A new genetic study has revealed that populations of humpback whales in the oceans of the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere are much more distinct from each other than previously thought, and should be recognised as separate subspecies. Understanding how connected these populations are has important implications for the recovery of these charismatic animals that were once devastated...
North Carolina State University entomologists are part of a research team that has for the first time sequenced the genome of a member of the termite order, the dampwood termite (Zootermopsis nevadensis). A paper reports the findings today in Nature Communications. Michael Scharf eyes a group of eastern subterranean termites, destructive pests in Indiana and the Eastern US [Credit: Purdue University...
China's glaciers have shrunk by thousands of square kilometres over the past 30 years as a result of climate change, state-run media reported Wednesday. Two Tibetan woman stand at the foot of the 7,191 metre Nojing Kangtsang glacier February 27, 2007 [Credit: AFP/Peter Parks]The Qinghai-Tibet plateau in western China has seen its glaciers shrink by 15 percent, or 8,000 square kilometres (3,089...
A study led by scientists from the Polytechnic University of Marche (Ancona, Italy) involving researchers from the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM, CSIC) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), has determined that fishing trawling causes intensive, long-term biological desertification of the sedimentary seabed ecosystems, diminishing their content in organic carbon and threatening their...
For several decades scientists have been trying to come up with an explanation for the formation of the enigmatic, vegetation-free circles frequently found in certain African grassland regions. Now researchers have tested different prevailing hypotheses as to their respective plausibility. For the first time they have carried out a detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of these fairy circles...
The structures and star populations of massive galaxies appear to change as they age, but much about how these galaxies formed and evolved remains mysterious. Many of the oldest and most massive galaxies reside in clusters, enormous structures where numerous galaxies are found concentrated together. Galaxy clusters in the early universe are thought to be key to understanding the lifecycles of old galaxies,...
Our Sun may seem pretty impressive: 330,000 times as massive as Earth, it accounts for 99.86 percent of the Solar System's total mass; it generates about 400 trillion trillion watts of power per second; and it has a surface temperature of about 10,000 degrees Celsius. Yet for a star, it's a lightweight. A star in a distant galaxy explodes as a supernova: while observing a galaxy known as UGC 9379 (left;...
Scientists have discovered that the earliest living organisms on Earth were capable of making a mineral that may be found on Mars. The late Dr Linda Moore sampling microbialites [Credit: Bob Burne]The clay-mineral stevensite has been used since ancient times and was used by Nubian women as a beauty treatment, but scientists had believed deposits could only be formed in harsh conditions like volcanic...
Archaeologists in eastern Spain have discovered 12 prehistoric rock paintings depicting hunting scenes from 7,000 years ago. The site's location is being kept a secret until the necessary security precautions are in place [Credit: Vilafranca Town Hall]Town hall representatives in the Valencian municipality of Vilafranca announced the finding on Tuesday, the first of its kind and importance for...
Efforts to preserve the ancient Italian archaeological site at Pompeii are succeeding, an international conference was told Tuesday. Pompeii Street [Credit: WikiCommons]Massimo Osanna, superintendent of the site outside Naples, Italy, where a volcanic eruption by Mount Vesuvius destroyed the resort city in 79 A.D., said international involvement to preserve the ruins has largely been successful. "I'm...
Interproximal grooves have been identified on a variety of Pleistocene Homo taxa from different sites across the Old World. A diversity of hypotheses has been proposed to explain these interproximal grooves, ranging from oral hygiene to alleviating pain due to periodontal disease. The most popular explanation appears to be the habitual use of a toothpick, made of bone, horn or plant material. However,...
Egypt's leading prosecutor for public funds cases has cleared world-renowned Egyptologist Zawi Hawass on charges of wasting public money and illicit gains. Hawass, who served as antiquities minister under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, was also accused by former colleagues of neglecting Egypt's heritage sites and sending unique artefacts abroad, such as two Tutankhamun exhibitions in 2008. Further...
By evaluating the bacteria and fungi found in fossilized feces, microbiologists are providing evidence to help support archaeologists' hypotheses regarding cultures living in the Caribbean over 1,500 years ago. They report their findings today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. 1,500 year-old fossilizes feces (coprolite) discovered in Vieques, Puerto Rico. "The study of...
Human activity resulting from the Spanish conquest had a profound effect on coastal change in northwestern Peru, according to researchers at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute. Archaeologist Dan Sandweiss examines pieces of trash that ancient Peruvians discarded on beach ridges in northern Peru [Credit: Daniel Belknap/University of Maine, Orono]Daniel Belknap, a professor...
Mexican experts plan to extract the entire skeleton of a teenage girl who nearly 13,000 years ago toppled into a deep hole in a Mexican cave and died, an official said Monday. Divers use lights to illuminate Hoyo Negro, an underwater cave in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula where the remains of "Naia," a teenage girl who lived 12,000 to 13,000 years earlier, were found. Her skeleton and her DNA are helping...
Scientists are hoping to learn more about the origins of Peru’s famous “Mummy Juanita” through DNA testing using the stem cells stored in the subject’s umbilical cord. Researchers say that advanced technology will help them make new discoveries about Juanita’s genealogical origins [Credit: Andina]The mummy was found in 1995 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard in southern Peru. According to La Republica,...
A new paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 (2) described 30 Jurassic creatures – five salamanders, one anuran, two lizards, 13 pterosaurs, five dinosaurs, and four mammals from the so-called Daohugou Biota, a fossil assemblage newly named after a village near one of the major localities in Inner Mongolia, China, helping better understand the Jurassic life of northeast Asia,...
Analysing palaeontological data helps characterize irregular paleoenvironmental cycles, lasting between less than 1 day and more than millions of years. Professor Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar, of the University of Granada, pointing to the bio-event in the late Cretaceous/early Tertiary (when the dinosaurs became extinct) in Agost (Alicante) [Credit: Credit: University of Granada]Francisco J....
The good news for any passionate supporter of climate-change science is that negative media reports seem to have only a passing effect on public opinion, according to Princeton University and University of Oxford researchers. The bad news is that positive stories don't appear to possess much staying power, either. This dynamic suggests that climate scientists should reexamine how to effectively and...
Under the cover of night, activists patrol key poaching sites in southeast Cyprus, described as an ecological disaster zone for endangered migratory birds on their Mediterranean stopover. A lesser whitethroat (Sylvia Curruca) is seen caught on a lime stick bird trap, in Paralimni, Cyprus, on April 15, 2014 [CreditL AFP]"Cyprus is the worst country in Europe for the number of birds killed and...