A massive block of limestone in France contains what scientists believe are the earliest known engravings of wall art dating back some 37,000 years, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The 1.5 metric ton ceiling piece was first discovered in 2007 at Abri Castanet, a well known…
Global Biodiversity Down 30 Percent in 40 Years: Humanity is essentially using the resources of one and a half Earths every year.
It seems obvious that how different living things in a community or ecological system bump up against one another would affect how they evolve. That would include everything from the mix of fish in a lake to the bacteria, fungi and insects that coexist in rainwater that pools in the roots at the base of…
Fears that sex-linked chromosomes, such as the male Y chromosome, are doomed to extinction have been refuted in a new genetic study which examines the sex chromosomes of chickens. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down generations and linked…
Cells linked to empathy and consciousness in primates may offer clues to human self-awareness
One day after new test results showed that only 32 percent of U.S. 8th graders are proficient in science, a group of 26 states has helped draft a document that may bring about a major overhaul of science education in this country. Known as the Next Generation Science Standards, the draft sets ambitious new expectations…
As universities move from being national institutions to international ones, they shift from managing national reputations to seeking international identities. Reputation management may not be at the forefront of many academics’ minds, but when professors go abroad and meet colleagues who have no idea what kind of institution they come from, their interest may pick…
In the future, when our kids’ kids are studying the origins of cybernetic humans, they will learn that one of the first pieces of the anatomy to be invented was the butt. And they will learn that the first robot butt was named Shiri, and its creators wanted it to be happy. Inventors at the…
Novel generator uses harmless viruses to create an electric charge.
Using state of the art computer simulations, a team of astronomers from the University of Bonn in Germany have found the first evidence that the way in which stars form depends on their birth environment. The team, based at the University of Bonn in Germany, publish their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the…