Fossil footprint discoveries and what they tell us
Footprints on a sandy surface don't usually last long: they're washed away by water, wiped out by wind or covered over by new tracks. At certain sites in southern Africa, though, some traces of animals have lasted for many thousands or even millions.....»»
More than greenwashing? Sustainable aviation fuels struggle to take off
Alternative fuels are intended to reduce the carbon footprint of airlines. Enlarge / Sustainable aviation fuels could help cut carbon emissions from commercial flights. (credit: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Last.....»»
New ‘Hobbit’ Fossil Clarifies Origin Story of this Tiny Human Relative
A tiny human relative called the hobbit, or Homo floresiensis, may have evolved from a larger ancestor that shrunk upon arriving on the Indonesian island of Flores, a new fossil suggests.....»»
Smallest arm bone in the human fossil record sheds light on the dawn of Homo floresiensis
A paper appearing today in Nature Communications reports the discovery of extremely rare early human fossils from the Indonesian island of Flores, including an astonishingly small adult limb bone......»»
The race to discover biodiversity: 11 new marine species and a new platform for rapid species description
A new paper, the Ocean Species Discoveries (OSD), describes a ground-breaking experiment that united 25 independent taxonomists from ten countries. The initiative boasts the discovery of eleven new marine species from all over the globe, occurring at.....»»
Greenland fossil discovery stuns scientists and confirms that center of ice sheet melted in recent past
The story of Greenland keeps getting greener—and scarier. A new study provides the first direct evidence that the center—not just the edges—of Greenland's ice sheet melted away in the recent geological past and the now-ice-covered island was th.....»»
Researchers uncover 500 million-year-old mollusk ancestor
A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Oxford have made an astonishing discovery of a new species of mollusk that lived 500 million years ago. The new fossil, called Shishania aculeata, reveals that the most primitive mollu.....»»
New evidence of Neolithic occupations in the Aragonese site of Huerto Raso
Researchers from the UAB and the University of Zaragoza who have carried out the first extensive excavation campaign of the Huerto Raso site (Huesca) have made new discoveries that reinforce the hypothesis of its occupation during the ancient Neolith.....»»
Penguin wing fossil shows importance of Zealandia in penguin evolution
Three small fossil penguin bones, collected in South Canterbury in 1987, are now shedding new light on how penguin wings have evolved. A new study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, describes a new species of penguin that.....»»
The climate is changing so fast, we haven"t seen how bad extreme weather could get
Extreme weather is by definition rare on our planet. Ferocious storms, searing heat waves and biting cold snaps illustrate what the climate is capable of at its worst. However, since Earth's climate is rapidly warming, predominantly due to fossil fue.....»»
Platypus and chicken reveal how chromosomes balance between the sexes
UNSW Sydney researchers have made new discoveries of fundamental differences in biological processes between males and females—by interrogating the unique and diverse sex chromosome systems of the platypus and the chicken......»»
Carpets and flames: Design rules for the morphology of ciliated organs
The history of science is a series of paradigm shifts—conventional theories debunked and replaced by new discoveries. Kanso Bioinspired Motion Lab at USC Viterbi School of Engineering has made a habit of such paradigm shifts, publishing their findi.....»»
Project 2025 Wants to Propel America Into Environmental Catastrophe
Tracking emissions, managing pollutants, responding to natural disasters—even accurately predicting the weather—would all be trampled in a wave of privatization, deregulation, and unfettered fossil-fuel exploitation......»»
Fossil algae show a lake once existed on Lesotho"s Mafadi summit, but it vanished about 150 years ago
Lesotho is a small, land-locked, mountainous country located in the middle of South Africa. Its Eastern Lesotho Highlands are often referred to as the region's "water tower" because they receive some of the highest rainfall amounts in southern Africa.....»»
Net effects of man-made nitrogen attenuate global warming, researchers find
Nitrogen fertilizers and nitrogen oxides from fossil fuels are known for their environmental damage: they pollute the air and drinking water, lead to over-fertilization of water and land ecosystems, reduce biodiversity and damage the ozone layer......»»
How experts are calculating the Paris Olympics" carbon footprint: 83 bottles of wine per person
The 2024 Paris Olympics aim to be the greenest edition on record, and the first compatible with the Paris climate agreement. Talk of "green games" goes back to April 2021. At the time, the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) had even as.....»»
NASA rocket discovers new energization process in upper atmosphere
When it comes to discoveries about our upper atmosphere, it pays to know your surroundings......»»
COP29 hosts urge fossil fuel majors to donate to climate fund
Azerbaijan said Friday it hopes to raise money from fossil fuel producers for green projects in developing countries as the petro-state prepares to host the world's most important climate summit......»»
Studies explore converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment
Creating fertilizers from organic waste can help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and promote sustainable production. One way of doing this is through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temp.....»»
New fossil snake species provides insight into reptile social behavior and development
A newly discovered snake species, Hibernophis breithaupti, provides rare insight into the social behavior of snakes and fills some gaps in our knowledge of the evolution of boas, or boidae. The quartet of fossilized snakes discovered in western Wyomi.....»»
Stegosaurus fossil fetches nearly $45M, setting record for dinosaur auctions
The nearly complete fossilized remains of a stegosaurus fetched $44.6 million at auction Wednesday, Sotheby's said. The buyer's name was not disclosed......»»