A genetic mutation possibly linked to malarial resistance may have helped drive the evolution of the genus Homo, humans’ ancient ancestor, a new study finds.
There is no clear correlation between tax cuts for high earners and economic growth, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service. The findings are pertinent to a central debate in the presidential election, wherein President Obama is pushing to end the Bush-era tax cuts on high incomes, while his Republican challenger Mitt…
Events high in the upper atmosphere can cause massive shifts in the behavior even of deep ocean currents, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience. The ocean is very important to the climate, acting as it does as a vast storage and transport mechanism for heat. But the oceans have tremendous mass compared even…
For centuries, the people of the Gilbert Islands in the central Pacific Ocean have crafted weapons from shark teeth. Joshua Drew, a conservation biologist at Columbia University in New York, has used these teeth to show that the waters around the islands were once home to three species of shark that no longer live in…
Using hydrogen as a clean, renewable source of energy could free us from fossile fuels. But hydrogen atoms don’t exist alone in nature; they’re always bound to another atom. Think of water, which has hydrogen and oxygen. Splitting hydrogen atoms from the oxygen takes power. And if that electricity comes from a natural gas or…
In your wildest dreams, could you imagine a government that builds its policies on carefully gathered scientific evidence? One that publishes the rationale behind its decisions, complete with data, analysis and supporting arguments? Well, dream no longer: that’s where Great Britain is heading. Author Metanexus Editors
The search for a far-off twin of Earth has turned up two of the most intriguing candidates yet. Scientists say these new worlds are the right size and distance from their parent star, so that you might expect to find liquid water on their surface. It is impossible to know for sure. Being 1,200 light-years…