Archaeologists discover world’s oldest wooden structure dated back 476,000 Years Ago
Researchers from the University of Liverpool and Aberystwyth University have found evidence suggesting that humans were constructing wooden structures as…
Urgent rethink required on Earth’s carbon-sinks, suggests study
In a new study that expands our understanding of how humans contribute to global warming, scientists have discovered that human…
Researchers find link between cannabis use and fewer parasites
The more that hunter-gatherers in the Congo smoke cannabis, the less they are infected by parasitic intestinal worms, according to…
Viable ecosystems found in subglacial lake deep beneath West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Analysis of water samples taken from subglacial Lake Whillans – hidden beneath 2,600 feet of ice in Antarctica – has…
Fences causing “ecological meltdown,” claims new study
A general belief by conservationists that fences can help prevent the spread of diseases, protect wildlife from poachers, and help…
Radiation risk from Chernobyl forest fire smoke worries ecologists
Radiation damage to microbes around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has dramatically slowed the decomposition of fallen leaves…
Unusual gem find provides evidence for vast underground oceans
The chance discovery of a sample of a mineral called ringwoodite provides strong evidence for scientific theories about vast volumes…
Flickr holiday snaps yield tourism data gold
Stanford University scientists have been using the vast number of vacation snaps on photo-sharing site Flickr to measure where and…
Human longevity linked to loss of species
In a fascinating new study, human life expectancy – which is rarely included in analyses of human impacts on the…
Giant channels discovered under Antarctic ice
Beneath the floating Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered huge ice channels that are 800 feet high…
Pollution changing birdsong
Songbirds are exhibiting inconsistency in their songs and pollution appears to be the culprit, say Cornell University ornithologists working in…
Massive canyon discovered under Greenland ice sheet
The NASA airborne science mission “IceBridge” has found a previously unknown canyon hidden under a mile of Greenland ice. The…
Legacy of acid rain threatens water supplies
The ongoing effects of river alkalinization – paradoxically caused by acid rain – are showing up across the East Coast…
Dramatic images of Singapore haze from orbit
NASA satellites have captured striking images of vast palls of smoke billowing from wildfires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.…
Flushed pharmaceuticals fueling fearless fish
Widely prescribed anxiety-moderating drugs such as Serepax are persisting through wastewater treatment plants after being excreted and modifying fish behaviors,…
Massive depletion of Middle East freshwater reserves
Already strained by water scarcity and political tensions, the arid Middle East along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is losing…
Stanford announces peel-and-stick solar panels
Solar cells have traditionally been deployed in heavy, fixed panels, but Stanford scientists aim to change that with the development…
“Solar steam” generator outshines photovoltaic solar cells
Using light-capturing nanoparticles, Rice University researchers have achieved an impressive 82 percent conversion efficiency of sunlight directly into steam; a…
High voltage solar cell recharger developed for phones
A solar technology breakthrough by UK scientists means portable electronic devices such as phones, cameras, and e-book readers could soon…
Wireless charging proposed for electric cars
An innovative wireless system that charges electric cars while they are on the road could also be used to control…
Tropical storms may be triggering earthquakes
University of Miami scientist Shimon Wdowinski (pictured) says that earthquakes – including the recent seismic events in Haiti and Taiwan…
Fine-particle air pollution causing more severe storms
Climatologists say that aerosols (fine-particle air pollution) in the atmosphere dramatically affect cloud development to reduce precipitation in dry regions…
Narcotic effects of carbon monoxide keep city dwellers happy
Low levels of the gas carbon monoxide have a narcotic effect on city dwellers, say Tel Aviv University researchers, leading…
Flood-tolerant crop breakthrough
Scientists from The University of Nottingham and the University of California, Riverside, have identified the molecular mechanism plants use to…
Atmospheric analysis yields dog poop surprise
Microbiologists from the University of Colorado Boulder were surprised to find that the dominant airborne bacterial communities of several American…
Predator-prey dynamics used to model cloud systems
Mathematical formulae that describe the population dynamics of prey animals such as gazelles and their predators have been used to…
Rise of jellyfish “drastically” changing oceanic food webs
The increase in the size and frequency of jellyfish blooms in coastal and estuarine waters around the world is altering…
Bacteria make rain, bioprecipitation researchers say
Bioprecipitation researchers say that most precipitation events could depend on a type of bacterium whose outer membrane binds water molecules…