Collaborate Disseminate
The Earth’s magnetic field is vital for life – without it, the Sun’s radiation would sterilize the planet. But a new study suggests we wouldn’t be here at all if that magnetic field hadn’t almost completely collapsed half a billion years ago.Continue R… Continue reading Would we exist if Earth’s magnetic field hadn’t collapsed 500m years ago?
The first land plants burst forth from ancient algae onto the Earth about 550 million years ago. This one-off evolutionary event, known as plant terrestrialization, fundamentally changed the planet’s surface and atmosphere and made possible the develop… Continue reading ‘Genetic programs’ allowed the ancestor of all plants to conquer dry land
Scientists have caught a once-in-a-billion-years evolutionary event in progress, as two lifeforms have merged into one organism that boasts abilities its peers would envy. Last time this happened, Earth got plants.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology, Sci… Continue reading Two lifeforms merge in once-in-a-billion-years evolutionary event
Fractals are a fascinating type of pattern for mathematics nerds, with their repeating, artificial-looking structures. Now, scientists have discovered the first known fractal protein – and it seems to be an evolutionary accident.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading First known fractal molecule is a natural mathematical marvel
Venus may be a hellscape by our standards, but there’s a chance that some forms of life could evolve there. A new MIT study has now found that the building blocks of life are surprisingly stable in highly concentrated sulfuric acid – which Venus’ cloud… Continue reading Sulfuric acid clouds of Venus can’t dissolve life, new experiments find
Scientists have uncovered the oldest fossilized forest, dating back 390 million years to a time when life was just getting a foothold on land. The ancient forest was made up of the first trees to ever grow on Earth – bizarre “prototype” trees that had to rip their skeletons apart in order to grow.
Category: Science
Tags: Tree, Forest, World’s Oldest, Fossils, Evolution, Cambridge University, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Plants
Continue reading Strange trees in world’s oldest forest ripped themselves apart to grow
The formation of a part of the human brain responsible for regulating vital functions is triggered in an identical way in the sea lamprey, a new study has found. The discovery suggests that we’re related to these primitive creatures.Continue ReadingCat… Continue reading Yo, cuz! Jawless sea creatures share brain development with us
While current diagnostic definitions of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are relatively new, the general condition has been identified by clinicians under a variety of names for centuries. Recent genetic studies have revealed the conditi… Continue reading ADHD linked to evolutionary success in ancient humans
For the very first time, the entire contents of the eclectic personal library of naturalist Charles Darwin has been published online, and a massive 9,300 entries come with links to the works, making them freely available to read.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading You can now view Charles Darwin’s entire personal library collection
Scientists have long puzzled over why some dinosaurs had feathers and wings long before they evolved the ability of flight. Experiments with a robot dinosaur may now have revealed the answer – they used them for hunting.Continue ReadingCategory: Scienc… Continue reading Robot dinosaurs let loose to demonstrate hunting techniques