Scientists have been warning for quite some time that monarch butterflies were slated for extinction due to diminishing winter colonies. But a new study found that warming temperatures and growth in the summer population of monarchs has compensated for losses during the winter. Researchers did preach continued caution, as the...
New research gives insights into how organelles divide in cells
A pioneering study has shed new light on how subcellular organelles divide and multiply.
Wreck of historic royal ship discovered off the English coast
A royal shipwreck has been discovered off the English coast. The wreck is of one of the most famous ships of the 17th century -- The Gloucester -- which sank 340 years ago while carrying the future King of England, James Stuart. Since running aground on a sandbank on May...
Pre-historic Wallacea: A melting pot of human genetic ancestries
The Wallacean islands of present-day Eastern Indonesia have a long history of occupation by modern humans. Notably, the maritime expansion of Austronesian speakers into Wallacea left archaeological traces of a Neolithic lifestyle and a genetic imprint still detectable in Eastern Indonesians today. To gain further insights into Wallacea's settlement history,...
Chromatin originated in ancient microbes one to two billion years ago
Researchers now reveal that nature's storage solution first evolved in ancient microbes living on Earth between one and two billion years ago.
Yellowstone’s history of hydrothermal explosions over the past 14,000 years
While much of public attention on Yellowstone focuses on its potential to produce large supereruptions, the hazards that are much more likely to occur are smaller, violent hydrothermal explosions. Hydrothermal explosions occur when near-boiling water suddenly flashes into steam, releasing large amounts of energy. The energy release fractures the rock...
Antarctic glaciers losing ice at fastest rate for 5,500 years
New evidence suggests that two major glaciers in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are losing ice at the fastest rate for at least 5,500 years.
‘Fantastic giant tortoise,’ believed extinct, confirmed alive in the Galápagos
A tortoise from a Galápagos species long believed extinct has been found alive. Fernanda, named after her Fernandina Island home, is the first of her species identified in more than a century. Geneticist successfully extracted DNA from a specimen collected from the same island more than a century ago and...
New research shows climate change impacts on whale habitat use in the warming Gulf of Maine
New research finds climate change is having an impact on how large whale species, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, use habitats in the warming Gulf of Maine, showing that right whales' use of Cape Cod Bay has shifted significantly over the last 20 years.
Extreme, severe drought impacting the upper Colorado River basin in the second century, new study finds
The Colorado River is in an extremely severe drought and has been for the last 22 years. To better understand this drought, researchers looked at the drought history within the Colorado River Basin. Previous studies have gone back 1,200 years, but this paper goes back 2,000 years. The findings, using...