Science

Scientists once thought of dinosaurs as sluggish, cold-blooded creatures. Then research suggested that some could control their body temperature, but when and how that shift came about remained a mystery.Now, a new study estimates that the first warm-blooded dinosaurs may have roamed the Earth about 180 million years ago, about halfway through the creatures’ time on the planet.Warm-blooded creatures — including birds, who are descended from dinosaurs, and humans — keep their body temperature constant whether the world around them runs cold or hot. Cold-blooded animals, including reptiles like snakes and lizards, depend on outside sources to control their temperature: For example, basking in the sun to warm up.NEW MEXICO STUDY SHOWS NEWLY DISCOVERED DINOSAUR SUBSPECIES PREDATES TYRANNOS...

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet larger than Jupiter but incredibly lightweight, similar to cotton candy.The planet, named WASP-193b, has an unusually low density compared to gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.Lead author Khalid Barkaoui from MIT describes the planet as "super fluffy" due to its composition of predominantly light gases rather than solids.Astronomers have identified a planet that’s bigger than Jupiter yet surprisingly as fluffy and light as cotton candy.The exoplanet has exceedingly low density for its size, an international team reported Tuesday. The gas giants in our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — are much denser."The planet is basically super fluffy" because it's made mostly of light gases rather than solids, lead author...

The sun emitted its biggest flare in over a decade on Tuesday, following days of severe solar storms that fell on Earth and gave skywatchers as far south as Florida a view of the northern lights.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center shared news of the solar flare on social media, saying, "Not done yet."According to the post, a solar flare is an eruption of energy from the sun that generally lasts minutes to hours.NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory caught the bright flash of the X-ray flare, which appeared to have a magnitude of X8.7, though it was originally reported as X8.8.RARE SOLAR STORM WOWS STARGAZERS ACROSS AMERICA: ‘SO AWESOME!’ This image provided by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a solar flare, the bright flash at r...

The historic cicada invasion is upon us!Noisy flying insects known as cicadas have begun emerging from the ground and have been spotted buzzing around North Carolina and South Carolina before they will eventually appear across 15 other states. The one to two-inch-long bugs are rising from the soil and growing wings before they then start a frantic mating frenzy lasting several weeks.Billions, if not trillions, of two groups of cicadas will appear in 17 U.S. states over the coming months in a rare natural phenomenon not seen since 1803.CICADA INVASION: AN ‘AMAZING’ AMERICAN PHENOMENON AND BONANZA FOR ANGLERS  A Brood XIX adult cicada emerges from its exoskeleton at the University of North Carolina on May 1, 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Billions of the flying insects will appear...

Researchers have detected a thick atmosphere around a planet called 55 Cancri e, which is twice as big as Earth and classified as a super Earth.The atmosphere of 55 Cancri e consists of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, although exact quantities are uncertain.Super Earth refers to a planet larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.A thick atmosphere has been detected around a planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a nearby solar system, researchers reported Wednesday.The so-called super Earth — known as 55 Cancri e — is among the few rocky planets outside our solar system with a significant atmosphere, wrapped a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The exact amounts are unclear. Earth’s atmosphere is a blend of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and other gases."It’s probably the fir...

Scientists studying sperm whales have uncovered the foundational aspects of their potential communication system.Sperm whales, like many cetaceans, use rapid clicks for communication and echolocation while hunting.Researchers believe these clicks constitute a "phonetic alphabet," similar to words and phrases in human language.Scientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them.Like many whales and dolphins, sperm whales are highly social mammals and communicate by squeezing air through their respiratory systems to make strings of rapid clicks that can sound like an extremely loud zipper underwater. T...

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower, remnants of Halley's comet, peaks this weekend, and with just a waning crescent moon in the sky, it should be visible.The Eta Aquarids occur every year in early May, with this year’s peak activity happening early Sunday and an expected 10 to 30 meteors visible per hour.Meteor showers are events where multiple meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere.The Eta Aquarid meteor shower, remnants of Halley's comet, peaks this weekend. And with just a waning crescent moon in the sky, it should be visible.The Eta Aquarids occur every year in early May. This year’s peak activity happens early Sunday with an expected 10 to 30 meteors visible per hour in the Northern Hemisphere. Viewing should be even better in the Southern Hemisphere. The shower lasts through May 27.VIDEO...

China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration program, which is now competing with the U.S., still the leader in space.China also has a three-member crew on its own orbiting space station and aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Three Chinese lunar probe missions are planned over the next four years.JAPAN'S MOON LANDER HAS SURVIVED LONGER THAN THE SPACE AGENCY EXPECTED AFTER REACHING 3 MONTHS ON THE MOONFree from exposure to Earth and other interference, the moon’s somewhat mysterious far side is ideal for radio astronomy and other scientif...

An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant — the latest example of how some animals attempt to soothe their own ills with remedies found in the wild, scientists reported Thursday.Scientists observed Rakus, a wild male Sumatran orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia, pluck and chew up leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation. The orangutan then used his fingers to apply the plant juices to an injury on the right cheek. Afterward, he pressed the chewed plant to cover the open wound like a makeshift bandage, according to a new study in Scientific Reports.Previous research has documented several species of great apes foraging for medicines in forests to heal themselves, but scientists ha...

A lab in a Dutch zoo has presented special corals that bred themselves and nestled them in Europe's largest coral reef.The corals are part of a project by the World Coral Conservatory.The project aims to create a bank of corals in aquariums across Europe.Just like the animals on Noah’s Ark, the corals arrived in a pair.On Monday, divers with gloved hands gently nestled the self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project among their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands."This is the first project where we started to keep these corals with a known origin. As we know exactly where they’re coming from, they have the potential to be placed back into the wild. … So it is very important to keep these corals, as it’s going not very well in the...