'I expected life. But not this': Experts are uncovering a trove of very strange creatures hiding under Antarctica - BBC Science Focus Magazine

A distinct nitrogen-vacancy configuration in hexagonal diamonds is predicted to have longer coherence times, yet similar electronic properties to vacancy centers in cubic diamonds. Uncovering long coherence times in the nitrogen vacancy centers of hexagonal diamonds lead image

A Graneledone octopus, a suspected new species, moves across the seafloor during a deep-sea ocean expedition off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago. This species was first observed during an expedition Dr. Diva Amon (SpeSeas) participated in 2014, but was not confirmed or collected until this mission. Researchers made dozens of other discoveries on the trip, including at least 20 suspected new species, three of which may be new genera. Marine biologists from Trinidad and Tobago recently completed the first locally helmed and most expansive survey of the deep-sea waters around the Caribbean islands. The month-long project aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel (R/V) Falkor (too) documented around 13 percent of the nation’s marine territory, and described 20 potential new species. Researchers also collected over 700 specimens for the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Once catalogued, the additions will increase the size of the university’s Zoology Museum deep ocean collection by 12 times.

Illustration of the genetic link between stellar properties and planetary system architectures. Credit: INAF / Universitat de València / image generation. For most of human history, planetary systems were a sample size of one. Ours. Then people learned about Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn since antiquity, tracking their movements for generations. Uranus joined the planetary roster in 1781 thanks to the telescope, followed by Neptune in 1846, but every planet we discovered still belonged to the same family orbiting our Sun.