New research suggests trapdoor spiders crossed the Indian Ocean to get from Southern Africa to Australia.
The trapdoor spider, Moggridgea rainbow, is only found on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. All of the other species in the genus are located in South Africa.
Until now, scientists thought the trapdoor spider diverged from closest relatives when Africa and Australia were...
Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Center have identified a chemical capable of forming cell membranes on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
Researchers have previously hypothesized that Titan's atmosphere featured acrylonitrile, but this is the first time scientists have directly detected the chemical.
On Earth, acrylonitrile, or vinyl cyanide, is used in plastics manufacturing. On Titan,...
Astronomers have discovered an object that could be the first known moon located beyond the Solar System.
If genuine, the "exomoon" is likely to be about the size and mass of Neptune, and circles a planet the size of Jupiter but with 10 times the mass.
The signal was detected by Nasa's Kepler Space Telescope; astronomers now plan to carry out follow-up observations with Hubble in...
Coral gardening works, according to new research out of the University of Miami.
In a survey of coral restoration efforts, scientists found laboratory-raised coral fragments benefit native coral species when they're used to repopulate struggling reefs. As well, the corals from which the fragments are removed don't suffer as a result.
"Our study showed that current restoration methods are...
New analysis of ancient volcanic grains on the moon suggests the lunar mantle is surprisingly rich in water.
When astronomers used satellite observations to survey the grains from volcanic deposits across the lunar surface, they found higher concentrations of trapped water.
In 2008, scientists identified water in volcanic glass beads collected from the moon during the Apollo 15 and 17...
New research highlights the immense power of fear. The emotion was strong enough to curb eating and reproduction among groups of fruit flies, increasing the likelihood of extinction.
Scientists at Canada's McGill University exposed fruit flies to a pheromone produced by praying mantises, one of the species main predators. The smell was enough to inspire fear. Fruit flies exposed to the...
Researchers have identified a superluminous supernova located 10 billion light-years from Earth. It is one of the brightest and most distant star deaths ever recorded.
Because the intense radiation produced by the supernova has been traveling for 10 billion years, it offers astronomers a glimpse of the universe's past -- a snapshot of the cosmos as it was just 3.5 billion years after the Big...
Which factor is more important to root growth: gravity or water? To find out, scientists recruited astronauts to grow cucumbers on the International Space Station.
In the soil, roots seek out higher concentrations of water. The tendency is called hydrotropism. Roots also tend to grow downward as a result of gravity, a pattern called gravitropism.
But researchers haven't been able to...
A study of ancient clam fossils suggests rising seas could once again encourage parasite infestations in brackish water ecosystems.
Trematodes, commonly known as flukes, infect mollusks, usually snails, and make their way into the insides of vertebrates who consume infected mollusks. They can cause disease in humans, and blood fluke infections kill an estimated 200,000 people every...
New research suggests changes to a common set of genes underly hyper-social behavior among dogs and humans.
Scientists found unique genetic insertions in chromosome 6 in dogs were linked with a propensity to seek out human attention and direction. The insertions, called transposons, were found among a genomic region linked with Williams-Beuren syndrome.
Among dogs, these genetic changes...
