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Categories: Archaeology: General, Offbeat: Earth and Climate

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Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Butterflies can remember where things are over sizeable spaces      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Heliconius butterflies are capable of spatial learning, scientists have discovered. The results provide the first experimental evidence of spatial learning in any butterfly or moth species.

Archaeology: General
Published

Roman road network spanning the South West identified in new research      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has found evidence that a Roman road network spanned Devon and Cornwall and connected significant settlements with military forts across the two counties as well as wider Britannia.

Archaeology: General
Published

Using gemstones' unique characteristics to uncover ancient trade routes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Gems' unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones' past, and with it, historical trade routes. Scientists now employ three modern spectroscopic techniques to rapidly analyze gems found in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compare them with similar gems from around the world. They have identified elements that influence gems' color, differentiated stones found within and outside the region, and distinguished natural from synthetic.

Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Energy-storing supercapacitor from cement, water, black carbon      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers have created a 'supercapacitor' made of ancient, abundant materials, that can store large amounts of energy. Made of just cement, water, and carbon black (which resembles powdered charcoal), the device could form the basis for inexpensive systems that store intermittently renewable energy, such as solar or wind energy.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Space Physics: Optics Space: The Solar System
Published

Sun 'umbrella' tethered to asteroid might help mitigate climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. An astronomer has proposed a novel approach -- a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Bacteria as Blacksmiths      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A hot bath is a place to relax. For scientists, it is also where molecules or tiny building blocks meet to form materials. Researchers take it to the next level and use the energy of swimming bacteria to forge materials. A recent study shows us how this works and the potential sustainability benefits that may arise from this innovative approach.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Fossils
Published

New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of linguists and geneticists has achieved a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the origins of Indo-European, a family of languages spoken by nearly half of the world's population.

Archaeology: General
Published

Ancient DNA reveals diverse community in 'Lost City of the Incas'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

DNA analysis of 34 individuals buried at Machu Picchu revealed that many traveled alone from throughout the Inca Empire.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
Published

Family trees from the European Neolithic      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Neolithic burial site of Gurgy 'les Noisats' in France revealed two unprecedentedly large family trees which allowed a Franco-German team to explore the social organization of the 6,700-year-old community. Based on multiple lines of evidence, the team describes a close kin group which practiced monogamy and female exogamy, and experienced generally stable times.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Egg 'signatures' will allow drongos to identify cuckoo 'forgeries' almost every time, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Egg 'signatures' will allow drongos to identify cuckoo 'forgeries' almost every time, study finds. African cuckoos may have met their match with the fork-tailed drongo, which scientists predict can detect and reject cuckoo eggs from their nest on almost every occasion, despite them on average looking almost identical to drongo eggs.

Archaeology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Missing island explains how endemic species on the Miyako Islands emerged      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Miyako Islands are home to various native species of snake and lizards. How these species came to call these islands home has long puzzled scientists. A group of researchers have compiled the latest geological and biological data, proposing that an island once facilitated migration between Okinawa and Miyako Islands.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

It's sewage, not fertilizer fueling nitrogen surge in Florida's Indian River Lagoon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fertilizer restrictions along Florida's 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon were intended to reduce nutrient inputs from urban and agricultural land uses. The hope was that water quality would improve by reducing the nitrogen load. While these restrictions were well-intended, a study finds fertilizer use is not the root cause of the lagoon's environmental issues. It's sewage. For decades, fertilizer use was implicated for about 71 percent of the lagoon's environmental impairments. In fact, current estimates show 79 percent of nitrogen loading is from septic systems; 21 percent is from residential fertilizer use.

Archaeology: General Ecology: Endangered Species
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Picky green sea turtle has travelled to the same place to eat for generations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat. The fact that this stretches over many generations highlights the importance of protecting seagrass meadows along the coasts of North Africa.

Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have shown it's possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.

Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Hidden details of Egyptian paintings revealed by chemical imaging      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Portable chemical imaging technology can reveal hidden details in ancient Egyptian paintings, according to new research.

Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Sex lives of orchids reads like science fiction      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have created a global database of pollination data for almost 3000 orchid species.

Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Paleontology: Climate
Published

Why there are no kangaroos in Bali (and no tigers in Australia)      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are using a new model to clarify why millions of years ago more animal species from Asia made the leap to the Australian continent than vice versa. The climate in which the species evolved played an important role.

Archaeology: General
Published

Study examines centuries of identity lost because of slavery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using computational methods informed by genetic data, researchers estimate that a random African American born between 1960 and 1965 is descended from, on average, 314 African and 51 European ancestors reaching back to 1619.