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Categories: Geoscience: Earthquakes, Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
Published Subduction zone splay faults compound hazards of great earthquakes



Groundbreaking research has provided new insight into the tectonic plate shifts that create some of the Earth's largest earthquakes and tsunamis.
Published First 'warm-blooded' dinosaurs may have emerged 180 million years ago



The ability to regulate body temperature, a trait all mammals and birds have today, may have evolved among some dinosaurs early in the Jurassic period about 180 million years ago. The new study looked at the spread of dinosaurs across different climates on Earth throughout the Mesozoic Era (the dinosaur era lasting from 230 to 66 million years ago), drawing on 1,000 fossils, climate models and the geography of the period, and dinosaurs' evolutionary trees.
Published Heavy snowfall and rain may contribute to some earthquakes



Episodes of heavy snowfall and rain likely contributed to a swarm of earthquakes over the past several years in northern Japan, researchers find. Their study shows climate conditions could initiate some earthquakes.
Published Pore pressure diffusion led to microseismicity at Illinois basin carbon sequestration site



Pore pressure diffusion generated by carbon dioxide injected underground at a carbon storage site in the Illinois Basin is the likely cause of hundreds of microearthquakes that took place at the site between 2011 and 2012, according to a new analysis.
Published Researchers show that slow-moving earthquakes are controlled by rock permeability



A research group explores how the makeup of rocks, specifically their permeability -- or how easily fluids can flow through them -- affects the frequency and intensity of slow slip events. Slow slips' role in the earthquake cycle may help lead to a better model to predict when earthquakes happen.
Published Feathers, cognition and global consumerism in colonial Amazonia



Amazonia is the home of the largest variety of birds in the world. In such a unique environment, craft cultures have flourished by translating the beauty and creativity of environmental materials like feathers into stunning pieces of art. A new article examines artisanal featherwork within the context of early modern colonialism and globalization.
Published Do earthquake hazard maps predict higher shaking than actually occurred?



A research team studied earthquake hazard maps from five countries and found that all the maps seemed to overpredict the historically observed earthquake shaking intensities. In analyzing the possible causes, the researchers discovered the issue was with the conversion equations used in comparing the maps predicting future quakes with actual shaking data, rather than systemic problems with the hazard modeling itself.
Published Scientists trigger mini-earthquakes in the lab



Earthquakes and landslides are famously difficult to predict and prepare for. By studying a miniature version of the ground in the lab, scientists have demonstrated how these events can be triggered by a small external shock wave. Bring a flotation device: it involves the ground briefly turning into a liquid!
Published Mountain chickadees have remarkable memories. A new study explains why



Mountain chickadees have among the best spatial memory in the animal kingdom. New research identifies the genes at play and offers insight into how a shifting climate may impact the evolution of this unique skill.
Published Rock permeability, microquakes link may be a boon for geothermal energy



Using machine learning, researchers have tied low-magnitude microearthquakes to the permeability of subsurface rocks beneath the Earth, a discovery that could have implications for improving geothermal energy transfer.
Published Birdfeeders are designed to keep unwanted guests away



The first birdfeeders were made in the 19th century, and their design rapidly evolved during the 20th century. Researchers at the consider the evolution of the birdfeeder to be an example of multispecies design, where unwanted guests have shaped the human-made artifact.
Published Dinosaur study challenges Bergmann's rule



A new study calls into question Bergmann's rule, an 1800s-era scientific principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates tend to be larger than close relatives living in warmer climates.
Published Early dinosaurs grew up fast, but they weren't the only ones



The earliest dinosaurs had rapid growth rates, but so did many of the other animals living alongside them, according to a new study.
Published We've had bird evolution all wrong



Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds.
Published Mathematical innovations enable advances in seismic activity detection



Scientists successfully addressed mathematical challenges in conventional Spectral Matrix analysis, used to analyze three-component seismic signals, by introducing time-delay components. The new technique enables the characterization of various polarized waves and the detection of seismic events that have previously gone unnoticed by conventional methods. These findings pave the way for improving a variety of applications, including earthquake detection.
Published Researchers name prehistoric amphibian ancestor discovered in Smithsonian collection after Kermit the Frog



Scientists have uncovered the fossilized skull of a 270-million-year-old ancient amphibian ancestor in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The team of researchers described the fossil as a new species of proto-amphibian, which they named Kermitops gratus in honor of the iconic Muppet, Kermit the Frog.
Published What kinds of seismic signals did Swifties send at LA concert?



Seattle may have experienced its own Swift Quake last July, but at an August 2023 concert Taylor Swift's fans in Los Angeles gave scientists a lot of shaking to ponder. After some debate, a research team concluded that it was likely the dancing and jumping motions of the audience at SoFi Stadium -- not the musical beats or reverberations of the sound system -- that generated the concert's distinct harmonic tremors.
Published Alaska dinosaur tracks reveal a lush, wet environment



A large find of dinosaur tracks and fossilized plants and tree stumps in far northwestern Alaska provides new information about the climate and movement of animals near the time when they began traveling between the Asian and North American continents roughly 100 million years ago.
Published Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth



A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.
Published Slimming down a colossal fossil whale



A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.