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Categories: Geoscience: Geography, Paleontology: Fossils

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Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Mathematics: Modeling
Published

New AI makes better permafrost maps      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New insights from artificial intelligence about permafrost coverage in the Arctic may soon give policy makers and land managers the high-resolution view they need to predict climate-change-driven threats to infrastructure such as oil pipelines, roads and national security facilities.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Woolly mammoth movements tied to earliest Alaska hunting camps      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have linked the travels of a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth with the oldest known human settlements in Alaska, providing clues about the relationship between the iconic species and some of the earliest people to travel across the Bering Land Bridge. Isotopic data, along with DNA from other mammoths at the site and archaeological evidence, indicates that early Alaskans likely structured their settlements to overlap with areas where mammoths congregated. Those findings, highlighted in the new issue of the journal Science Advances, provide evidence that mammoths and early hunter-gatherers shared habitat in the region. The long-term predictable presence of woolly mammoths would have attracted humans to the area.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Pacific kelp forests are far older that we thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fossils of kelp along the Pacific Coast are rare. Until now, the oldest fossil dated from 14 million years ago, leading to the view that today's denizens of the kelp forest -- marine mammals, urchins, sea birds -- coevolved with kelp. A recent amateur discovery pushes back the origin of kelp to 32 million years ago, long before these creatures appeared. A new analysis suggests the first kelp grazers were extinct, hippo-like animals called desmostylians.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Chasing the light: Study finds new clues about warming in the Arctic      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Arctic, Earth's icy crown, is experiencing a climate crisis like no other. It's heating up at a furious pace -- four times faster than the rest of our planet. Researchers are pulling back the curtain on the reduction of sunlight reflectivity, or albedo, which is supercharging the Arctic's warming.

Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Key moment in the evolution of life on Earth captured in fossils      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has precisely dated some of the oldest fossils of complex multicellular life in the world, helping to track a pivotal moment in the history of Earth when the seas began teeming with new lifeforms -- after four billion years of containing only single-celled microbes.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

NASA analysis confirms 2023 as warmest year on record      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Earth's average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA's baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Even the oldest eukaryote fossils show dazzling diversity and complexity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The sun has just set on a quiet mudflat in Australia's Northern Territory; it'll set again in another 19 hours. A young moon looms large over the desolate landscape. No animals scurry in the waning light. No leaves rustle in the breeze. No lichens encrust the exposed rock. The only hint of life is some scum in a few puddles and ponds. And among it lives a diverse microbial community of our ancient ancestors.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Beaches and dunes globally squeezed by roads and buildings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Beaches and dunes globally squeezed by roads and buildings. Beaches and dunes are becoming increasingly trapped between rising sea levels and infrastructure. Researchers found that today, when dropped on a random beach anywhere in the world, you only need to walk 390 meters (on average) to find the nearest road or building. And while that short walking distance may seem convenient if you want a day at the beach, it's bad news for our protection against rising sea levels, drinking water supplies and biodiversity.

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

The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time capsule, allowing scientists and historians to link Earth's history with that of human societies. In a new study, ice cores from Antartica show that lead and other toxic heavy metals linked to mining activities polluted the Southern Hemisphere as early as the 13th century.

Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Oldest known fossilized skin is 21 million years older than previous examples      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified a 3D fragment of fossilized skin that is at least 21 million years than previously described skin fossils. The skin, which belonged to an early species of Paleozoic reptile, has a pebbled surface and most closely resembles crocodile skin. It's the oldest example of preserved epidermis, the outermost layer of skin in terrestrial reptiles, birds, and mammals, which was an important evolutionary adaptation in the transition to life on land.

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

Prehistoric person with Turner syndrome identified from ancient DNA      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new technique to measure the number of chromosomes in ancient genomes more precisely, using it to identify the first prehistoric person with mosaic Turner syndrome (characterized by one X chromosome instead of two [XX]), who lived about 2500 years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Molecular Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Toxic algae blooms: Study assesses potential health hazards to humans      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Water samples from 20 sites were tested using a panel of immortalized human cell lines corresponding to the liver, kidney and brain to measure cytotoxicity. Results show that each control toxin induced a consistent pattern of cytotoxicity in the panel of human cell lines assayed. Known toxins were seen only during blooms. Because cell toxicity was seen in the absence of blooms, it suggests that there might be either emergent toxins or a combination of toxins present at those times. Findings suggest that other toxins with the potential to be harmful to human health may be present in the lagoon.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Focus on biological processes does not capture the whole picture      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The ocean plays a crucial role in the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). The so-called marine biological carbon pump is an important research topic in this context. However a key component is often overlooked. Colleagues outline why it is insufficient to focus solely on biological processes when investigating the accumulation of CO2 in the ocean by the biological carbon pump.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

PFAS flow equally between Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The frigid Arctic Ocean is far removed from the places most people live, but even so, 'forever chemicals' reach this remote landscape. Now, research suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) won't stay there indefinitely. Instead, they are transported in a feedback loop, with the Arctic Ocean potentially exporting as many PFAS to the North Atlantic Ocean as it receives, circulating the compounds around the world.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Only 18% of the global land area that is needed for human well-being and biodiversity is currently protected      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international group of researchers finds that conserving about half of global land area could maintain nearly all of nature's contributions to people and still meet biodiversity targets for tens of thousands of species. But the same priority areas are at risk of conflict with human development with only 18% of that land area protected.