Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: Plants and Animals Offbeat: Space Space: General Space: The Solar System
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Meteorite crater discovered in French winery      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Countless meteorites have struck Earth in the past and shaped the history of our planet. It is assumed, for example, that meteorites brought with them a large part of its water. The extinction of the dinosaurs might also have been triggered by the impact of a very large meteorite. It turns out that the marketing 'gag' of the 'Domaine du Météore' winery is acutally a real impact crater. Meteorite craters which are still visible today are rare because most traces of the celestial bodies have long since disappeared again.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate
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Bouncing seismic waves reveal distinct layer in Earth's inner core      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Data captured from seismic waves caused by earthquakes has shed new light on the deepest parts of Earth's inner core, according to seismologists.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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Gene variations for immune and metabolic conditions have persisted in humans for more than 700,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study explores 'balancing selection' by analyzing thousands of modern human genomes alongside ancient hominin groups, such as Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. The research has 'implications for understanding human diversity, the origin of diseases, and biological trade-offs that may have shaped our evolution,' says evolutionary biologists.

Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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Climate: Lessons from the latest global warming      (via sciencedaily.com) 

56 million years ago, the Earth experienced one of the largest and most rapid climate warming events in its history: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which has similarities to current and future warming. This episode saw global temperatures rise by 5-8°C. It was marked by an increase in the seasonality of rainfalls, which led to the movement of large quantities of clay into the ocean, making it uninhabitable for certain living species. This scenario could be repeated today.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate
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What do early Earth's core formation and drip coffee have in common?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new technique provides fresh insight into the process by which the materials that formed Earth's core descended into the depths of our planet, leaving behind geochemical traces that have long mystified scientists.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
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Earthquake scientists have a new tool in the race to find the next big one      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research on friction between faults could aid in predicting the world's most powerful earthquakes. Researchers discovered that fault surfaces bond together, or heal, after an earthquake. A fault that is slow to heal is more likely to move harmlessly, while one that heals quickly is more likely to stick until it breaks in a large, damaging earthquake. Tests allowed them to calculate a slow, harmless type of tremor. The discovery alone won't allow scientists to predict when the next big one will strike but it does give researchers a valuable new way to investigate the causes and potential for a large, damaging earthquake to happen, and guide efforts to monitor large faults like Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Scientists find world's oldest European hedgehog      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The world's oldest scientifically-confirmed European hedgehog has been found in Denmark by a citizen science project involving hundreds of volunteers. The hedgehog lived for 16 years, 7 years longer than the previous record holder.

Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Better understanding on the way to a carbon-neutral economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What role could rifted margins play in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy? Researchers summarize the current state of knowledge about the so-called rifting of continents. Rifting is the term researchers use to describe the process by which continental plates break and new oceans are formed.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
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Oldest spinosaur brains revealed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have reconstructed the brains and inner ears of two British spinosaurs, helping uncover how these large predatory dinosaurs interacted with their environment.

Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
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Deep-sea black carbon comes from hydrothermal vents      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hydrothermal vents have been identified as a previously undiscovered source of dissolved black carbon in the oceans, furthering the understanding of the role of oceans as a carbon sink.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
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Exact magma locations may improve volcanic eruption forecasts      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Cornell University researchers have unearthed precise, microscopic clues to where magma is stored, offering a way to better assess the risk of volcanic eruptions.

Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
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Scientists develop new index based on functional morphology to understand how ancestors of modern birds used their wings      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have compared the relationship among the strength of flight bones, body mass, and the way modern birds fly to better understand the evolution of flight in birds and extinct animals, such as the Pteranodon.

Archaeology: General Biology: Marine Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Caribou have been using same Arctic calving grounds for 3,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Caribou have been using the same Arctic calving grounds for more than 3,000 years. Female caribou shed their antlers within days of giving birth, leaving behind a record of their annual travels across Alaska and Canada's Yukon that persists on the cold tundra for hundreds or even thousands of years. Researchers recovered antlers that have sat undisturbed on the arctic tundra since the Bronze Age.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
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Codebreakers crack secrets of Mary Queen of Scots' lost letters      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Secret, coded letters penned by Mary Queen of Scots while she was imprisoned in England by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I have been uncovered by a multidisciplinary team of international codebreakers. Launched on the anniversary of Mary's execution, study reveals 50 new letters in cipher -- with some still believed missing -- shedding new light on her captivity.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
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Scientists detect molten rock layer hidden under Earth's tectonic plates      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have discovered a new layer of partly molten rock under the Earth's crust that might help settle a long-standing debate about how tectonic plates move. The molten layer is located about 100 miles from the surface and is part of the asthenosphere, which is important for plate tectonics because it forms a relatively soft boundary that lets tectonic plates move through the mantle. The researchers found, however that the melt does not appear to notably influence the flow of mantle rocks. Instead, they say, the discovery confirms that the convection of heat and rock in the mantle are the prevailing influence on the motion of the plates.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate
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Study reveals new clues about how 'Earth's thermostat' controls climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Rocks, rain and carbon dioxide help control Earth's climate over thousands of years -- like a thermostat -- through a process called weathering. A new study may improve our understanding of how this thermostat responds as temperatures change.

Biology: Evolutionary Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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319-million-year-old fish preserves the earliest fossilized brain of a backboned animal      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The CT-scanned skull of a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish, pulled from a coal mine in England more than a century ago, has revealed the oldest example of a well-preserved vertebrate brain.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
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Looking back at the Tonga eruption      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 'back-projection' technique reveals new details of the volcanic eruption in Tonga that literally shook the world.

Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Mercury helps to detail Earth's most massive extinction event      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists are working to understand the cause and how the events of the LPME unfolded by focusing on mercury from Siberian volcanoes that ended up in sediments in Australia and South Africa.