Showing 20 articles starting at article 301
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Categories: Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR), Paleontology: General
Published 3D display could soon bring touch to the digital world
(via sciencedaily.com) Engineers have designed a new, shape-shifting display that can fit on a card table and allows users to draw 3D designs and more.
Published Bees evolved from ancient supercontinent, diversified faster than suspected
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The origin of bees is tens of millions of years older than most previous estimates, a new study shows. A team led by Washington State University researchers traced the bee genealogy back more than 120 million years to an ancient supercontinent, Gondwana, which included today's continents of Africa and South America.
Published Genome analysis of 46,000-year-old roundworm from Siberian permafrost reveals novel species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some organisms, such as tardigrades, rotifers, and nematodes, can survive harsh conditions by entering a dormant state known as 'cryptobiosis.' In 2018, researchers found two roundworms (nematode) species in the Siberian Permafrost. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the nematode individuals have remained in cryptobiosis since the late Pleistocene, about 46,000 years ago. Researchers have now used genome sequencing, assembly, and phylogenetic analysis and found that the permafrost nematode belongs to a previously undescribed species, Panagrolaimus kolymaensis.
Published New archosaur species shows that precursor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs was armored
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have described a new species of armored reptile that lived near the time of the first appearance of dinosaurs. With bony plates on its backbone, this archosaur fossil reveals that armor was a boomerang trait in the story of dinosaur and pterosaur evolution: the group's ancestors were armored, but this characteristic was lost and then independently re-evolved multiple times later among specialized dinosaurs like ankylosaurs, stegosaurs, and others.
Published Missing island explains how endemic species on the Miyako Islands emerged
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Miyako Islands are home to various native species of snake and lizards. How these species came to call these islands home has long puzzled scientists. A group of researchers have compiled the latest geological and biological data, proposing that an island once facilitated migration between Okinawa and Miyako Islands.
Published Spurge purge: Plant fossils reveal ancient South America-to-Asia 'escape route'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Newly identified plant fossils found in Argentina suggest that a group of spurges long thought to have Asian origins may have first appeared in Gondwanan South America.
Published Miocene period fossil forest of Wataria found in Japan
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An exquisitely preserved fossil forest from Japan provides missing links and helps reconstruct a whole Eurasia plant from the late Miocene epoch.
Published These bones were made for walking
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The genetic changes that made it possible for humans to walk upright have been uncovered in a study that also shows how slight variations in skeletal proportions are linked to arthritis.
Published Paleontologists identify two new species of sabertooth cat
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Sabertooth cats make up a diverse group of long-toothed predators that roamed Africa around 6-7 million years ago, around the time that hominins -- the group that includes modern humans -- began to evolve. By examining one of the largest global Pliocene collections of fossils in Langebaanweg, north of Cape Town in South Africa, researchers present two new sabertooth species and the first family tree of the region's ancient sabertooths. Their results suggest that the distribution of sabertooths throughout ancient Africa might have been different than previously assumed, and the study provides important information about Africa's paleoenvironment.
Published Flying reptiles had nurturing parental style
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Did the pterosaurs, flying reptiles from the days of the dinosaurs, practice parental care or not? New research shows that pterosaurs were indeed caring parents -- but only the larger species.
Published Unusual fossil shows rare evidence of a mammal attacking a dinosaur
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have described an unusual fossil from around 125 million years ago in China that shows a dramatic moment in time when a carnivorous mammal attacked a larger plant-eating dinosaur. The two animals are locked in mortal combat, and it's among the first evidence to show actual predatory behavior by a mammal on a dinosaur. The fossil's presence challenges the view that dinosaurs had few threats from their mammal contemporaries during the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs were the dominant animals.
Published Improving urban planning with virtual reality
(via sciencedaily.com) What should the city we live in look like? How do structural changes affect the people who move around it? Cartographers use virtual reality tools to explore these questions before a great deal of money is spent on building measures. Using the Unity3 game engine, they recreate scenarios in 3D where people can experience potential changes through immersion. They were able to prove that the physical reaction to this experience is measurable.
Published New fossil flying reptile 'Elvis' takes flight
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In an exciting scientific development, an international team of researchers have officially named a newly discovered 145-million-year-old pterosaur. The animal had enormous 2-meter wingspan and was nicknamed 'Elvis' when the fossil was first unearthed in Bavaria, Germany because of the giant pompadour-like bony crest on its skull. Now the animal has been given a formal scientific name of Petrodactyle wellnhoferi. The name translates as 'Wellnhofer's stone-finger' honouring legendary German palaeontologist Peter Wellnhofer who spent his career working on German pterosaurs. Petrodactyle is a very complete skeleton with nearly every bone preserved and in remarkable detail.
Published Researchers develop approach that can enable inexpensive mass manufacturing of micro-LED displays
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research describes a continuous roller printing approach that can precisely transfer thousands of microscopic semiconductor devices in a single shot. This method paves the way to creating large-scale arrays of optical components and could be used to rapidly manufacture micro-LED displays.
Published Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves suffered from diseased joints
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ice Age saber-tooth cats and dire wolves experienced a high incidence of bone disease in their joints, according to new research.
Published Crawford Lake, Canada, chosen as the primary marker to identify the start of the Anthropocene epoch
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of researchers has chosen the location which best represents the beginnings of what could be a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Working Group have put forward Crawford Lake, in Canada, as a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene. A GSSP is an internationally agreed-upon reference point to show the start of a new geological period or epoch in layers of rock that have built up through the ages.
Published Tiny scales reveal megalodon was not as fast as believed, but it had a mega-appetite explaining its gigantism
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study reveals the iconic extinct Megalodon, or 'megatooth shark', was a rather slow cruiser that used its warm-bloodedness to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Published Marine fossils are a reliable benchmark for degrading and collapsing ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans began altering environments long before records were kept of the things that lived in them, making it difficult for scientists to determine what healthy ecosystems should look like. Researchers show the recent fossil record preserves a reliable snapshot of marine environments as they existed before humans.
Published Scientists discover 36-million-year geological cycle that drives biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Movement in the Earth's tectonic plates indirectly triggers bursts of biodiversity in 36 million-year cycles by forcing sea levels to rise and fall, new research has shown.
Published Global cooling caused diversity of species in orchids, confirms study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research shows global cooling of the climate 10 million years ago led to an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids.