A new study finds that Earth’s water may have come from materials that were present in the inner solar system at the time the planet formed — instead of far-reaching comets or asteroids delivering such water. The findings suggest that Earth may have always been wet. Researchers from the Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques…

Scientists have discovered that the larynx, or voice box, of primates is significantly larger relative to body size, has greater variation, and is under faster rates of evolution than in other mammals. Published in the journal PLOS Biology and led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Stanford University, and the University of Vienna, the…

Understanding the evolution of the polar sea ice is not enough to study the effects of the climate change on marine ecosystems in Antarctic seafloors. It is also necessary to determine the intensity of phytoplankton local production during the Antarctic summer. When the sea freezes in Antarctica Extremely low temperatures, strong ocean currents and the…

A new study found concrete evidence that more than 85 percent of the grouper and snapper studied are overfished as a direct result of increasing human demand for seafood. The research team analyzed 30 years of population data for 15 coral reef fish species central to South Florida’s commercial and recreational fisheries using their length-based…

Wine scientists are shedding scientific light on the processes underlying traditional practices of Australian Aboriginal people to produce fermented beverages. The scientists have discovered the complex microbial communities associated with the natural fermentation of sap from the iconic Tasmanian cider gum, Eucalyptus gunnii. The scientists from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wine Research…

A new analysis of ancient genomes suggests that different branches of the human family tree interbred multiple times, and that some humans carry DNA from an archaic, unknown ancestor. Roughly 50,000 years ago, a group of humans migrated out of Africa and interbred with Neanderthals in Eurasia. But that’s not the only time that our…

While cellular networks are the foundation of smart cities, they consume a lot of energy, enhancing global warming. Putting base stations (BSs) with low traffic to sleep saves energy but also reduces traffic prediction accuracy. In a new study, researchers address this trade-off using machine learning technique to switch off BSs based on their contribution…

Much like in human society, female hummingbirds have taken it into their own hands to avoid harassment. By watching white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds in Panama, researchers discovered that over a quarter of females have the same brightly colored ornamentation as males, which helps them avoid aggressive male behaviors during feeding, such as pecking and body slamming.…

Amazonia is closer to a catastrophic ecological tipping point than any time in the last 100,000 years, and human activity is the cause. In a new paper published today in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Florida Tech biology professor Mark Bush describes how the vast Amazonian rainforest could be replaced by savanna, which…

A new study suggests that cold temperatures in unglaciated North America during the last ice age shaped past and modern landscape as far south as Texas and Arkansas. Marshall, assistant professor of geosciences, is the first author of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The findings help shape understanding of the earth’s…