Extinctions during the early Triassic period left Earth a virtual wasteland, largely because life literally couldn’t take the heat, a new study suggests. Between 247 to 252 million years ago, Earth was reeling from a mass extinction called the end-Permian event. The die-off had wiped out most life on Earth, including most land plants. The…
Researchers from China’s Fudan University have found major prehistoric human population expansions may have begun before the Neolithic period, which probably led to the introduction of agriculture. Major prehistoric human population expansions in three continents may have begun before the Neolithic period — around 15-11,000 years ago in Africa, from around 13,000 years ago in…
A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics study has revealed that childhood poverty, stress as an adult, and demographics such as age, sex and ethnicity, all leave an imprint on a person’s genes. And, that this imprint could play a role in our immune response. The study was published in…
Using its country-specific content-blocking tool for the first time, Twitter has shut down access to a neo-Nazi group’s account in Germany. “Never want to withhold content; good to have tools to do it narrowly & transparently,” Alex Macgillivray, Twitter’s general counsel, tweeted. “We announced the ability to withhold content back in Jan. We’re using it…
The 2012 presidential election will be won by the candidate who can convince voters that he has the vision to lift the nation out of the economic doldrums. The economy is the right topic, but the discussion neglects the true driver of the country’s prosperity: scientific and technological enterprise. Half of the U.S. economic growth…
It’s long been theorized that the moon was created when a Mars-sized proto-planet slammed into the Earth. Unfortunately, though, the chemistry of the two bodies has stubbornly failed to bear this out. Now, though, two very different models of such a collision have been developed, both explaining satisfactorily – but incompatibly – how the Earth-moon…
Using the European X-ray astronomy satellite XMM-Newton, researchers have discovered a new source of cosmic rays. In the vicinity of the remarkable Arches cluster, near the center of the Milky Way, these particles are accelerated in the shock wave generated by tens of thousands of young stars moving at a speed of around 700,000 km/h….
Scientists from the United States have learned that dolphins are able to stay alert and active for 15 days or more at a time by sleeping only one-half of their brain. The experts believe that this ability to stay alert by using only half of their brain is a key to the survival of sea…
A recent article, in the London tabloid Daily Mail, reports: “The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures ……
The following is from a guest post to the Chronicle’s WorldWise blog, written by John D. Holm, the former director of the Office of International Education and Partnerships at the University of Botswana and director of international programs at Cleveland State University: International-development experts have expressed much concern about the brain drain of African scholars…