Stunning fossil discovery challenges the origins of animal life

Our gut is colonized by legions of bacteria, which supply us with essential nutrients and support our health. Among them are Akkermansia bacteria, which might be helpful in the management of conditions like obesity and diabetes.

Scientists may have found a powerful new way to hunt for alien life — not by searching for specific molecules, but by looking for hidden patterns in how those molecules are organized. Researchers discovered that living systems leave behind a kind of chemical “fingerprint” in the statistical distribution of amino acids and fatty acids, one that consistently differs from nonliving chemistry.

Gases collected from boiling mineral springs in Zambia contain the chemical signature of having come directly from the Earth’s mantle, a sign of a rupture in the tectonic plates and the possible beginning of a new continental boundary

Hubble has revealed a giant planet-forming disk unlike anything astronomers have seen before. Nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito,” the enormous structure appears turbulent and oddly lopsided, with towering filaments visible on only one side. The disk contains enough material to potentially create multiple giant planets, making it a fascinating new laboratory for studying how planetary systems are born.