Environment

Jun 08, 2019 09:44 AM EDT

More Mysterious Jars of the Dead Unearthed in Laos

ANU and Uni of Melbourne Archaeologists have discovered 15 new sites in Laos containing more than one hundred 1000-year-old massive stone jars possibly used for the dead.

Older Forests Resist Climate Change (IMAGE)

Jun 08, 2019 09:36 AM EDT

Older Forests Resist Change -- Climate Change

Older forests in eastern North America are less vulnerable to climate change than younger forests - particularly for carbon storage, timber production, and biodiversity - new University of Vermont research finds.

Jun 08, 2019 09:15 AM EDT

Rapid Change in Coral Reefs Prompts Global Calls for a Rethink

Coral reef experts from around the world are calling for an urgent re-evaluation of our climate goals in the light of increasing evidence of the unprecedented speed of change to these fragile ecosystems. Coral reefs, which have functioned relatively unchanged for some 24 million years, are now going through profound changes in their make-up.

Jun 07, 2019 09:36 AM EDT

Details of First Historically Recorded Plague Pandemic Revealed by Ancient Genomes

An international team of researchers has analyzed human remains from 21 archaeological sites to learn more about the impact and evolution of the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis during the first plague pandemic (541-750 AD). In a study published in PNAS, the researchers reconstructed 8 plague genomes from Britain, Germany, France, and Spain and uncovered a previously unknown level of diversity in Y. pestis strains. Additionally, they found the first direct genetic evidence of the Justinianic Plague in the British Isles.

Jun 07, 2019 09:20 AM EDT

Argentine Fossils Take Oak and Beech Family History Far Into Southern Hemisphere

One of the world's most important plant families has a history extending much farther south than any live or fossil specimen previously recorded, as shown by chinquapin fruit and leaf fossils unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina, according to researchers.

Jun 07, 2019 09:04 AM EDT

New Research Shakes Up the Sloth Family Tree

New research on the evolutionary relationships between tree sloths and their extinct giant relatives is challenging decades of widely accepted scientific research.

Jun 06, 2019 09:40 AM EDT

NASA Estimates Heavy Texas and Louisiana Rainfall from Gulf Weather System

Earlier in the week, NOAA's National Hurricane Center was monitoring a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Campeche that has now moved along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines, bringing heavy rainfall. On June 5, NASA used a constellation of satellites to estimate that rainfall.

Jun 06, 2019 08:56 AM EDT

Hoard of the Rings: Unusual Rings are a Novel Type of Bronze Age Cereal-Based Product

Strange ring-shaped objects in a Bronze Age hillfort site represent a unique form of cereal-based product, according to a study published June 5, 2019, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andreas G. Heiss of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAW-ÖAI) and colleagues.

Jun 06, 2019 08:24 AM EDT

Estimating Microplastic Consumption

Since the mass production of plastics began in the 1940s, the versatile polymers have spread rapidly across the globe. Although plastics have made life easier in many ways, disposing of the materials is a growing problem.

Immune Cells in the Intestine of a Young Mouse (IMAGE)

Jun 05, 2019 07:38 AM EDT

Could Coosting the Gut Microbiome be the Secret to Healthier Older Age?

Fecal transplants from young to aged mice can stimulate the gut microbiome and revive the gut immune system, a study by immunologists at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, has shown. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications today.

Jun 05, 2019 07:25 AM EDT

Rare Fossils Provide More Detailed Picture of Biodiversity During Middle Ordovician

LAWRENCE -- A clutch of marine fossil specimens unearthed in northern Portugal that lived between 470 and 459 million years ago is filling a gap in understanding evolution during the Middle Ordovician period.

Jun 04, 2019 11:28 AM EDT

Oldest Flaked Stone Tools Point to the Repeated Invention of Stone Tools

A new archaeological site discovered by an international and local team of scientists working in Ethiopia shows that the origins of stone tool production are older than 2.58 million years ago. Previously, the oldest evidence for systematic stone tool production and use was 2.58 to 2.55 million years ago.

Former Wallflowers Became Globetrotters (IMAGE)

Jun 03, 2019 07:59 PM EDT

Plant Lineage Points to Different Evolutionary Playbook for Temperate Species

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- An ancient, cosmopolitan lineage of plants is shaking up scientists' understanding of how quickly species evolve in temperate ecosystems and why.

Water Stress Leads to Tough Choices (IMAGE)

Jun 03, 2019 07:42 PM EDT

Combination of Water Scarcity and Inflexible Demand Puts World's River Basins at Risk

Irvine, Calif. - Nearly one-fifth of the world's population lives in a stressed water basin where the next climate change-driven incident could threaten access to an essential resource for agriculture, industry and life itself, according to a paper by University of California, Irvine researchers and others, published today in Nature Sustainability.

Jun 01, 2019 09:01 AM EDT

Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight Holding in Illinois, Study Says

URBANA, Ill. - Illinois wheat growers, take heart. A new University of Illinois study shows no evidence of a highly toxic Fusarium head blight (FHB) variant, known as NA2, in the wheat-growing region of the state. The study also reinforces the effectiveness of wheat resistance to the fungal disease.

Let's Connect

EDITOR'S Choices

Environment

Super-Resolution Microscopy Sheds Light on How Dementia Protein Becomes Dysfunctional

Animals

To Learn How Poison Frogs are Adapting to Warmer Temperatures, Scientists Got Crafty

Health & Medicine

Endometrial Diseases Can Be Imitated in a Lab Dish, New Study Shows

Most Popular

arrow

Environment

More Mysterious Jars of the Dead Unearthed in Laos

Older Forests Resist Change -- Climate Change

Rapid Change in Coral Reefs Prompts Global Calls for a Rethink

Details of First Historically Recorded Plague Pandemic Revealed by Ancient Genomes

Argentine Fossils Take Oak and Beech Family History Far Into Southern Hemisphere

New Research Shakes Up the Sloth Family Tree

NASA Estimates Heavy Texas and Louisiana Rainfall from Gulf Weather System

Hoard of the Rings: Unusual Rings are a Novel Type of Bronze Age Cereal-Based Product

Estimating Microplastic Consumption

Could Coosting the Gut Microbiome be the Secret to Healthier Older Age?

Rare Fossils Provide More Detailed Picture of Biodiversity During Middle Ordovician

Oldest Flaked Stone Tools Point to the Repeated Invention of Stone Tools

Plant Lineage Points to Different Evolutionary Playbook for Temperate Species

Combination of Water Scarcity and Inflexible Demand Puts World's River Basins at Risk

Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight Holding in Illinois, Study Says

Let's Connect

EDITOR'S Choices

Guacamole Lovers, Rejoice! The Avocado Genome Has Been Sequenced

How Can Robots Land Like Birds?

Ofev Drug Fails in Mesothelioma Clinical Trial

Super-Resolution Microscopy Sheds Light on How Dementia Protein Becomes Dysfunctional

To Learn How Poison Frogs are Adapting to Warmer Temperatures, Scientists Got Crafty

Endometrial Diseases Can Be Imitated in a Lab Dish, New Study Shows

Most Popular