The Greenish Warbler, long considered an idealized example of a single species that diverged into two as it expanded its range, has a much more checkered family history than biologists previously realized. Left: West Siberian greenish warbler (P. t. viridanus); Right: East Siberian greenish warbler (P. t. plumbeitarsus) [Credit: Darren Irwin, University of British Columbia]Ring species are a...
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have crossed a new threshold, the UN's weather agency said Monday, highlighting the urgency of curbing manmade, climate-altering greenhouse gases. Cooling towers of the coal-fired power plant of Scholven in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany, are pictured on January 16, 2012 [Credit: AFP]In April, for the first time, the mean monthly CO2 concentration in...
New research, published this week, has provided scientists with greater insight into the climatic changes happening in the upper atmosphere. Scientists found that changes in the Earth’s magnetic field are more relevant for climatic changes in the upper atmosphere (about 100-500 km above the surface) than previously thought. Understanding the cause of long-term change in this area helps scientists to...
Studying stream bubbles isn't exactly a walk in the park. What, with the mud and ticks, the long days hiking and swimming through mucky streams, the sun exposure and scratching brush. Methane bubbles rising to the surface of fresh water [Credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison]But in the end, it may prove to be insightful. The bubbles coming from freshwater sources, new research suggests, may be a...
Like a bullet wrapped in a full metal jacket, a high-velocity hydrogen cloud hurtling toward the Milky Way appears to be encased in a shell of dark matter, according to a new analysis of data from the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Astronomers believe that without this protective shell, the high-velocity cloud (HVC) known as the Smith Cloud would have disintegrated...
A Stone Age hunting camp and a Roman villa were among several prehistoric finds dating back 10,000 years discovered during the laying of a new water main in Fetcham. Archaeologists clean the walls of a Roman structure discovered in Fetcham [Credit: Dorking Advertiser]The finds were unearthed during the installation of a new iron pipeline by Sutton and East Surrey Water at Cobham Road in the valley...
The Egyptian antiquities ministry has located five ancient artefacts that were smuggled out of the country in 2002, it announced on Saturday. Section of the lintel depicting the priest Hunefer [Credit: Ahram Online]Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim announced that the artefacts were stolen during illegal excavations at the Saqqara necropolis, 25 kilometres south of the Giza pyramids. Three of these...
The Spanish Civil War ended 75 years ago, and it is often referred to as the first chapter of World War Two. More than 35,000 men and women from more than 50 countries went to Spain to fight fascism by joining the International Brigades. View of Belchite today [Credit: IBAP]There is now a new international project aiming to study Spain’s landscape of conflict through archaeology. It is the International...
The mummy of the pharaoh Amenhotep II's foster brother may have been found in a former monastery, according to archival research into 19th-century documents. The skeletonized mummy of Qenamun [Credit: Rossella Lorenzi]The mummy, now reduced to a skeleton, is believed to be that of Qenamun, the chief steward of Amenhotep II (about 1427–1400 B.C.) who was the 7th Pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty...
Remnants of a burnt ancient city, believed to be dating back to 2nd century BC, have been found in an archaeological site in Tarighat, nearly 30 km from here. The “gutted settlement” reminds one the famed Roman city of Pompeii that got buried under 13-20 feet of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Archaeologist J.R. Bhagat inside the trench with charred patches surrounding him...
Enantiornithes, an extinct group of primitive birds, were the most abundant and diverse avialans of the Mesozoic. The abundance of enantiornithine fossils, and in particular the well-preserved nearly complete skeletons known from the Lower Cretaceous of China, has made it possible for researchers to address questions such as how well enantiornithines could fly, whether they were primarily terrestrial...
New techniques for visualizing fossils are transforming our understanding of evolutionary history according to a paper published by leading palaeontologists at the University of Bristol. Digital reconstructions of the skull of the dinosaur Erlikosaurus made from a CT scan [Credit: Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager, University of Bristol]Palaeontology has traditionally proceeded slowly, with individual...
Scientists from the Magma and Volcanoes Laboratory (CNRS/IRD/Université Blaise Pascal) and the European Synchrotron, the ESRF, have recreated the extreme conditions 600 to 2900 km below the Earth’s surface to investigate the melting of basalt in the oceanic tectonic plates. They exposed microscopic pieces of rock to these extreme pressures and temperatures while simultaneously studying their structure...
Breaking research news from a team of scientists led by Carnegie’s Ho-kwang “Dave” Mao reveals that the composition of the Earth’s lower mantle may be significantly different than previously thought. These results are to be published by Science. Diagram of Earths interior structure showing inner core, outer core, mantle and crust [Credit: DEA / D'ARCO EDITORI/De Agostini/Getty Images]The lower...
In the Lewis Carroll classic, Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty states, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less." In turn, Alice (of Wonderland fame) says, "The question is, whether you can make words mean so many different things." All organisms on Earth use a genetic code, which is the language in which the building plans for proteins are specified...
We have hundreds of types of cells in our bodies – everything from red blood cells to hair follicles to neurons. But why can’t most of them create offspring for us? MSU research shows that having special cells doing the dirty work help organisms evolve [Credit: MSU]New research at Michigan State University suggests that separating germ cells – sperm and eggs –from somatic cells – all other cells...
Australia can no longer lay claim to the origins of the iconic New Zealand kiwi following University of Adelaide research published in the journal Science today showing the kiwi's closest relative is not the emu as was previously thought. An adult brown kiwi (Apteryx australis) beside the egg of a huge elephant bird (Aepyornis maximus). A new genetic study led by Kieren Mitchell and Alan Cooper ...
The world’s rarest marine dolphin faces imminent extinction unless urgent action is taken to protect them, says WWF. The new population estimate released by the Govt in 2012 shows there is likely to be just 55 adult Maui's left. WWF has warned the species will soon be extinct like the moa if we don't get nets out of the water throughout the dolphins' range [Credit: Silvia Scarli]WWF...
Ecuador on Thursday licensed a state company to develop oil reserves in Yasuni, a huge nature preserve in the Amazon rain forest. Huaorani natives and ecologist group activists march in Quito, Ecuador, on April 12, 2014, toward the National Electoral Council to call a referendum to ban the oil exploitation in the Yasuni National Park [Credit: AFP]The license comes just days after a petition...
The human impact on the Amazon rainforest has been grossly underestimated according to an international team of researchers from Brazil and the UK, led by Lancaster University. The human impact on the Amazon rainforest has been grossly underestimated according to an international team of researchers from Brazil and the UK, led by Lancaster University [Credit: Jos Barlow]They found that...