Tooth fossil found at Smithsonian turns out to be from ancient hippo-like creature
A pair of paleobiologists with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History has found evidence of a long extinct herbivore marine mammal living in what is now the Skooner Gulch Formation in northern California. In their paper publ.....»»
Does single-pedal driving actually extend EV range? It’s complicated
Single-pedal driving has become much more popular with the rise of EVs. But does using it actually extend range? Turns out, it's complicated......»»
From harmony to civil war: When language turns deadly
For years, Jaroslav Tir has been pondering a perplexing mystery: Why do some countries where a multi-ethnic populace once lived together in harmony devolve into civil war, slaughter and ethnic cleansing?.....»»
What a submerged ancient bridge discovered in a Spanish cave reveals about early human settlement
A new study led by the University of South Florida has shed light on the human colonization of the western Mediterranean, revealing that humans settled there much earlier than previously believed. This research, detailed in a recent issue of the jour.....»»
Ancient gene gives spiders their narrow waist, research reveals
An ancient gene is crucial for the development of the distinctive waist that divides the spider body plan in two, according to a study published August 29 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Emily Setton from the University of Wisconsin-Madiso.....»»
The Vesuvius challenge is using AI to virtually unroll Pompeii"s ancient scrolls
The Vesuvius Challenge is an unparalleled competition in the field of classical studies, with the potential to pave the way for something akin to a second Renaissance. Its objective is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to virtually unroll hundreds.....»»
Talk isn"t enough: Pacific nations say Australia must end new fossil fuel projects
This week, one of the world's largest fossil fuel exporters went to a meeting of island states strongly affected by human-induced climate change......»»
South Africa"s coal workers face uncertainty—study shows they"re being left out of the green transition
South Africa is on the path to decarbonization—doing away with burning coal and other fossil fuels and moving towards renewable, clean energy, such as solar and wind power. However, the coal industry employs 91,000 people. If these workers lost the.....»»
Ancient sea cow that was attacked by both a primeval crocodile and shark sheds new light on prehistoric food chains
A new study showing how a prehistoric sea cow was preyed upon by not one, but two different carnivores—a crocodilian and a shark—is revealing clues into both the predation tactics of ancient creatures and the wider food chain millions of years ag.....»»
NASA study tallies carbon emissions from massive Canadian fires
Stoked by Canada's warmest and driest conditions in decades, extreme forest fires in 2023 released about 640 million metric tons of carbon, NASA scientists have found. That's comparable in magnitude to the annual fossil fuel emissions of a large indu.....»»
Hyundai turns to new hybrid tech to power growth amid "slowdown" in EV demand
Hyundai is leaning heavily into hybrids, citing ‘the recent slowdown’ in EV demand, and expects its sales of the gasoline-electric vehicles to more than double as it rolls out new electrified powertrain technologies and extends them to the Genesi.....»»
Turns out Martin Shkreli copied his $2M Wu-Tang album—and sent it to “50 different chicks”
"Of course I made MP3 copies, they're like hidden in safes all around the world." Enlarge / Martin Shkreli—he's back, and he's still got copies of that Wu-Tang Clan album. (credit: Getty | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez ) The m.....»»
Old and new Ryzen CPUs speed boost from optional Windows update
And it turns out that old Ryzen CPUs benefit almost as much as newer ones. Enlarge / AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) Among AMD’s explanations for the somewhat underwhelming Ryzen 9000 performance repor.....»»
Darwin"s fear was unjustified: Study suggests fossil record gaps not a major issue
Fossils are used to reconstruct evolutionary history, but not all animals and plants become fossils and many fossils are destroyed before we can find them (e.g., the rocks that contain the fossils are destroyed by erosion). As a result, the fossil re.....»»
Microscopic fossilized shells reveal ancient climate change patterns
At the end of the Paleocene and beginning of the Eocene epochs, between 59 to 51 million years ago, Earth experienced dramatic warming periods, both gradual periods stretching millions of years and sudden warming events known as hyperthermals......»»
Locked in a glacier: Virus adaptations to extreme weather provide climate change insights
Ancient viruses preserved in glacial ice hold valuable information about changes in Earth's climate, a new study suggests......»»
Bonobo evidence suggests ancient origin of the "common enemy effect"
In the face of threats from other groups, humans, chimpanzees, and a selection of other species get closer to their own. Now an international team led by Kyoto University has shown that even our more peaceful cousins, bonobos—who have never been ob.....»»
Ancient microbes linked to evolution of human immune proteins
When you become infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it are those passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, two key e.....»»
The overshoot myth: We can"t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C
Record breaking fossil fuel production, all-time high greenhouse gas emissions and extreme temperatures. Like the proverbial frog in the heating pan of water, we refuse to respond to the climate and ecological crisis with any sense of urgency. Under.....»»
Ancient civilizations had ways to counter the urban heat island effect—how history"s lessons apply to cities today
As intense heat breaks records around the world, a little-reported fact offers some hope for cooling down cities: Under even the most intense periods of extreme heat, some city blocks never experience heat wave temperatures......»»
Ancient tree resin artifacts provide earliest-known evidence of humans dispersing through the Pacific
Exactly when and how humans dispersed into and through the Pacific remains an intensely debated topic. Previous studies have been hampered by imprecise chronometric dating, making the exact timing and movement of people into the Pacific difficult to.....»»