El Ni'ħo was more intense 4000 years ago
Examination of fossil corals on Vanuatu have enabled scientists from IRD (Institut de recherche pour le développement, ex-Orstom) based at Noumea to reconstruct the sequence of variations in sea surface temperature (SST) in the southwest Pacific Ocean that occurred over a period of 50 years, 4200 years B. P. (in the Holocene). Although... view more... (2000-11-07)
The first neotropical rainforest was home of the Titanoboa
Smithsonian researchers working in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. view more (2009-10-13)
Fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction
Global temperatures predicted for the coming centuries may trigger a new 'mass extinction event', where over 50 per cent of animal and plant species would be wiped out, warn scientists at the Universities of York and Leeds. view more (2007-10-24)
Ancient Amphibians Left Full-Body Imprints
Unprecedented fossilized body imprints of amphibians have been discovered in 330 million-year-old rocks from Pennsylvania. The imprints show the unmistakably webbed feet and bodies of three previously unknown, foot-long salamander-like critters that lived 100 million years before the first dinosaurs. view more (2007-10-31)
Ferns took to the trees and thrived
As flowering plants like giant trees quickly rose to dominate plant communities during the Cretaceous period, the ferns that had preceded them hardly saw it as a disappointment. view more (2009-07-06)
Study Sheds Light on Earth's CO2 Cycles, Possible Impacts of Climate Change
A research team, including Kent State Professor of Geology Dr. Joseph Ortiz, tracing the origin of the large carbon dioxide increase in Earth's atmosphere at the end of the last ice age has detected two ancient "burps" that originated from the deepest parts of the southern ocean around Antarctica. view more (2007-05-14)
Wenchuan earthquake mudslides emit greenhouse gas
Mudslides that followed the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan, China earthquake, ranked by the US Geological Survey as the 11th deadliest earthquake ever recorded, may cause a carbon-dioxide release in upcoming decades equivalent to two percent of current annual global carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion, a new study shows. view more (2009-03-03)
Hippo ancestry disputed
Hippos spend lots of time in the water and now it turns out (or researchers argue), they are the closest living relative to whales. It also turns out, the two are swimming in a bit of controversy. view more (2009-03-19)
Dinosaur Fossil Bone Leads to Gender, Age Determinations
Paleontologists at North Carolina State University have determined that a 68 million year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil from Montana is that of a young female, and that she was producing eggs when she died. view more (2005-06-02)
Oxygen triggered the evolution of complex life forms
Oxygen played a key role in the evolution of complex organisms, according to new research published in BMC Evolutionary Biology. The study shows that the complexity of life forms increased earlier than was thought, and in parallel with the availability of oxygen as an energy source. In the largest study to date that does not focus on vertebrates,... view more... (2004-01-22)
Little teeth suggest big jump in primate timeline
Tiny fossilized teeth excavated from an Indian open-pit coal mine could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, the primate lineage of today's monkeys, apes and humans, say researchers from Duke University and the Indian Institute of Technology. view more (2008-08-05)
Growth in the global carbon budget
Today the new Global Carbon Budget was launched simultaneously by Global Carbon Project co-chair Michael Raupach in France at the Paris Observatory, and in the USA at Capitol Hill, Washington by GCP Executive Director Pep Canadell. view more (2008-09-25)
Iowa State engineer develops laser technologies to analyze combustion, biofuels
Let's say a fuel derived from biomass produces too much soot when it's burned in a combustion chamber designed for fossil fuels. How can an engineer find the source of the problem? It originates, after all, in the flame zone of a highly turbulent combustion chamber. That's not exactly an easy place for an engineer to take measurements. view more (2007-12-06)
Ancient volcanic eruptions caused global mass extinction
A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260million years ago has been uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds. view more (2009-05-29)
Caltech geobiologists discover unique 'magnetic death star' fossil
An international team of scientists has discovered microscopic, magnetic fossils resembling spears and spindles, unlike anything previously seen, among sediment layers deposited during an ancient global-warming event along the Atlantic coastal plain of the United States. view more (2008-10-23)
Centennial of Russian Dinosaurs
A first collection of dinosaur bones was gathered in the Amur area a hundred years ago. The last year, palaeontologists completed the excavation of an entire well-preserved skeleton of a hadrosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous period. They made a nice present for themselves for the coming jubilee! The skeleton was found in the southeast of... view more... (2002-11-05)
Cole Museum of Zoology Opens Its Doors
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: Rare chance to see the whole animal kingdom in an hour LOCATION: Foyer of Animal and Microbial Sciences building at University of Reading Whiteknights campus TIME & DATE: Wednesday 17 March at 6pm The Cole Museum of Zoology, featuring more than 3,500 unique and exciting specimens, is being opened at the University of... view more... (2004-02-27)
Using magnets to coax secrets out of fossils
Scientists continue to coax more secrets out of thunderstones and other fossils. But in order to look inside, they often have to slice their precious specimens. Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-destructive means of obtaining startling high-resolution images. "By Thor, what`s that?!" Our ancestors must have taken fright when they came across one... view more... (2002-03-06)
Species Diversity Less Dramatic Than Believed
A study published in the current issue of Science challenges the long-held belief that diversity of marine species has been increasing continuously since the origin of animals. Dr. Thomas D. Olszewski, a geology and geophysics professor at Texas A&M University, has been a part of the international team that carried out this decade-long study,... view more... (2008-07-08)
Seeing the forest and the trees helps cut atmospheric carbon dioxide
Putting a price tag on carbon dioxide emitted by different land use practices could dramatically change the way that land is used - forests become increasingly valuable for storing carbon and overall carbon emissions reductions become cheaper, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the... view more... (2009-02-13)
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