Science

The world’s largest lizard species returns to New York’s Bronx Zoo when an exhibit called “Amazing Monitors” opens on Saturday (May 24). The zoo’s three Komodo dragons, two female and one male, will rotate individually through the indoor space throughout the day. The trio are still adolescents at just over five feet (1.52 meters) in length.

An asteroid that exploded over a Russian city, leaving more than 1,000 people injured by flying glass and debris, collided with another asteroid before hitting Earth, scientists say. Analysis of a mineral called jadeite that was embedded in fragments recovered after the explosion show that the asteroid’s parent body struck a larger asteroid at a relative speed of about 3,000mph.

Researchers looked at 170,000 supermassive black holes to test out a decades-old “doughnut theory” on the appearance of black holes. The 1970s theory worked to explain how black holes had such varied appearance, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory news release reported. The model suggested every black hole was surrounded by a dusty “doughnut” called a torus, a NASA Jet Propulsion …

An exciting new meteor shower called the Camelopardalids (Cah-melo-par-dah-lids) will peak late tonight. According to clocks the mid-latitudes in North America are predicted to have the best view of this shower. Look to the north. The showers will come out of the Camelopardalis or Giraffe constellation where the radius of the event will take place.

Researchers from the University of Oxford Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior found that fruit flies don’t act instinctively or impulsively. Instead they appear to accumulate information before committing to a choice, showing a mark of intelligence.

A rarely-seen seahorse was observed and recorded by divers in waters off Nova Scotia. Scientists are excited about this sighting since the species is extremely rare in Canadian waters.

Australia can no longer lay claim to the origins of the iconic New Zealand kiwi following research published today showing the kiwi’s closest relative is not the emu as was previously thought. Instead, the kiwi is most closely related to the extinct giant Madagascan elephant bird which grew up to three metres tall and weighed 275 kilograms. And the study …

Comb jellies – a seemingly simple form of marine life — took a radically different path to neural complexity than the rest of the animal kingdom, a finding that could have implications for synthetic and regenerative medicine, new University of Florida research shows.

A species of snake believed to have been “lost” has been rediscovered in Mexico, says the Smithsonian Institute. 11 Clarion Nightsnakes were found on the Mexican island of Clarion by researchers from the Washington DC-based museum, 78 years since the species was last seen. The species was never officially declared extinct, but researchers had not seen an example of the …

Researchers caught a rare Wolf-Rayet star self-destructing; these stars are 20 times as massive as out own Sun and five times as hot. For the first time researchers have confirmed that a Wolf-Rayet died a violent death in an explosion called a Type IIb supernova, a DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory news release reported.

A PURPLE jellyfish has made waves at Coolum Beach today. The royal-hued ball of blubber was found just above the high tide mark this morning and has been collected by UnderWater World Sea Life Mooloolaba for further examination. An expert has suggested that it could be a new species of thysantostoma.