Showing 20 articles starting at article 341

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Anthropology: General, Space: The Solar System

Return to the site home page

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General
Published

Paleolithic humans may have understood the properties of rocks for making stone tools      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research suggests that Paleolithic humans in the Middle East selected flint for their cutting tools based on differences in the mechanical properties of the rock. They seem to have purposefully selected the most suitable rocks for fashioning into tools, even being able to distinguish rocks that were unsuitable.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Discovery of planet too big for its sun throws off solar system formation models      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets and their solar systems.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals
Published

A mixed origin made maize successful      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Maize is one of the world's most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research shows that all modern maize descends from a hybrid created just over 5000 years ago in central Mexico, thousands of years after the plant was first domesticated.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Decoding past climates through dripstones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study demonstrates how dripstones can be crucial for reconstructing past climates. The new approach can provide a detailed picture of the climate around early human occupations in South Africa.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
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.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Microbiology
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.  

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Building blocks for life could have formed near new stars and planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. The simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed alongside stars or planets within interstellar ices. The findings could be used to train deep space instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in distant, star-forming regions of the universe.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Composition of asteroid Phaethon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Asteroid Phaethon, which is five kilometers in diameter, has been puzzling researchers for a long time. A comet-like tail is visible for a few days when the asteroid passes closest to the Sun during its orbit. However, the tails of comets are usually formed by vaporizing ice and carbon dioxide, which cannot explain this tail. The tail should be visible at Jupiter's distance from the Sun.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Solar activity likely to peak next year      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a new relationship between the Sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity will occur. Their work indicates that the maximum intensity of solar cycle 25, the ongoing sunspot cycle, is imminent and likely to occur within a year.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Alien haze, cooked in a lab, clears view to distant water worlds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have simulated conditions that allow hazy skies to form in water-rich exoplanets, a crucial step in determining how haziness muddles important telescope observations for the search of habitable worlds beyond the solar system.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
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.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Paleontology: Fossils
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.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Hydrogen detected in lunar samples, points to resource availability for space exploration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered solar-wind hydrogen in lunar samples, which indicates that water on the surface of the Moon may provide a vital resource for future lunar bases and longer-range space exploration.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General
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.

Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Investigating the contribution of gamma-ray blazar flares to neutrino flux      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Gamma-ray flares from blazars can be accompanied by high-energy neutrino emission. To better understand this phenomenon, an international research team has statistically analyzed 145 bright blazars. They constructed weekly binned light curves and utilized a Bayesian algorithm, finding that their sample was dominated by blazars with low flare duty cycles and energy fractions. The study suggests that high-energy neutrinos of blazars might be produced mainly during the flare phase.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

An old star with ring-like structure: ALMA demonstrates highest resolution yet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) has demonstrated the highest resolution yet with observations of an old star. The observations show that the star is surrounded by a ring-like structure of gas and that gas from the star is escaping to the surrounding space. Future observations with the newly demonstrated high resolution are expected to elucidate, not only the end of a star's life, but also the beginning, when planets are still forming.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

James Webb Space Telescope detects water vapor, sulfur dioxide and sand clouds in the atmosphere of a nearby exoplanet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. Peering deep into the fluffy atmosphere of WASP-107b they discovered not only water vapor and sulfur dioxide, but even silicate sand clouds. These particles reside within a dynamic atmosphere that exhibits vigorous transport of material.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

'Bouncing' comets could deliver building blocks for life to exoplanets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

How did the molecular building blocks for life end up on Earth? One long-standing theory is that they could have been delivered by comets. Now, researchers have shown how comets could deposit similar building blocks to other planets in the galaxy.