News articles tagged with 'ancient'
Protein adaptation shows that life on early earth lived in a hot, acidic environment
— 6 Apr 2011 17:10 | EnvironmentA new study reveals that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years, providing evidence that life…
Fossils record ancient migrations and trilobite orgies
— 17 Mar 2011 18:59 | Geology and palaeontologyFew specimens inspire greater thrills among fossil collectors than a complete trilobite. These ancient arthropods - relatives of lobsters, spiders and insects - went extinct more than…
Palaeontologists audition modern examples of ancient behaviour
— 17 Mar 2011 17:29 | Geology and palaeontologyPalaeontologists agree that it's difficult to observe behaviour in fossil specimens that are dead - even extinct - and petrified. One method is to find a modern, living, species that…
Dry lake reveals evidence of southwestern 'megadroughts'
— 1 Mar 2011 18:51 | EnvironmentThere's an old saying that if you don't like the weather in New Mexico, wait five minutes. Maybe it should be amended to 10,000 years, according to new research…
Oldest subarctic North American human remains found
— 26 Feb 2011 18:09 | Geology and palaeontologyA newly excavated archaeological site in Alaska contained the cremated remains of one of the earliest inhabitants of North America. The site may provide rare insights into the burial…
Mummies' false toes helped ancient Egyptians walk
— 14 Feb 2011 15:18 | HealthTwo artificial big toes - one found attached to the foot of an ancient Egyptian mummy - may have been the world's earliest functional prosthetic body parts, says the scientist who tested…
X-rays reveal hidden leg of an ancient snake
— 8 Feb 2011 17:33 | Geology and palaeontologyA novel X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how in the course of evolution snakes have lost their legs. The researchers hope the new data will help resolve…
Caltech geobiologists uncover links between ancient climate change and mass extinction
— 28 Jan 2011 16:18 | Geology and palaeontologyAbout 450 million years ago, Earth suffered the second-largest mass extinction in its history - the Late Ordovician mass extinction, during which more than 75 percent of marine species…
Oxygen-free early oceans likely delayed rise of life on planet
— 11 Jan 2011 16:32 | Geology and palaeontologyGeologists at the University of California, Riverside have found chemical evidence in 2.6-billion-year-old rocks that indicates that Earth's ancient oceans were oxygen-free and, surprisingly,…
Genome of extinct Siberian human sheds new light on modern human origins
— 4 Jan 2011 20:50 | Geology and palaeontologyThe sequencing of the nuclear genome from an ancient finger bone found in a Siberian cave shows that the cave dwellers were neither Neanderthals nor modern humans…