They found it buried in the muddy shores of the Potomac River more than three decades ago: a strange “sediment organism” that could do things nobody had ever seen before in bacteria. This unusual microbe, belonging to the Geobacter genus, was first noted for its ability to produce magnetite in the […]
Month: April 2020
Bristol leads archaeologists on 5,000-year-old egg hunt
IMAGE: This is a figure showing areas of study. view more Credit: © Tamar Hodos, University of Bristol An international team of specialists, led by the University of Bristol, is closer to cracking a 5,000-year-old mystery surrounding the ancient trade and production of decorated ostrich eggs. Long before Fabergé, ornate ostrich […]
New fossil from Brazil hints at the origins of the mysterious tanystropheid reptiles
A new species of Triassic reptile from Brazil is a close cousin of a mysterious group called tanystropheids, according to a study published April 8, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tiane De-Oliviera of the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil and colleagues. After the Permian mass extinction, […]
Ancient teeth from Peru hint now-extinct monkeys crossed Atlantic from Africa
IMAGE: Tiny molar teeth of the parapithecid monkey Ucayalipithecus from the Oligocene of Perú view more Credit: Erik Seiffert Four fossilized monkey teeth discovered deep in the Peruvian Amazon provide new evidence that more than one group of ancient primates journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa, according to new USC […]
Not Just Ventilators: Staff Trained to Run Them Are in Short Supply
Governor Andrew Cuomo has warned that New York State is running out of time to get enough ventilators to treat the sickest coronavirus patients. Without them, vastly more New Yorkers could die. But the number of ventilators is not the only bottleneck: hospitals around the country are worried that a […]
Stone Age String Strengthens Case for Neandertal Smarts
Fibers twisted jointly to kind string may possibly not audio like bleeding-edge technological know-how. But with string, or cordage, one can make luggage, nets, rope and garments. We use it to lace our shoes, floss our teeth, suspend bridges, transmit electrical power—the list goes on and on. Obviously, archaeologists have […]
Neanderthal cord weaver | EurekAlert! Science News
Graphic: Photograph of the wire fragment taken by electronic microscopy (the fragment is somewhere around 6.two mm long and .five mm wide). look at more Credit score: © C2RMF Opposite to well known belief, Neanderthals had been no a lot less technologically highly developed than Homo sapiens. An global group, together […]
Archaeology: Ancient string discovery sheds light on Neanderthal life
The discovery of the oldest identified direct proof of fibre technologies — utilizing all-natural fibres to build yarn — is claimed in Scientific Reviews this week. The finding furthers our knowledge of the cognitive qualities of Neanderthals all through the Center Palaeolithic period (thirty,000-300,000 several years back). Bruce Hardy and […]
What’s a Narwhal’s Tusk For?
Deep beneath the frozen area of the Arctic swims a sea unicorn. In reality, it is a whale with a spiral tusk sprouting from its head—the narwhal. Biologists have lengthy debated the intent of male narwhals’ tusks. The tusk, like all those of elephants, are basically elongated enamel. And since […]
What Immunity to COVID-19 Really Means
The U.S. Foods and Drug Administration a short while ago granted an “emergency use authorization” of a blood take a look at for antibodies in opposition to SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that leads to COVID-19. It is the initially this kind of take a look at to get acceptance for […]
How Space Will Shape The Humans of The Future
Human evolution is complicated, to say the least. It’s complicated by love, which makes us want to keep people alive. It’s complicated by science and technology, which give us the power to do so. It’s complicated, sometimes, by politics. And it’s complicated by our environment, which is relatively stable, meaning […]