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Explanation: If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe containing billions of stars and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Dolphinfish (Dorado), NGC 1566 presents a gorgeous face-on view. Classified as a grand design spiral, NGC 1566 shows two prominent and graceful spiral arms that are traced by bright blue star clusters, red emission nebulas, and dark cosmic dust lanes. Numerous Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC 1566 have been taken to study star formation, supernovas, and the spiral's unusually active center. NGC 1566's flaring...

La Brújula Verde reports that the excavation of a necropolis in southwestern Italy by researchers from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Salerno and Avellino has revealed 34 Samnite burials dated to between the fourth and third centuries B.C. The graves were grouped by family, and most of them consisted of a pit covered with tiles arranged like a small roof. Two of the burials had chambers lined with travertine blocks, while another had a tufa chamber. Graves holding the remains of men also contained spearheads or javelin points. Rings and brooches for fastening...

According to a La Brújula Verde report, eight burials at the Childrey Warren site in southeastern England have been analyzed. In all, the rural cemetery contained more than 30 burials. The eight burials in the study, including the remains of newborns and adults who were more than 45 years old at the time of death, have been dated to the fourth century A.D. One of the individuals had been beheaded, with the skull placed beneath the feet. Ancient DNA samples taken from these remains show that six of the eight people were closely related—sisters, paternal first cousins, and paternal and...

Scientists have recently discovered the underlying hidden magnetic order in the pseudogap phase of a quantum material. The peculiar phase exists immediately above the superconducting transition. The research team employed an ultracold-atom simulator. They were able to detect a hidden antiferromagnetic order even when the material lacked electrons. This is referred to as doping. This is a crucial phase in designing a novel superconductor at a higher temperature. The findings offer fresh insights into a long-standing problem related to superconductivity.Ultracold atoms reveal hidden magnetismAccording to the reports, to explore the nature of the pseudogap, the researchers employed a cold-atom simulator...

The federal government holds shocking evidence of UFOs which proves we are not alone — including satellite imagery of out-of-this world craft that look like nothing “we have built,” an expert with knowledge of the documents told The Post. The government’s trove of UFO docs is massive and includes stunning photos and videos, according to Christopher Mellon, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense intelligence during the Clinton and Bush administrations. Publicly disclosing the information would take UFO discourse “to another level,” he added. While the announcement spurred federal agencies, including the White House and the Pentagon, to scramble, there...

In an important step for both planetary defense and childhood imaginations everywhere, a recent scientific study has confirmed that NASA rammed an asteroid hard enough to change its trajectory. The ramming actually occurred all the way back in 2022, when the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on behalf of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, deliberately smashed itself into an asteroid's moon. Yes, the half-mile wide asteroid Didymos has a moon of its own, a little baby asteroid named Dimorphos. The study concludes that NASA punched the tiny guy so hard that...

Explanation: To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula -- near an equinox. Then, during the late afternoon if the sky is clear, the pyramid's own shadows create triangles that merge into the famous illusion of a slithering viper. Also known as the Temple of Kukulkan, the impressive step-pyramid stands 30 meters tall and 55 meters wide at the base. Built up as a series of square terraces by the pre-Columbian civilization between the 9th and 12th century, the structure can be used as a calendar...

...the idea behind the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, which aims to accurately answer a simple question: since we couldn't sequence Leonardo's DNA in the 1500s, are his bones at Amboise Castle really his?To get there, the team plans to compare DNA from Leonardo's remains with profiles from his living relatives -- and, if the samples check out, assemble more of Leonardo's genome.Because the legendary Renaissance artist had no children, researchers Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato of the Leonardo Da Vinci Heritage Association started with old-school genealogy, publishing Genìa Da Vinci. Genealogy and Genetics for Leonardo's DNA. Their tree follows...

Kamala Harris is cutting California loose from her book tour, cancelling the remainder of her currently scheduled stops in the state. On Tuesday, the former presidential candidate pulled out of book tour stops for her memoir “107 Days” in Sacramento, San Diego and Anaheim. The appearances had been scheduled for next month. Ticketing company Ticketmaster refunded ticketholders and explained that the cancellations of “A Conversation with Kamala Harris” were due to a “scheduling conflict.” Harris’ last event had been in Oakland on March 3. She remains scheduled for an event in Denver, Colorado, on April 2, but her subsequent stops...

The designers behind Hollywood’s grandest stage pulled back the curtain on their green-themed inspiration for the Oscars dais. The stage for the 98th Academy Awards show resembles a garden courtyard, with overhanging tree branches and other floral touches meant to provide a feeling of zen. “There is an unsettled nature around the climate right now, and there’s just something very calming about being surrounded by architecture, but having this space for trees to grow,” Oscars production designer Alana Billingsley told Vanity Fair of the stage’s theme. The stage for the 98th Academy Awards show resembles a garden courtyard, with overhanging...

Live Science reports that about 30 inscriptions written in three ancient Indian languages have been studied in six different tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Ingo Strauch of the University of Lausanne said that these inscriptions have been dated to between the first and third centuries A.D., when Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire and a tourist destination. One inscription, written in Sanskrit, was left by a man named Indranandin, who identified himself as a messenger of King Kshaharata. "It is possible that Indranandin arrived by ship at Berenike [on the east coast of Egypt], perhaps together...

Oil pumping operations are expected to begin imminently off the coast of California after President Trump issued an executive order Friday to resume oil drilling operations near Santa Barbara, The Post has learned. Officials for Sable Offshore Corp. informed local fire officials of their intent to “resume pumping operations within 24 hours.” The notification is a standard protocol for industrial activities involving hazardous materials pipelines. “This coordination allows the department to maintain readiness for potential emergency response, including resource staging, personnel alerting, and collaboration with other agencies, in the event of any incident such as a leak, spill, or fire,”...

Explanation: Want to visit a planet that has 3.14 days in a year? Then plan a trip to K2-315b, an earth-sized planet orbiting around a cool, red, M dwarf star about once every 3.14 days. The exoplanet's discovery, based on publicly available data from the planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope's extended K2 mission, was announced in 2020. K2-315b's measured orbital period in days is nearly equal to the extremely popular irrational number Pi. That puts the exoplanet so close to its parent star that its surface is likely very warm, baking-hot in fact. And this Pi planet is over 185 light-years...

According to a statement released by the University of New Hampshire, Meghan Howey and Michael Palace of the University of New Hampshire compared temperature data collected by Landsat 8 satellite thermal sensor between 2014 and 2024 and the locations of burial mounds built between A.D. 1200 and 1600 in what is now Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The researchers discovered that the Anishinaabeg, who lived in the Great Lakes area, built burial mounds near more circular-shaped lakes that warmed later in spring and cooled later in fall. Placement of the mounds may therefore have been associated with a longer maize growing season,...

On This Day

Explanation: In this composited night skyscape, stacked exposures trace graceful star trails above Lake Toolondo, Victoria, Australia, planet Earth. Captured while the lunar eclipse of March 3 was in progress, the exposures used were made during the hour-long total eclipse phase. So faint star trails are easily visible along with the trail of the reddened Moon in the eclipse-darkened skies above the lake and trees. Of course, the apparent motion of Moon and stars revealed in the timelapse composite reflect the Earth's daily rotation around its axis. Dramatically punctuating the Moon's trail as totality ended, a single, separate telephoto image...

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and Firebird Motorsports Park officials announced time changes for the upcoming FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs, which takes place March 20-22. Taking an abundance of caution for the expected heat in the weekend forecast, racing in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will shift to earlier in the morning on each day, setting up a Coffee and Nitro weekend at the Duel in the Desert. Friday qualifying will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time on Friday with Pro Stock, followed by Funny Car and Top Fuel. The second session...

According to a statement released by the Nature Publishing Group, Anopheles leucosphyrus mosquitoes may have evolved to feed on humans in Southeast Asia. Upasana Shyamsunder Singh of Vanderbilt University, Catherine Walton of the University of Manchester, and their colleagues sequenced DNA from 38 modern-day mosquitoes from 11 species in the leucosphyrus group. Then the researchers employed computer models and estimates of DNA mutation rates to reconstruct the evolution of these mosquitoes. The study suggests that the bugs switched from feeding on non-human primates to early humans in the region of Sundaland, an area including the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and...

Tradition holds that the eldest son of Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, founded the Golden Horde and was buried in Kazakhstan with his descendants. According to a statement released by the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison), an international team of researchers led by Ayken Askapuli of UW–Madison analyzed genomes taken from remains found in four Golden Horde tombs in Kazakhstan, and determined that their ancestors could be traced to the Mongolian plateau through their Y-chromosomes. “We saw evidence that their Y-chromosomes are part of a branch of the C3* cluster,” Askapuli said. Some 20 years ago, fragments of DNA...

The “Melania” documentary about first lady Melania Trump debuted at the top of Amazon Prime’s streaming charts after premiering earlier this week. The documentary, which follows 20 days in the first lady’s life before President Donald Trump’s second term in office, hit the streaming service Monday. Just one day after its premiere, “Melania” became the most-streamed film on the platform and the most-streamed content overall in the United States, according to Flix Patrol. The first lady celebrated the feat in a post on X Tuesday. As of Thursday, the film is the third most-streamed overall behind the Amazon Prime series...