Science News Roundup: Scientists unveil new and improved 'skinny donut' black hole image; Compact galaxy's discovery shows Webb telescope's 'amazing' power and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Scientists unveil new and improved 'skinny donut' black hole image

The 2019 release of the first image of a black hole was hailed as a significant scientific achievement. But truth be told, it was a bit blurry - or, as one astrophysicist involved in the effort called it, a "fuzzy orange donut." Scientists on Thursday unveiled a new and improved image of this black hole - a behemoth at the center of a nearby galaxy - mining the same data used for the earlier one but improving its resolution by employing image reconstruction algorithms to fill in gaps in the original telescope observations.

Compact galaxy's discovery shows Webb telescope's 'amazing' power

The detection of a highly compact galaxy that formed relatively soon after the Big Bang and displayed an impressive rate of star formation is the latest example of how the James Webb Space Telescope is reshaping our understanding of the early universe. Scientists said the galaxy, dating to 13.3 billion years ago, has a diameter of approximately 100 light-years - about 1,000 times smaller than the Milky Way - but forms new stars at a rate very similar to that of our much-larger present-day galaxy. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

Dead birds get new life: New Mexico researchers develop taxidermy bird drones

Scientists in New Mexico are giving dead birds a new life with an unconventional approach to wildlife research. A team at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro is taking birds that have been preserved through taxidermy and converting them into drones in order to study flight.

Oldest-known bat skeletons shed light on evolution of flying mammals

The two oldest-known fossil skeletons of bats, unearthed in southwestern Wyoming and dating to at least 52 million years ago, are providing insight into the early evolution of these flying mammals - today represented by more than 1,400 species. The fossils, described in a new study, are of a previously unknown species called Icaronycteris gunnelli that is closely related to two other species known from slightly younger fossils from the same area, which during the Eocene epoch was a humid and subtropical ecosystem centered on a freshwater lake.

(With inputs from agencies.)