Unearthing an Old Reptilian Relative of Dinosaurs and other top stories.

• Unearthing an Old Reptilian Relative of Dinosaurs

  Photo Researchers in southern Brazil recently discovered this fossil of an ancient reptile, naming the new species Teyujagua paradoxa, or “fierce lizard.” Credit Scientific Reports A quarter of a billion years ago nearly all life on Earth vanished in a cataclysmic event known today as “the Great Dying.”This small skull with serrated teeth belongs to an ancient reptile that survived the extermination and colonized a nearly empty world. Its relatives evolved into the di..

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• Comet flyby created chaos in Mars' magnetic field, NASA's MAVEN finds

  

  Artist Concept of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is the first Mars orbiter specifically designed to study the planet's upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. (NASA Image)Only weeks after a Colorado-built spacecraft entered into orbit around Mars, the solar system put on a show that is now teaching us more about the red planet.On Oct. 19, 2014, the comet Siding Spring flew past Mars, coming within about 87,000 miles of the planet. That's ext..

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• Scott Kelly leaving NASA after record 340-day flight

  

  Astronaut Scott Kelly, just back from a record 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station, is leaving NASA at the end of the month, but agency officials said Friday he will continue participating in ongoing medical research to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight."This year-in-space mission was a profound challenge for all involved, and it gave me a unique perspective and a lot of time to reflect on what my next step should be ... to help further our capabilities in space and..

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• A Spider Named Brian

  

  When I was growing up, I knew a lot of Brians. In eighth grade, I once was one of five Brians in a class of about 30, leading to all kinds of confusion. (I wasn't even the only Brian H.) There is, of course, a Monty Python movie of a certain name. And in France, I recently learned, in many English language classes, Brian was once the default name for an American boy. And now I share a name with a spider.   Scientists in Australia announced the discovery of a new species this week, Dolomedes ..

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• Plastic-eating bacteria could help make trash disappear

  

  A durable plastic called PET is considered a major environmental hazard because it's highly resistant to breakdown. But researchers have found a potential new match for this hardy plastic: a newly discovered microbe that is astonishingly good at eating it.An estimated 342 million tons of plastic are produced annually worldwide, and currently, only about 14 percent is collected for recycling, according to the World Economic Forum.Most plastic degrades extraordinarily slowly, but PET -- short for..

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• NASA tests rocket engine, a big step in sending humans into deep space

  

  NASA has hit a major milestone in its mission to send humans into deep space and travel to Mars. The space agency today for the first time successfully tested its new deep space RS-25 rocket engine at Stennis Space Center, a NASA rocket testing facility in Mississippi. The engine was fired up for 500 seconds, or about 8.5 minutes. The next time the rocket fires for that long, it will be carrying humans on their first deep-space mission in more than 45 years. "What a great moment for NAS..

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• NOAA: Carbon Dioxide Levels 'Exploded' in 2015, Highest Seen Since End of Ice Age

  

  Don't miss out. Stay Informed. Get EcoWatch's Top News of the Day. Email. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose 3.05 parts per million in 2015, the largest year-to-year increase ever recorded, scientists at the National Oceanic and ...

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• Here's The Coolest Thing About NASA's EPIC Solar Eclipse Video

  

  The web is brimming with photos and videos of Tuesday's total solar eclipse -- the only one this year -- but it's hard to beat the eye-popping composite video NASA just released. The brief clip above lets you see the eclipse not from the surface of the Earth, as most of us do, but from deep space, looking back at our beautiful blue marble. NASA's clip is a mashup of 13 separate photos snapped on March 9 by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera, or EPIC instrument, aboard the Deep Space Climate ..

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• National Academy of Sciences report links extreme weather to climate change

  

  In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, Texas State Park police officer Thomas Bigham walks across the cracked lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. A new report says that some weather events like heat waves and droughts can be linked to climate change.(Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)Man-made climate change is worsening some extreme weather events, according to a report made public Friday by a top science group in Washington.The report from  the National Academies of Sciences, Engine..

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A Yale team goes to the NCAA tournament – after its captain was expelled for sexual misconduct .	The Emotional Moment a Teacher Volunteers to Donate Her Kidney to Her Sick Student .
Grieving family honors Northeastern student's 'rare empathy' .	Boston students march out of school to protest cuts .