An international team of researchers has used geochemical fingerprinting to reconstruct long-distance voyages between central and western Pacific Islands during the last millennium A.D.
Greener batteries
Our modern rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, are anything but sustainable. One alternative is organic batteries with redox-organic electrode materials (OEMs), which can be synthesized from natural 'green' materials. A team has now introduced a new OEM for aqueous organic high-capacity batteries that can be easily and cheaply recycled.
360-million-year-old Irish fossil provides oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood
Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood in a 360-million-year-old fossil from south-eastern Ireland. Plants can protect their wood from infection and water loss by forming special structures called 'tyloses'. These prevent bacterial and fungal pathogens from getting into the heartwood of living trees and damaging...
Colorado’s spicy ancient history of chili peppers
Recently identified chili pepper fossils from Boulder and Denver museums challenge millions of years of global tomato evolutionary history. Now, that's some spicy science!
Ridgecrest faults increasingly sensitive to solid Earth tides before earthquakes
Faults in the Ridgecrest, California area were very sensitive to solid earth tidal stresses in the year and a half before the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence.
Turkey’s next quake: Research shows where, how bad — but not ‘when’
Using remote sensing, geophysicists have documented the massive Feb. 6 quake that killed more than 50,000 people in Eastern Turkey and toppled more than 100,000 buildings. Alarmingly, researchers found that a section of the fault remains unbroken and locked -- a sign that the plates there may, when friction intensifies,...
Hungry eyes: Spiders lose vision when they’re starving
Biologists have discovered that underfed jumping spiders lose light-sensitive cells that are key to their vision.
Puerto Rico tsunami deposit could have come from pre-Columbian megathrust earthquake
Tsunami deposits identified in a coastal mangrove pond in Northwest Puerto Rico could have come from a megathrust earthquake at the Puerto Rico Trench that occurred between 1470 and 1530, according to new research.
Chicken breeding in Japan dates back to fourth century BCE
Conclusive evidence of chicken breeding in the Yayoi period of Japan has been discovered from the Karako-Kagi site.
Polar ice sheet melting records have toppled during the past decade
The seven worst years for polar ice sheets melting and losing ice have occurred during the past decade, according to new research, with 2019 being the worst year on record. The seven worst years for polar ice sheets melting and losing ice have occurred during the past decade, according to...