Showing 20 articles starting at article 1
Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Geoscience: Geology
Published Two epicenters led to Japan's violent Noto earthquake on New Year's Day
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The 7.5- magnitude earthquake beneath Japan's Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1, 2024, occurred when a 'dual-initiation mechanism' applied enough energy from two different locations to break through a fault barrier -- an area that locks two sides of a fault in place and absorbs the energy of fault movement, slowing it down or stopping it altogether.
Published Colorful traits in primates ease tensions between groups
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals.
Published Creature the size of a dust grain found hiding in California's Mono Lake
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mono Lake is a beautiful but harsh environment, its salty and arsenic-laced water home to brine shrimp, alkali flies and little else. Scientists recently discovered an unsuspected resident, however, a microscopic creature -- a choanoflagelatte -- that forms colonies that harbor their own unique bacterial microbiomes. The creature, part of the sister group to all animals, could shed light on the evolution of animals' intimate interactions with bacteria and the rise of multicellular life.
Published From pets to pests: How domestic rabbits survive the wilderness
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source How do rabbits go from fluffy pets to marauding invaders? Rabbits have colonized countries worldwide, often with dire economic and ecological consequences, but their secret has until now been a mystery. Biologists sequenced the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits from across three continents to unveil the key genetic changes that make these animals master colonizers.
Published Life from a drop of rain: New research suggests rainwater helped form the first protocell walls
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research shows that rainwater could have helped create a meshy wall around protocells 3.8 billion years ago, a critical step in the transition from tiny beads of RNA to every bacterium, plant, animal, and human that ever lived.
Published New study reveals devastating power and colossal extent of a giant underwater avalanche off the Moroccan coast
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has revealed how an underwater avalanche grew more than 100 times in size causing a massive trail of destruction as it traveled 2000km across the Atlantic Ocean seafloor off the North West coast of Africa. Researchers provide an unprecedented insight into the scale, force and impact of one of nature's mysterious phenomena, underwater avalanches.
Published Researchers teaching artificial intelligence about frustration in protein folding
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have found a new way to predict how proteins change their shape when they function, which is important for understanding how they work in living systems. While recent artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made it possible to predict what proteins look like in their resting state, figuring out how they move is still challenging because there is not enough direct data from experiments on protein motions to train the neural networks.
Published 'Masters of shape-shifting': How darkling beetles conquered the world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Large-scale genomic analysis of darkling beetles, a hyper-diverse insect group of more than 30,000 species worldwide, rolls back the curtain on a 150-million-year evolutionary tale of one of Earth's most ecologically important yet inconspicuous creatures, according to new research.
Published Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.
Published Scientists discover new code governing gene activity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A newly discovered code within DNA -- coined 'spatial grammar' -- holds a key to understanding how gene activity is encoded in the human genome. This breakthrough finding revealed a long-postulated hidden spatial grammar embedded in DNA. The research could reshape scientists' understanding of gene regulation and how genetic variations may influence gene expression in development or disease.
Published Preservation of organic carbon in the ocean floor
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The preservation of organic carbon in marine sediments has long been a key question remaining unclear in understanding the long-term carbon cycling on Earth. Recently, scientists have gained new insights into the dynamic cycling of iron-bound organic carbon in subseafloor sediments.
Published Decoding mysterious seismic signals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geophysicists find link between seismic waves called PKP precursors and anomalies in Earth's mantle that are associated with hotspots associated with volcanism on the surface.
Published Scottish and Irish rocks confirmed as rare record of 'snowball Earth'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The study found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1 km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation -- the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life.
Published Blind cavefish have extraordinary taste buds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A biologist studies blind cavefish, a species of fish that dwell in cave ponds in Mexico. He looked at the timeline for when the cavefish develop additional taste buds on the head and chin, finding the taste bud expansion starts at five months and continues into adulthood.
Published Scientists map DNA of Lyme disease bacteria
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have produced a genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria that may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the tick-borne ailment.
Published Researchers unveil mysteries of ancient Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of researchers has made strides in understanding the formation of massif-type anorthosites, enigmatic rocks that only formed during the middle part of Earth's history. These plagioclase-rich igneous rock formations, which can cover areas as large as 42,000 square kilometers and host titanium ore deposits, have puzzled scientists for decades due to conflicting theories about their origins.
Published How bread dough gave rise to civilization
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A major international study has explained how bread wheat helped to transform the ancient world on its path to becoming the iconic crop that today helps sustain a global population of eight billion.
Published Decoding the world's largest animal genome
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have sequenced the largest genome of all animals, the lungfish genome. Their data help to explain how the fish-ancestors of today's land vertebrates were able to conquer land.
Published Surprising insight into cancer comes from unique plant species that find different solutions to evolutionary challenges
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has shown that different plant species tackle the same evolutionary hurdle in different ways, and the findings may give insight into aggressive forms of cancer.
Published Rewriting the evolutionary history of critical components of the nervous system
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has rewritten the conventionally understood evolutionary history of certain ion channels -- proteins critical for electrical signaling in the nervous system. The study shows that the Shaker family of ion channels were present in microscopic single cell organisms well before the common ancestor of all animals and thus before the origin of the nervous system.