Paleontology: Climate
Published

Kill dates for re-exposed black mosses      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have used radiocarbon ages (kill dates) of previously ice-entombed dead black mosses to reveal that glaciers advanced during three distinct phases in the northern Antarctic Peninsula over the past 1,500 years.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Wearable sensor uses ultrasound to provide cardiac imaging on the go      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers and physicians have developed a wearable ultrasound device that can assess both the structure and function of the human heart. The portable device, which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, can be worn for up to 24 hours and works even during strenuous exercise.

Biology: Evolutionary Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

What crocodile DNA reveals about the Ice Age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What drives crocodile evolution? Is climate a major factor or changes in sea levels? Determined to find answers to these questions, researchers discovered that while changing temperatures and rainfall had little impact on the crocodiles' gene flow over the past three million years, changes to sea levels during the Ice Age had a different effect.

Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Malformed seashells, ancient sediment provide clues about Earth's past      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Shrunken seashells and unusually dark sediment cores have helped geoscientists better understand the chronology and character of events that led to Ocean Anoxic Event 2, nearly 100 million years ago.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Paleontology: Climate
Published

In the Neanderthal site of Combe-Grenal, France, hunting strategies were unaffected by changing climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal (France) preferred to hunt in open environments, and their hunting strategies did not alter during periods of climatic change, according to a new study.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Climate
Published

Global warming reaches central Greenland      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A temperature reconstruction from ice cores of the past 1,000 years reveals that today's warming in central-north Greenland is surprisingly pronounced. The most recent decade surveyed in a study, the years 2001 to 2011, was the warmest in the past 1,000 years, and the region is now 1.5 °C warmer than during the 20th century, as researchers report. Using a set of ice cores unprecedented in length and quality, they reconstructed past temperatures in central-north Greenland and melting rates of the ice sheet.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

A precision arm for miniature robots      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now researchers have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate
Published

Study offers most detailed glimpse yet of planet's last 11,000 summers and winters      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of collaborators have revealed the most detailed look yet at the planet's recent climactic history, including summer and winter temperatures dating back 11,000 years to the beginning of what is known as the Holocene.

Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Rodent extinctions in Hispaniola may have been caused by humans      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean. Today, only one rodent species remains, and its prospects for survival are uncertain. New carbon dates place the blame squarely on humans.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate change could cause 'disaster' in the world's oceans      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Climate change will slow down deep overturning ocean circulation in the coming centuries. Using three dozen Earth system models, researchers have concluded that the Southern Meridional Overturning Circulation could completely shut down by 2300, causing disaster to the marine ecosystem on a large portion of the planet.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Tracking radiation treatment in real time promises safer, more effective cancer therapy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Radiation, used to treat half of all cancer patients, can be measured during treatment for the first time with precise 3D imaging. By capturing and amplifying tiny sound waves created when X-rays heat tissues in the body, medical professionals can map the radiation dose within the body, giving them new data to guide treatments in real time. It's a first-of-its-kind view of an interaction doctors have previously been unable to 'see.'

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Team writes letters with ultrasonic beam, develops deep learning based real-time ultrasonic hologram generation technology      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team has developed a 'deep learning-based ultrasound hologram generation framework' technology that can freely configure the form of focused ultrasound in real time based on holograms. It is expected to be used as a basic technology in the field of brain stimulation and treatment that requires precision in the future.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

A type of simple, DIY air filter can be an effective way to filter out indoor air pollutants      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study found that inexpensive, easy-to-assemble Corsi-Rosenthal boxes can help reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants. The air filters have already been shown to reduce particles carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Brain flexibility may hasten hearing improvements from cochlear implants      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Kickstarting the brain's natural ability to adjust to new circumstances, or neuroplasticity, improves how effectively a cochlear implant can restore hearing loss, a new study in deaf rats shows. The investigation, researchers say, may help explain the extreme variation in hearing improvements experienced by implant recipients.

Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Early forests did not significantly change the atmospheric CO2      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that the atmosphere contained far less CO2 than previously thought when forests emerged on our planet, the new study has important implications for understanding how land plants affect the climate.

Archaeology: General Paleontology: Climate
Published

New theory on timing for human settlement of some parts of tropical Pacific      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Spread across vast distances, the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean are thought to have been populated by humans in two distinct migrations beginning approximately 3,330 years ago. The first followed a northern route out of what is today the Philippines and the second followed a southern route from Taiwan and New Guinea. People arrived on the islands between these routes -- now making up the Federated States of Micronesia -- about 1,000 years later. But a new finding by sea-level researchers suggests that the islands in Micronesia were possibly settled much earlier than supposed and that voyagers on the two routes may have interacted with one another.

Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Linking fossil climate proxies to living bacteria helps climate predictions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Fossilized microbial skins can give us a glimpse of how the climate was in the deep geological past. By discovering the 'missing link' between such fossil skins and the skins of living bacteria, researchers have greatly improved the accuracy of climate reconstructions and predictions.

Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Climate change played key role in dinosaur success story      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change, rather than competition, played a key role in the ascendancy of dinosaurs through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods.

Anthropology: Cultures Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
Published

Increasing forest cover in the Eifel region 11,000 years ago resulted in the local loss of megafauna      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Sediment cores obtained from Eifel maar sites provide insight into the presence of large Ice Age mammals in Central Europe over the past 60,000 years: Overkill hypothesis not confirmed. Herds of megafauna, such as mammoth and bison, have roamed the prehistoric plains in what is today's Central Europe for several tens of thousands of years. As woodland expanded at the end of the last Ice Age, the numbers of these animals declined and by roughly 11,000 years ago, they had completely vanished from this region. Thus, the growth of forests was the main factor that determined the extinction of such megafauna in Central Europe.