturally seamless than previously understood.

The post Ancient Turkish Cave Reveals Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Shared Same Way of Life appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Feathered Dinosaur from China Had Peacock-Like Tail

Changzhousaurus sinensis. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.

A new genus and species of four-winged pennaraptoran dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of northern China is adding another twist to the story of how birds evolved from their dinosaur ancestors.

The post New Feathered Dinosaur from China Had Peacock-Like Tail appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil Reveals What Flying Reptiles Ate

Grice et al. integrate organic geochemical analyses with high-resolution micro-mineral imaging of a three-dimensionally preserved Cretaceous pterosaur wing phalanx from Brazil to reveal steroid biomarkers and multi-stage mineralization pathways underlying its preservation. Image credit: Grice et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116199.

A 113-million-year-old pterosaur fossil from northeastern Brazil has yielded rare evidence of soft tissues, organic molecules and chemical traces of a diet heavy in fish and cephalopods such as squid or nautilus relatives.

The post 113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil Reveals What Flying Reptiles Ate appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors

The holotype specimen of Montsecosuchus depereti. Image credit: Castillo-Visa et al., doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlag076.

Exceptionally preserved skin of Montsecosuchus depereti, an extinct crocodylomorph no larger than a house cat that prowled the tropical wetlands of Early Cretaceous Spain, has allowed paleontologists to reconstruct details of its scales, sensory organs and even possible banded markings along its tail.

The post 125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Romania

Kryptohadros kallaiae. Image credit: Tibor Pecsics.

An international team of paleontologists from Romania, Hungary and Italy has identified a new genus and species of herbivorous, duck-billed dinosaur from an incomplete skeleton unearthed in the HaΘ›eg Basin, a bowl-shaped depression in the Carpathians of present-day Romania.

The post New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Romania appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Evidence of Fire Use by Early Humans May Date Back Nearly 1.8 Million Years

Shaar et al. unveil the oldest evidence of human activity in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Image credit: Michael Chazan.

Scientists have uncovered compelling new evidence that early human ancestors, likely Homo erectus, were deliberately bringing fire into Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa as far back as 1.79 million years ago.

The post Evidence of Fire Use by Early Humans May Date Back Nearly 1.8 Million Years appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Marsupial Lineage Emerges from Australian Fossils

Reconstruction of Phantasmodon travouilloni in the Early Miocene rainforests of northwestern Queensland. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Paleontologists have described a new genus and three new species of small, insect-eating marsupials from the Early Miocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northwestern Queensland, one of Australia’s richest fossil sites.

The post New Marsupial Lineage Emerges from Australian Fossils appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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