Uncategorized

  1. Paleontology

    Fossil find extends ants’ ancient lineage

    The recently described, 92-million-year-old fossil of a primitive worker ant pushes back the first record of its particular subfamily by 40 million years, forcing researchers to reevaluate their ideas about the early evolution of these insects.

    By Sid Perkins
  2. Animals

    Time to revise right whales’ family tree?

    A statistical analysis of DNA from nearly 400 right whales around the world suggests there may be three species of Eubalena, not just two—a conclusion that may boost conservation efforts.

    By Laura Sivitz
  3. Astronomy

    Old stars shed light on young Milky Way

    Analyzing the composition of 70 of the oldest stars in the galaxy—the largest such sample so far—scientists have found new evidence that a generation of short-lived stars that died explosively must have preceded this elderly population and that the oldest part of the Milky Way originated not as a single component, but as bits and pieces that may have taken several hundred million years to form and coalesce.