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A gigantic dinosaur discovered in Australia’s outback has been identified as a new species and recognised as one of the largest to ever roam the Earth, according to palaeontologists.

The Australotitan cooperensis, part of the titanosaur family that lived about 100 million years ago, has finally been named and described 15 years after its bones were first uncovered.

It is estimated to have stood at 5-6.5 metres (16-21 feet) high and measured 25-30 metres (82-98 feet) in length – which would make it Australia’s biggest dinosaur.

“Based on the preserved limb size comparisons, this new titanosaur is estimated to be in the top five largest in the world,” said Robyn Mackenzie, a director of the Eromanga Natural History Museum.

The fossilised bones were found on Mackenzie’s family farm in 2006 about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) west of Brisbane in the Eromanga Basin and nicknamed “Cooper”.

Initially kept secret as scientists painstakingly dug up and studied the bones, the skeleton first went on display to the public in 2007.

Scott Hocknull, a palaeontologist at Queensland Museum, said it had been a “very long and painstaking task” to confirm the Australotitan was a new species.

The research, which relied on 3D scan models of bones to compare the dinosaur with its close relatives, was published in the peer-reviewed PeerJ journal Monday.

Numerous other dinosaur skeletons have been found in the same area, Hocknull said, adding that more work was needed as “discoveries like this are just the tip of the iceberg”.

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Researchers Discover New Plasma Wave in Jupiter’s Auroral Skies

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Scientists at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have detected a new plasma wave in Jupiter’s aurora using NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The finding, published in Physical Review Letters, reveals how Jupiter’s magnetic field shapes auroral activity differently from Earth. The study opens new directions for understanding planetary auroras and magnetic field intera…

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Rocket Lab Launches Five Classified Satellites on 70th Electron Mission

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Rocket Lab reached a key milestone with its 70th Electron rocket launch, successfully sending five secret satellites into orbit on Aug. 23, 2025. The mission, called “Live, Laugh, Launch,” lifted off from New Zealand and ended its live stream early at the request of the undisclosed customer. Rocket Lab now looks ahead to the debut of its larger Neutron rocket late…

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Researcher Photographs Giant Solar Tornado and Massive Plasma Eruption at the Same Time

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On August 20, researcher Maximilian Teodorescu captured a rare photo of two dramatic solar events — a giant tornado of plasma rising 130,000 km and an eruptive prominence spanning 200,000 km. Both were shaped by the sun’s unstable magnetic fields. While the prominence did release a CME, it is not aimed at Earth.

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