Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of ​current science news ​briefs.

Famous Siberian cave ‌yields remains ​of yak-like Ice Age mammal

A Siberian cave already famous for yielding ‌the first remains of an extinct human lineage called the Denisovans, who once roamed widely in Eurasia, has now ‌produced evidence of a previously unknown large Ice ‌Age mammal closely related to today's yak. Researchers said they discovered small bone fragments of the animal in Denisova Cave in the ⁠Altai ​Mountains of southern ⁠Siberia in Russia, and obtained DNA that showed these remains ⁠belonged to a bovine species distinct from others already known, ​living and extinct.

Japan launches mission to return samples ⁠from Mars moon

Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward the ⁠Martian moon ​Phobos on Tuesday on a mission intended to become the first to collect samples from ⁠the small rocky body and return them to Earth for ⁠analysis. The Japan ⁠Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft lifted off aboard an H3 rocket before ‌dawn ‌from the Tanegashima Space Center ​in southwestern Japan.