SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
Underneath their tough exteriors, some crocodilians have a sensitive side that scientists could use to shine light on our ancient climate, according to new findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The idea of a clock inside a crocodile was imagined by JM Barrie in the story of Peter Pan, but instead of telling the … Read more
Modern hyenas are known as hunters and scavengers in Asian and African ecosystems such as the savanna. But in ancient times, these powerful carnivores also roamed a very different landscape, inhabiting the frigid Arctic during the last ice age, according to a new study led by the University at Buffalo. The research, which will be … Read more
Some 9,000 years ago, residents of one of the world’s first large farming communities were also among the first humans to experience some of the perils of modern urban living. Scientists studying the ancient ruins of Çatalhöyük, in modern Turkey, found that its inhabitants – 3,500 to 8,000 people at its peak – experienced overcrowding, … Read more
The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, applied climate and ecological modelling to illustrate how the distribution of major bird groups is linked to climate change over millions of years.However, while past climate change often occurred slowly enough to allow species to adapt or shift habitats, current rates of climate change may be … Read more
With the help of an extensive genetic database of modern grapevines, researchers were able to test and compare 28 archaeological seeds from French sites dating back to the Iron Age, Roman era, and medieval period. Utilising similar ancient DNA methods used in tracing human ancestors, a team of researchers from the UK, Denmark, France, Spain, … Read more
One of the world’s most important plant families has a history extending much farther south than any live or fossil specimen previously recorded, as shown by chinquapin fruit and leaf fossils unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina, according to researchers. “The oak and beech family is recognized everywhere as one of the most important plant groups and … Read more
New studies by two research teams published today in the journals Nature Ecology and Evolution and Current Biologychallenge decades of accepted scientific opinion concerning the evolutionary relationships of tree sloths and their extinct kin. The research teams used different molecular tools–the protein collagen in one case and the mitochondrial genome in the other–but they reached nearly the same … Read more
Strange ring-shaped objects in a Bronze Age hillfort site represent a unique form of cereal-based product, according to a study published June 5, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andreas G. Heiss of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAW-ÖAI) and colleagues. Agricultural practices are well known in the archaeological record, but less understood is how food … Read more
Analysis by the researchers of early stone age sites, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that stone tools may have been invented many times in many ways before becoming an essential part of the human lineage. The excavation site, known as Bokol Dora 1 or BD 1, is close … Read more
People first gave up hunting and gathering and turned to farming in the Near East, around 10,000 years ago. The settlement of Çatalhöyük is famous for being an incredibly well preserved early village founded around 7,100 BC. The population of Çatalhöyük were early farmers, growing crops such as wheat and barley, and herding sheep and … Read more