Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
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.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
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To kill mammoths in the Ice Age, people used planted pikes, not throwing spears, researchers say      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Archeologists say new findings might help resolve the debate about Clovis points and reshape how we think about what life was like roughly 13,000 years ago. After an extensive review of writings and artwork -- and an experiment with replica Clovis point spears -- a team of archaeologists says humans may have braced the butt of their weapons against the ground in a way that would impale a charging animal. The force would have driven the spear deeper into the predator's body, unleashing a more damaging blow than even the strongest prehistoric hunters would have been capable of by throwing or jabbing megafauna.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General
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Ancient DNA reveals Indigenous dog lineages found at Jamestown, Virginia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Previous scientific studies have indicated that North American dog lineages were replaced with European ones between 1492 and the present day. To better understand the timing of this replacement, researchers sequenced mitochondrial DNA from archaeological dogs. Their findings suggest a complex social history of dogs during the early colonial period.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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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.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology
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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.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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Rare archaeological site reveals 'surprising' Neanderthal behaviour at Pyrenees foothills      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An unchartered area in the foothills of the Southern Pyrenees in Spain is providing insights into a poorly known period of Neanderthal history, offering clues that could help archaeologists uncover the mystery of their downfall, according to new research.

Anthropology: Cultures Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Research
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Impact of 700 years of Inuvialuit subsistence hunting on beluga whales      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of researchers analyzed beluga whale bones retrieved from archaeological sites in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada, to shed light on the sustainability of centuries of Inuvialuit beluga whale subsistence harvests.

Anthropology: Cultures Archaeology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Great Scott! Stonehenge's Altar Stone origins reveal advanced ancient Britain      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has revealed Stonehenge's monumental six-ton Altar Stone, long believed to originate from Wales, actually hails from Scotland.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
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House call: A new study rethinks early Christian landmark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Since its discovery by modern researchers a century ago, an ancient structure known as the 'Christian building' has become widely considered the cornerstone of early Christian architecture. Constructed around 232 C.E. in the ancient city of Dura-Europos, a Roman garrison town in what is now eastern Syria, the building is the only example of a 'house church,' or domus ecclesiae, a domestic space that was renovated for worship by Christians at a time when the open practice of their faith is thought to have made them subject to persecution.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Greenland mega-tsunami led to week-long oscillating fjord wave      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In September 2023, a megatsunami in remote eastern Greenland sent seismic waves around the world, piquing the interest of the global research community. The event created a week-long oscillating wave in Dickson Fjord, according to a new report in The Seismic Record.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Landslides
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Sichuan Province earthquake offers lessons for landslide prediction from GNSS observations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using data collected from a 2022 magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Luding County in China's Sichuan Province, researchers tested whether Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations could be used for rapid prediction of earthquake-triggered landslides.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils
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Carvings at ancient monument may be world's oldest calendars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Study revisits Texas seismic activity occurring before 2017, confirming connection to wastewater injection      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study by seismologists reexamines earthquakes in the Permian Basin that occurred before 2017 against the real-time data collected from earthquakes taking place after 2020. Results confirm that the seismicity occurring from 2009-2017 was causally linked to the underground injection of wastewater that is a byproduct of oil and gas extraction.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Mathematics: Modeling
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Demographics of north African human populations unravelled using genomic data and artificial intelligence      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study places the origin of the Imazighen in the Epipaleolithic, more than twenty thousand years ago. The research concludes that the genetic origin of the current Arab population of north Africa is far more recent than previously believed, placing it in the seventh century AD. The team has designed an innovative demographic model that uses artificial intelligence to analyze the complete genomes of the two populations.

Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: General Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Towards smart cities: Predicting soil liquefaction risk using artificial intelligence      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Soil liquefaction that results in infrastructure damage has long been a point of contention for urban planners and engineers. Accurately predicting the soil liquefaction risk of a region could help overcome this challenge. Accordingly, researchers applied artificial intelligence to generate soil liquefaction risk maps, superseding already published risk maps.

Anthropology: Cultures Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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Hunter-gatherers kept an 'orderly home' in the earliest known British dwelling      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Archaeological evidence from the world-famous Mesolithic site of Star Carr in North Yorkshire has shown that hunter-gatherers likely kept an orderly home by creating 'zones' for particular domestic activities.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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'A history of contact': Geneticists are rewriting the narrative of Neanderthals and other ancient humans      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using genomes from 2,000 living humans as well as three Neanderthals and one Denisovan, an international team mapped the gene flow between the hominin groups over the past quarter-million years.