Ye olde pathogen: Learning about evolution from ancient DNA
As long as humans have been around, there have been pathogens to make us sick. Some have achieved infamy in human history—the bubonic plague, for example, or smallpox—and with modern technologies, scientists can time-travel to find out what the b.....»»
Viewpoint: Indigenous students and faculty are on the rise, and universities have a moral obligation to support them
As we close out September, universities across Canada are well into their new year of learning. An exciting change is underway. An increasing number of First Nations, Inuit and Métis students have enrolled in post-secondary studies......»»
Ancient Peru throne room points to possible female ruler, archaeologists say
Ancient Peru throne room points to possible female ruler, archaeologists say.....»»
New insights into sauropod evolution: Discovery of tail clubs in India
A new University of Michigan study of dinosaur fossils from India has revealed that the sauropod dinosaur Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis wielded a bony tail club......»»
Retracing walrus ivory trade of Viking Age reveals early interactions between Europeans and Indigenous North Americans
By examining ancient walrus DNA, an international research team led by Lund University in Sweden have retraced the walrus ivory trade routes of the Viking Age. They found that Norse Vikings and Arctic Indigenous peoples were probably meeting and trad.....»»
Octopuses work together with fish to hunt—and the way they share decisions is surprisingly complex
A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution lifts the veil on what happens when octopuses and fish hunt together. As it turns out, this cross-species relationship is more complex than anyone expected......»»
"We nicknamed it Eddy": What do schools and teachers think of AI in classrooms?
It's almost two years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022. Since then, educators worldwide have been grappling with what generative artificial intelligence might mean for classrooms and learning......»»
Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath Pacific, reshaping understanding of Earth"s interior
University of Maryland scientists uncovered evidence of an ancient seafloor that sank deep into Earth during the age of dinosaurs, challenging existing theories about Earth's interior structure. Located in the East Pacific Rise (a tectonic plate boun.....»»
Machine learning accelerates discovery of high-temperature alloys
In a study recently published in Engineering, scientists from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, Guangdong Ocean University, and AiMaterials Research LLC have demonstrated a novel method to accelerate the discovery of refractory high-e.....»»
Plant lineage study provides insights into the ecological and evolutionary effects of different reproductive strategies
Hang Sun's group from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences has demonstrated the ecological and evolutionary effects of changes in plant reproductive strategies on phylogenetic evolution. The study is published in the journal Scien.....»»
How old is beer?
Humans are no strangers to kicking back with a cool pint of beer. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, had a hankering for beer that was a little bit tart, almost like a modern-day gose, a lemony beer from Germany. Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, spoke.....»»
Rethinking privacy: A tech expert’s perspective
Data privacy has become one of the most pressing challenges of our time, but it didn’t happen overnight. The proliferation of data collection, coupled with the rise of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, has.....»»
New MIT protocol protects sensitive data during cloud-based computation
Deep-learning models have found applications across various industries, from healthcare diagnostics to financial forecasting. However, their high computational demands often require powerful cloud-based servers. This dependency on cloud computing rai.....»»
AI trained on evolution"s playbook develops proteins that spur drug and scientific discovery
A new artificial intelligence model developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin paves the way for more effective and less toxic treatments and new preventive strategies in medicine. The AI model informs the design of protein-based t.....»»
Cretaceous fireflies reveal early evolution of insect bioluminescence
Bioluminescence, the ability of living organisms to emit light, is a fascinating phenomenon observed in various life forms, including deep-sea fish, glowing mushrooms, and fireflies. Fireflies have long captivated people with their enchanting light d.....»»
Security protocol leverages quantum mechanics to shield data from attackers during cloud-based computation
Deep-learning models are being used in many fields, from health care diagnostics to financial forecasting. However, these models are so computationally intensive that they require the use of powerful cloud-based servers......»»
Deep learning framework improves snow cover fraction estimation
Accurate snow cover information is crucial for studying global climate and hydrology. However, deep learning approaches for retrieving snow cover fraction (SCF) often suffer from limitations in training data dependence and interpretability......»»
Frozen in time: Rock fossils hint at Mars"s ancient climate
Long ago, flowing wind and water shaped Mars's malleable sand and sediment into dunes, ripples and other landscape patterns, called bedforms. Over billions of years, some of these landforms hardened into rock—scientists then call them paleo-bedform.....»»
Study shows that ancient reef-building stromatoporoids dodged extinction—at least temporarily
Will modern coral reefs go extinct? The answer is uncertain, but some of their ancient counterparts managed to dodge a bullet—for a while, at least......»»
Medicinal tree successfully grown from 1,000-year-old seed found in cave
An international team of botanists, agriculturists and historians has successfully grown a mature tree from an ancient seed found in a cave in Israel. In their paper, published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes where the seed.....»»
New evolutionary model revises the origins of biodiversity
An international team of scientists has made a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how global biodiversity evolved. By reconstructing the evolution of species over the past 45 million years, researchers found that the geographic origins.....»»