THIN ICE Surface melting may have caused the collapse of Antarctica’s Larsen B, seen in the left half of a satellite photo before the breakdown. Large pools of melt water splotching the ice shelf probably forced open cracks in the ice.
Landsat 7/GSFC/NASA
TREE HUGGER A newly identified mouse-sized mammal species, Xianshou songae, lived in Jurassic forests and has helped scientists redefine the mammalian family tree.
Zhao Chuang
SPLASHIEST DINO Sail-backed Spinosaurus was unique among known dinosaurs for its water-adapted body, and four-legged gait on land, as demonstrated by a sculpture in the National Geographic Society’s courtyard in Washington, D.C.
Bryan Bello/Science News
PEE PATHOGENS A new urine test may save crucial time in diagnosing urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant microbes such as Escherichia coli (shown in a micrograph).
Photo by Eric Erbe, digital colorization by Christopher Pooley/USDA Agricultural Research Service
LONG HAUL The heavy stone blocks ancient Egyptians used to build the pyramids thousands of years ago could have been rolled along the ground like makeshift wheels.
hanoded/istockhoto.com
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