Virus evolution differs by species of mosquito carrier
The study, published March 31, 2016 in Cell Host & Microbe, could lead to new strategies for predicting and preparing for future viral outbreaks. They found that the genetic dive...
The ocean below: Scientific plan measures ocean’s carbon cycle, predicts its future conditions
It is a key player in the global carbon cycle, producing about half of the world’s output of organic carbon. New work by UC Santa Barbara researchers aims to facilitate a new underst...
Study charts changes in island biodiversity as oceans rose over past 20,000 years
For many years, the main themes regarding island biodiversity fell into two categories, degree of isolation and island size—it was believed that both contributed significantly to the...
Release of the first Roadmap for European Astrobiology
While it addresses life beyond the Earth, topics it puts forward are also very relevant to life in Earth extreme environments and to the understanding of our evolving ecosystem. The ...
New tool enables scientists to interpret ‘dark matter’ DNA: Breakthrough technology opens the door to identifying new drug targets that could treat many genetic diseases
The computational method, called TargetFinder, can predict where non-coding DNA–the DNA that does not code for proteins–interacts with genes. Most genetic mutations that are associat...
Mile-high Mars mounds built by wind and climate change
Gale Crater, the landing spot of the Mars rover Curiosity, has a three-mile-high mound at its center called Mount Sharp. Credit: Mackenzie Day There’s been a theory out there that t...
How many dinosaurs were there?
How has the sampling of the dinosaur fossil record changed through time? This accounts for variation in the sampling of the dinosaur record by estimating both the bias and the overal...
How diet shaped human evolution: The Neanderthal rib-cage and pelvis expanded to adapt to a high-protein diet in Ice-Age Europe
Homo sapiens, the ancestor of modern humans, shared the planet with Neanderthals, a close, heavy-set relative that dwelled almost exclusively in Ice-Age Europe, until some 40,000 yea...
Found: Andromeda’s first spinning neutron star
Science & Exploration Found: Andromeda’s first spinning neutron star 31/03/2016 18310 views 143 likes Decades of searching in the Milky Way’s nearby ‘twin’ galaxy Andromeda have...
Ancient fossil marks bridge between early arachnids and modern spiders
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0125 (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from the U.S., Germany and the U.K. has used modern technology to reveal the true nature of an ancient arachnid. In thei...
Aldous Huxley on the Transcendent Power of Music and Why It Sings to Our Souls
More than merely echoing our experience, Huxley argues, music enlarges it: Listening to expressive music, we have, not of course the artist’s original experience (which is quite bey...
Acidic oceans: Action plan to combat changes to seawater chemistry: Global carbon dioxide emissions are acidifying waters of the North American West Coast at an accelerating rate; severe ecological co
Global carbon dioxide emissions are triggering permanent and alarming changes to ocean chemistry along the North American West Coast that require immediate, decisive action to combat...
A new mechanism for catalyzing the splitting of water
Mobilizing oxygen atoms from the crystal surface of perovskite-oxide electrodes to participate in the formation of oxygen gas is key to speeding up water-splitting reactions, researc...
10-Million-Year-Old Snake Revealed in Living Color
Preserved pigment cells in a snake fossil — the cream-colored material in the image is fossilized skin — allowed scientists to determine the ancient snake’s color in life. (Image cre...
The formation and development of desert dunes on Titan
This growth mechanism, also seen in some terrestrial deserts and on the planet Mars, appears to be the dominant mechanism in the deserts of Titan, explaining not only the shape of th...
‘Spectacular’ image shows planet formation in action – Physics World
This one image alone will revolutionize theories of planet formation”. Then, material in the disc will join up to create large structures such as asteroids, comets and planets. The H...
Oldest DNA ever found sheds light on humans’ global trek
The Ust’-Ishim femur. Previous research has found that Neanderthals and H. sapiens interbred, leaving a tiny Neanderthal imprint of just about two percent in humans today, except for...
Getting more out of nature: Genetic toolkit finds new maximum for crop yields
CSHL scientists have identified a set of genetic variants that can dramatically increase tomato production. The combination of genetic mutations on the far right produces twice as ma...
Extremely rare footage of a tuatara hatching captured on film (w/ Video)
Last to hatch, the egg was one of 23 being incubated in captivity this year as part of a joint initiative that has helped to save a threatened population of tuatara from extinction. ...
Changes in a single gene’s action can control addiction and depression-related behaviors
Regulation of a single, specific gene in a brain region related to drug addiction and depression is sufficient to reduce drug and stress responses, according to a study conducted at ...
A world map of Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry in modern humans
This map shows the proportion of the genome inferred to be Denisovan in ancestry in diverse non-Africans. Credit: Sankararaman et al./Current Biology 2016 Most non-Africans possess ...
Lichens can survive space conditions for extended periods
Expose facility. Credit: ESA A new study shows that a large percentage of hardy lichens exposed to space conditions for one and a half years remain viable after returning to Earth. ...
Fermilab’s NOvA neutrino experiment kicks off – Physics World
Up and away: NOvA’s massive far detector being constructed Construction of a giant neutrino experiment operated by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in the US was...
World population to keep growing this century, hit 11 billion by 2100
The number of people on Earth is likely to reach 11 billion by 2100, the study concludes, about 2 billion higher than some previous estimates. Most of the anticipated growth is in Af...
Scientists find how mysterious ‘circular RNA’ is formed, claim muscular dystrophy link
Unlike all other known RNAs, this molecule is circular, and was labeled circular RNA. The researchers also demonstrated that circular RNA molecules are highly produced in the brain, ...