How did vertebrates first evolve jaws?
Five-hundred million years ago, it was relatively safe to go back in the water. That's because creatures of the deep had not yet evolved jaws. In a new pair of studies in eLife and Development, scientists reveal clues about the origin of this thrilli.....»»
Giant salamander-like creature was a top predator in the ice age before the dinosaurs
Forty million years before the first dinosaurs evolved, a ferocious predator lurked in swampy waters. Its skull alone was over two feet long. It lay in wait, its jaws open wide, preparing to clamp down its interlocking jaws on any prey unwise enough.....»»
Physicists explore how fluctuations shape transport networks
Understanding how transport networks, such as river systems, form and evolve is crucial to optimizing their stability and resilience. It turns out that networks are not all alike. Tree-like structures are adequate for transport, while networks contai.....»»
It"s a challenging drive to Washington"s ocean beaches as state spends billions to help fish
It took 50 million years for salmon to evolve and only about 50 years to nearly wipe them out. Now, Washington's native salmon and steelhead populations are getting a reprieve—one stream at a time......»»
Study shows cuckoos evolve to look like their hosts—and form new species in the process
The theory of coevolution says that when closely interacting species drive evolutionary changes in each other this can lead to speciation—the evolution of new species. But until now, real-world evidence for this has been scarce......»»
Discovery of ancient rock impression suggests ability to form cornified skin goes back to early evolution of tetrapods
A team of geologists, paleontologists and archaeologists affiliated with several institutions in Poland, Czechia and Germany has found evidence suggesting that the ability to form cornified skin appendages is not unique to terrestrial vertebrates, bu.....»»
Fish are adapting to weightlessness on the Chinese space station
Four zebrafish are alive and well after nearly a month in space aboard China's Tiangong space station. As part of an experiment testing the development of vertebrates in microgravity, the fish live and swim within a small habitat aboard the station......»»
Desert locusts" jaws sharpen themselves, materials scientist discovers
Sharks lose teeth all their lives, replacing them in a kind of endless rotating Rolodex, while humans, of course, get only our two sets. Beavers' teeth, notoriously, grow all their lives and have to be worn down to prevent injury......»»
Core security measures to strengthen privacy and data protection programs
As privacy laws evolve globally, organizations face increasing complexity in adapting their data protection strategies to stay compliant. In this Help Net Security interview, Kabir Barday, CEO at OneTrust, emphasizes that embracing privacy by design.....»»
Tiger beetles fight off bat attacks with ultrasonic mimicry
Bats, as the main predator of night-flying insects, create a selective pressure that has led many of their prey to evolve an early warning system of sorts: ears uniquely tuned to high-frequency bat echolocation. To date, scientists have found at leas.....»»
Study reveals insights into protein evolution
Rice University's Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve. Their paper was published May 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences......»»
6 tips to implement security gamification effectively
There’s not a CISO in the industry who’s not aware of the extremely short median CISO tenure. That’s why the best CISOs are those who constantly seek ways to strengthen their teams. They help members evolve and grow in their roles, enhancing se.....»»
As business districts evolve post-pandemic, repurposing old or empty spaces should be on the drawing board
The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears of urban center "ghost towns" may have been premature, many cities around the worl.....»»
New observatory in Chile—the highest in the world—aims to reveal origins of planets, galaxies and more
How do planets form? How do galaxies evolve? And ultimately, how did the universe itself begin? A unique astronomical observatory that researchers hope will unravel some of the biggest mysteries out there marks its opening on April 30, 2024......»»
Aggressive wall lizard provides clues to understanding evolution
Body shape, color and behavior often evolve together as species adapt to their environment. Researchers from Lund University in Sweden have studied this phenomenon in a specific type of large, bright green and aggressive common wall lizard found near.....»»
Advances in understanding the evolution of stomach loss in agastric fishes
Living beings can evolve to lose biological structures due to potential survival benefits from such losses. For example, certain groups of ray-finned fishes show such regressive evolution—medakas, minnows, puffera, and wrasses do not have a stomach.....»»
Instinct for "fight or flight" may be much older than we thought
Evidence in lampreys for the presence of a rudimentary sympathetic nervous system, previously thought to be unique to jawed vertebrates, has been presented in Nature. The finding may prompt a rethink of the origins of the sympathetic nervous system,.....»»
Paleontologists unearth what may be the largest known marine reptile
The fossilized remains of a second gigantic jawbone measuring more than two meters long has been found on a beach in Somerset, UK. Experts have identified the bones as belonging to the jaws of a new species of enormous ichthyosaur, a type of prehisto.....»»
Amazon butterflies show how new species can evolve from hybridization
If evolution was originally depicted as a tree, with different species branching off as new blooms, then new research shows how the branches may actually be more entangled. In "Hybrid speciation driven by multilocus introgression of ecological traits.....»»
How AI can help map sign languages
Like spoken languages, sign languages evolve organically and do not always have the same origin. This produces different ways of communication and annotation. This is the subject of Manolis Fragkiadakis's Ph.D. thesis......»»
Elon Musk’s X to stop allowing users to hide their blue checks
X previously promised to "evolve" the "hide your checkmark" feature. Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto) X will soon stop allowing users to hide their blue checkmarks, and some users are not happy. Previo.....»»