Bone tumor in 120,000-year-old Neandertal discovered
The first-known definitive case of a benign bone tumor has been discovered in the rib of a young Neandertal who lived about 120,000 years ago in what is now present-day Croatia. The bone fragment,...
View ArticleIrish chronicles reveal links between cold weather and volcanic eruptions
Medieval chronicles have given researchers a glimpse into the past to assess how historical volcanic eruptions affected the weather in Ireland up to 1500 years ago. Researchers have successfully linked...
View ArticleLiving fossils? Actually, sturgeon fish are evolutionary speedsters
Efforts to restore sturgeon in the Great Lakes region have received a lot of attention in recent years, and many of the news stories note that the prehistoric-looking fish are "living fossils"...
View ArticleThree-billion-year-old microfossils include plankton
Spindle-shaped inclusions in three-billion-year-old rocks are microfossils of plankton that probably inhabited the oceans around the globe during that time, according to scientists. ...Read More →
View ArticleÖtzi the Iceman’s dark secrets: Protein investigation supports brain injury...
After decoding the Iceman's genetic make-up, a research team has now made another major breakthrough in mummy research: Using just a pinhead-sized sample of brain tissue from the world-famous glacier...
View ArticleNew theory proposes solution to long-running debate as to how stable the...
Researchers have proposed an answer to the long-running debate as to how stable the Earth system is. Earth, with its core-driven magnetic field, oceans of liquid water, dynamic climate and abundant...
View ArticleMysterious monument found beneath the Sea of Galilee
Scientists have discovered a mysterious monument beneath the waves of the Sea of Galilee. The site resembles early burial sites in Europe and was likely built in the early Bronze Age. ...Read More →
View ArticleFrom hot springs to HIV, same protein complexes are hijacked to promote viruses
Biologists have discovered a striking connection between viruses such as HIV and Ebola and viruses that infect organisms called archaea that grow in volcanic hot springs. Despite the huge difference in...
View ArticleModern humans did not settle in Asia before eruption of Sumatra volcano...
When did modern humans settle in Asia and what route did they take from humankind's African homeland? New research refutes a recent theory that there is archaeological evidence for the presence of...
View ArticleX-rays reveal new picture of ‘dinobird’ plumage patterns
The first complete chemical analysis of feathers from Archaeopteryx, a famous fossil linking dinosaurs and birds, reveals that the feathers of this early bird were patterned -- light in colour, with a...
View ArticleHigh diversity of flying reptiles in England 110 million years ago
Pterosaurs are an extinct group of flying reptiles that are only abundant in very few deposits. One of these is situated in England, where hundreds of fossils of these animals, that covered the skies...
View ArticleDeep biosphere harbors active, growing communities of microorganisms
The deep biosphere -- the realm of sediments far below the seafloor -- harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a...
View ArticleWhen will the next megathrust hit the west coast of North America?
A new study presents our first glimpse back in geologic time of the recurrence interval of large and megathrust earthquakes impacting the vulnerable BC outer coastline. ...Read More →
View ArticleLife underground: Microbes active far beneath seafloor
Genetic researchers have revealed active bacteria, fungi and other microbes living in 5 million-year-old ocean sediment. ...Read More →
View ArticleFossil kangaroo teeth reveal mosaic of Pliocene ecosystems in Queensland
The teeth of a kangaroo and other extinct marsupials reveal that southeastern Queensland 2.5-5-million-years ago was a mosaic of tropical forests, wetlands and grasslands and much less arid than...
View ArticleMedieval leprosy genomes shed light on disease’s history
Scientists have reconstructed a dozen medieval and modern leprosy genomes -- suggesting a European origin for the North American leprosy strains found in armadillos and humans, and a common ancestor of...
View ArticlePutting flesh on the bones of ancient fish: Synchrotron X-rays reconstruct...
Scientists present for the first time miraculously preserved musculature of 380 million year old armored fish discovered in north-west Australia. This research will help scientists to better understand...
View ArticleHow diving mammals evolved underwater endurance
Scientists have shed new light on how diving mammals, such as the sperm whale, have evolved to survive for long periods underwater without breathing. ...Read More →
View ArticleMenopause may be an unintended outcome of men’s preference for younger mates
After decades of laboring under other theories that never seemed to add up, biologists have concluded that menopause is actually an unintended outcome of natural selection generated by men's historical...
View ArticleStudy of oceans’ past raises worries about their future
Scientists have now completed the first global study of changes that occurred in a crucial component of ocean chemistry, the nitrogen cycle, at the end of the last ice age. The results of their study...
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