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Categories: Anthropology: General, Ecology: Endangered Species
Published The waxy surface protecting plants might hold the key to developing stronger crops
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered that the waxy protective barrier around plants might play a role in sending chemical signals to other plants and insects.
Published how far can the wind can carry a plant's seeds? New model
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Playing an essential foundational role in an ecosystem, plants contribute to the well-being of human health by helping create resources like food and medicine. Therefore, to better understand how plants can maintain resiliency in the face of challenges like climate change, researchers recently developed an innovative mathematical model that can provide fast and reliable predictions of how far wind can carry a plant's seeds.
Published Dishing the dirt on human evolution: Why scientific techniques matter in archaeology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists should seek answers hidden in the dirt using proven and state-of-the-art archaeological science techniques to support new discoveries about human evolution following recent controversies at a cave site in Africa, says a group of international experts. Their recommendations follow claims published in June of this year that Homo naledi --a small-brained human species -- buried their dead in Rising Star Cave, South Africa, between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago, and may also have decorated the cave walls with engravings.
Published Identifying Australia's most elusive birds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have analyzed more than 3.8 million volunteer hours of birdwatching data to identify Australia's most elusive species.
Published Study of ancient British oral microbiomes reveals shift following Black Death
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Second Plague Pandemic of the mid-14th century, also known as the Black Death, killed 30-60 percent of the European population and profoundly changed the course of European history. New research suggests that this plague, potentially through resulting changes in diet and hygiene, may also be associated with a shift in the composition of the human oral microbiome toward one that contributes to chronic diseases in modern-day humans.
Published Slash-and-burn agriculture can increase forest biodiversity, researchers find
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The slash-and-burn agriculture practiced by many Indigenous societies across the world can actually have a positive impact on forests, according to a new study done in Belize. Researchers found that in areas of the rainforest in which Indigenous farmers using slash-and-burn techniques created intermediate-sized farm patches -- neither too small nor too large -- there were increases in forest plant diversity.
Published Was 'witchcraft' in the Devil's Church in Koli based on acoustic resonance? The crevice cave has a unique soundscape
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The national park of Koli in eastern Finland is home to a famous, 34-metre-long crevice cave known as Pirunkirkko, or Devil's Church in English. A new study investigates the acoustics of the Devil's Church and explores whether the acoustic properties of the cave could explain the beliefs associated with it, and why it was chosen as a place for activities and rituals involving sound.
Published Earliest known European common hippopotamus fossil reveals their Middle Pleistocene dispersal
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, according to a new study.
Published Researchers puncture 100-year-old theory of odd little 'water balloons'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Quinoa and many other extremely resilient plants are covered with strange balloon-like 'bladders' that for 127 years were believed to be responsible for protecting them from drought and salt. Research results reveal this not to be the case. These so-called bladder cells serve a completely different though important function. The finding makes it likely that even more resilient quinoa plants will now be able to be bred, which could lead to the much wider cultivation of this sustainable crop worldwide.
Published Neanderthals were the world's first artists, research reveals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recent research has shown that engravings in a cave in La Roche-Cotard (France), which has been sealed for thousands of years, were actually made by Neanderthals. The findings reveal that the Neanderthals were the first humans with an appreciation of art.
Published Looking for 'LUCA' and the timing of cellular evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source LUCA, the 'last universal common ancestor' of all living organisms, lived 4.32 to at most 4.52 billion years ago. What LUCA looked like is unknown, but it must have been a cell with among others ribosomal proteins and an ATP synthase.
Published 'Woman the hunter': Studies aim to correct history
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research combined both physiological and archaeological evidence to argue that not only did prehistoric women engage in the practice of hunting, but their female anatomy and biology would have made them intrinsically better suited for it.
Published Half of tested caviar products from Europe are illegal, and some aren't even caviar
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Wild caviar, a pricey delicacy made from sturgeon eggs, has been illegal for decades since poaching brought the fish to the brink of extinction. Today, legal, internationally tradeable caviar can only come from farmed sturgeon, and there are strict regulations in place to help protect the species. However, by conducting genetic and isotope analyses on caviar samples from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine -- nations bordering the remaining wild sturgeon populations -- a team of sturgeon experts found evidence that these regulations are actively being broken. Their results show that half of the commercial caviar products they sampled are illegal, and some don't even contain any trace of sturgeon.
Published New research suggests plants might be able to absorb more CO2 from human activities than previously expected
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research paints an uncharacteristically upbeat picture for the planet. This is because more realistic ecological modelling suggests the world's plants may be able to take up more atmospheric CO2 from human activities than previously predicted.
Published Like the phoenix, Australia's giant birds of prey rise again from limestone caves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Australia's only vulture, and a fearsome extinct eagle, are among the earliest recorded birds of prey from the Pleistocene period more than 50,000 years ago -- and now researchers are bringing them to 'life' again. Along with new scientific information, a bold new pictorial reconstruction of a newly named eagle and the only known Australian vulture will be unveiled at the World Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves in South Australia's Limestone Coast this month.
Published Nature photographers posting to social media help with protecting biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Nature photographers posting to social media are helping improve biodiversity conservation mapping in South Asia, and the method could go global.
Published Plants that survived dinosaur extinction pulled nitrogen from air
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient cycad lineages that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs may have done so by relying on symbiotic bacteria in their roots to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The finding came from an effort to understand ancient atmospheres, but became an insight into plant evolution instead.
Published Hemp cannabinoids may have evolved to deter insect pests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Cannabinoids, naturally occurring compounds found in hemp plants, may have evolved to deter pests from chewing on them, according to new research that showed higher cannabinoid concentrations in hemp leaves led to proportionately less damage from insect larvae.
Published Genetic discovery promises high-iron vegetables and cereals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A genetic breakthrough has opened new opportunities for iron-fortified vegetables and cereal crops to help address the global health issue of anemia.
Published New deep learning AI tool helps ecologists monitor rare birds through their songs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new deep learning AI tool that generates life-like birdsongs to train bird identification tools, helping ecologists to monitor rare species in the wild.