Tag: Science Daily

When clams gamble on living with a killer, sometimes their luck may run out, according to a new study.

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas like game reserves. The risk? Contained populations could become genetically isolated over time, making elephants more vulnerable to disease and environmental change.

A new study reports the discovery of extremely rare early human fossils from the Indonesian island of Flores, including an astonishingly small adult limb bone. Dated to about 700,000 years old, the new findings shed light on the evolution of Homo floresiensis, the so-called 'Hobbits' of Flores whose remains were...

The first continent-wide mapping study of plant life across Antarctica reveals growth in previously uncharted areas and is set to inform conservation measures across the region. The satellite survey of mosses, lichens and algae across the continent will form a baseline for monitoring how Antarctica's vegetation responds to climate change.

In Brazil, climate and other human-made environmental changes threaten decades-long efforts to fight schistosomiasis, a widespread and debilitating parasitic disease. Now, researchers have developed models that can predict how the disease risk will shift in response to environmental changes.

Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the two-mile-deep ice melted away in the recent geological past. The new research indicates that the...

A study of horses -- which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies -- revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy.

A new study conducted in Canada's two largest cities has linked about 1,100 premature deaths per year to an unregulated air pollutant. Ultrafine particles (UFPs) primarily come from vehicle emissions and industrial activities. Canada's federal and provincial governments have not set concentration limits for UFPs, as they have for larger...

New findings on how sharks achieve drag reduction could inspire the design of riblets for more efficient aircraft and boats. In their investigation of great white shark denticles, researchers found that ridge height and spacing play crucial roles in drag reduction at different swimming speeds. Higher middle ridges aid sharks...

Computational modeling shows that plate tectonics weren't necessary for early continents.