Showing 20 articles starting at article 421
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Archaeology: General, Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published New details of Tully monster revealed
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For more than half a century, the Tully monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium), an enigmatic animal that lived about 300 million years ago, has confounded paleontologists, with its strange anatomy making it difficult to classify. Recently, a group of researchers proposed a hypothesis that Tullimonstrum was a vertebrate similar to cyclostomes (jawless fish like lamprey and hagfish). If it was, then the Tully monster would potentially fill a gap in the evolutionary history of early vertebrates. Studies so far have both supported and rejected this hypothesis. Now, using 3D imaging technology, a team in Japan believes it has found the answer after uncovering detailed characteristics of the Tully monster which strongly suggest that it was not a vertebrate. However, its exact classification and what type of invertebrate it was is still to be decided.
Published Ancient DNA reveals the multiethnic structure of Mongolia's first nomadic empire
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Xiongnu, contemporaries of Rome and Egypt, built their nomadic empire on the Mongolian steppe 2,000 years ago, emerging as Imperial China's greatest rival and even inspiring the construction of China's Great Wall. In a new study, researchers find that the Xiongnu were a multiethnic empire, with high genetic diversity found across the empire and even within individual extended elite families. At the fringes of the empire, women held the highest positions of power, and the highest genetic diversity was found among low-status male servants, giving clues to the process of empire building that gave rise to Asia's first nomadic imperial power.
Published Dairy foods helped ancient Tibetans thrive in one of Earth's most inhospitable environments
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The question of how prehistoric populations obtained sustainable food in the barren heights of the Tibetan Plateau has long attracted academic and popular interest. A new study highlights the critical role of dairy pastoralism in opening the plateau up to widespread, long-term human habitation.
Published Humans need Earth-like ecosystem for deep-space living
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Can humans endure long-term living in deep space? The answer is a lukewarm maybe, according to a new theory describing the complexity of maintaining gravity and oxygen, obtaining water, developing agriculture and handling waste far from Earth.
Published Study re-evaluates hazards and climate impacts of massive underwater volcanic eruptions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Material left on the seafloor by bronze-age underwater volcanic eruptions is helping researchers better understand the size, hazards and climate impact of their parent eruptions, according to new research.
Published Lightning strike creates phosphorus material
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A lightning strike in New Port Richey, Florida, led to a chemical reaction creating a new material that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth. High-energy events, such as lightning, can cause unique chemical reactions. In this instance, the result is a new material -- one that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.
Published Male yellow crazy ants are real-life chimeras
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers discovered that males of the yellow crazy ant have maternal and paternal genomes in different cells of their body and are thus chimeras.
Published Warm liquid spewing from Oregon seafloor comes from Cascadia fault, could offer clues to earthquake hazards
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Oceanographers discovered warm, chemically distinct liquid shooting up from the seafloor about 50 miles off Newport. They named the unique underwater spring 'Pythia's Oasis.' Observations suggest the spring is sourced from water 2.5 miles beneath the seafloor at the plate boundary, regulating stress on the offshore subduction zone fault.
Published Spike in major league home runs tied to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study identifies the influence of climate change in the greater number of home runs in major league baseball in recent years. The researchers found that more than 500 home runs since 2010 can be attributed to warmer, thinner air caused by global warming, and that rising temperatures could account for 10% or more of home runs by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. The researchers examined how the average number of home runs per year could rise for each major league ballpark with every 1-degree Celsius increase in the global average temperature.
Published Yak milk consumption among Mongol Empire elites
(via sciencedaily.com) For the first time, researchers have pinpointed a date when elite Mongol Empire people were drinking yak milk, according to a new study.
Published Path to net-zero carbon capture and storage may lead to ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Engineering researchers have developed a novel way to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the 'infinite sink' of the ocean. The approach uses an innovative copper-containing polymeric filter and essentially converts CO2 into sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) that can be released harmlessly into the ocean. This new hybrid material, or filter, is called DeCarbonHIX (i.e., decarbonization through hybrid ion exchange material). The research has demonstrated a 300 percent increase in the amount of carbon captured compared with existing direct air capture methods.
Published Researchers use 21st century methods to record 2,000 years of ancient graffiti in Egypt
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers are learning more about ancient graffiti -- and their intriguing comparisons to modern graffiti -- as they produce a state-of-the-art 3D recording of the Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt.
Published Ancient DNA reveals Asian ancestry introduced to East Africa in early modern times
(via sciencedaily.com) The largest-yet analysis of ancient DNA in Africa, which includes the first ancient DNA recovered from members of the medieval Swahili civilization, has now broken the stalemate about the extent to which people from outside Africa contributed to Swahili culture and ancestry.
Published Ancient giant amphibians swam like crocodiles 250 million years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Ancient 2m-long amphibians swam like crocodiles long before true crocodiles existed, according to a new study.
Published Ancient African empires' impact on migration revealed by genetics
(via sciencedaily.com) Traces of ancient empires that stretched across Africa remain in the DNA of people living on the continent, reveals a new genetics study.
Published Pulsing ultrasound waves could someday remove microplastics from waterways
(via sciencedaily.com) Colorful particles of plastic drift along under the surface of most waterways. These barely visible microplastics -- less than 5 mm wide -- are potentially harmful to aquatic animals and plants, as well as humans. Now, a team reports a two-stage device made with steel tubes and pulsing sound waves that removes most of the plastic particles from real water samples.
Published Research into birds killed in window collisions reveals their microbiomes
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers collected the bodies of birds that crashed into buildings while migrating, and used these specimens to learn about the relationship between birds and the microbes living in their guts -- which appears to be wildly different from mammals and their microbiomes.
Published What should we call evolution driven by genetic engineering? Genetic welding, says researcher
(via sciencedaily.com) With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, humans can now rapidly change the evolutionary course of animals or plants by inserting genes that can easily spread through entire populations. An evolutionary geneticist proposes that we call this evolutionary meddling 'genetic welding.' He argues that we must scientifically and ethically scrutinize the potential consequences of genetic welding before we put it into practice.
Published Giant volcanic 'chain' spills secrets on inner workings of volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Volcanic relics scattered throughout the Australian landscape are a map of the northward movement of the continent over a 'hotspot' inside the Earth, during the last 35 million years.
Published Deceptive daisy's ability to create fake flies explained
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have discovered how a South African daisy makes fake lady flies on its petals to trick male flies into pollinating it.