One of the best sources of information on the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and plant diversity over millions of years is fossil pollen.
For palynologists–the scientists who study ancient pollen–a common challenge in the field is the…
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The Milky Way Galaxy has a Clumpy Halo
University of Iowa astronomers have determined our galaxy is surrounded by a clumpy halo of hot gases that is continually being supplied with material ejected by birthing or dying stars.
This heated halo, called the circumgalactic medium (CGM),…
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Artificial Intelligence Reveals Hundreds of Millions of Trees in the Sahara
If you think that the Sahara is covered only by golden dunes and scorched rocks, you aren’t alone. Perhaps it’s time to shelve that notion.
In an area of West Africa 30 times larger than Denmark, an international team, led by University of…
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UH Geologists ‘Resurrect’ Missing Tectonic Plate
The existence of a tectonic plate called Resurrection has long been a topic of debate among geologists, with some arguing it was never real.
Others say it subducted – moved sideways and downward – into the earth’s mantle somewhere in the…
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How a Greenhouse Catastrophe Killed Almost All Life
Earth’s history knows catastrophes which are unimaginable for humans. For example, around 66 million years ago an asteroid impact marked the end of the dinosaur era.
Long before however, 252 million years ago at the boundary between the Permian…
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Study Into Earth’s Crust Finds Heat Source That May Stabilise Continents
Rocks from the Rio Grande continental rift have provided a rare snapshot of active geology deep inside Earth’s crust, revealing new evidence for how continents remain stable over billions of years, according to a team of scientists.
“We tend…
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Magnetic Fields on the Moon are the Remnant of an Ancient Core Dynamo
Presently, the moon does not have an internal magnetic field as it can be observed on Earth. However, there are localized regions on its surface up to several hundred kilometers in size where a very strong magnetic field prevails.
This has been…
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Past Tropical Forest Changes Drove Megafauna and Hominin Extinctions
Researchers have found that the loss of these grasslands was instrumental in the extinction of many of the region’s megafauna, and probably of ancient humans too.
“Southeast Asia is often overlooked in global discussions of megafauna…
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Disproportionate Extinction of South American Mammals When Americas Collided
When the Isthmus of Panama rose from the sea to connect North and South America millions of years ago, mammals could cross the bridge in both directions.
But the result of this massive migration–a large proportion of mammals with North American…
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Ice Discharge in North Pacific Set Off Series of Climate Events During Last Ice Age
Repeated catastrophic ice discharges from western North America into the North Pacific contributed to, and perhaps triggered, hemispheric-scale changes in the Earth’s climate during the last ice age, new research published online today in…
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