Science

The desertification of the Sahara — the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world — has long been a target for researchers trying to understand climate and ecological tipping points. A new paper by Seoul National University geoarchaeologist David Wright challenges the conclusions of most studies …

A great deal of our future in space is going to rely upon private space firms, but NASA isn’t sitting on the sidelines when it comes to human spaceflight. It’s working on the powerful Space Launch System and associated Orion crew capsule for long-range space missions. The agency recently conducted …

An international team of paleontologists from the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution and the Swedish Museum of Natural History has unearthed uniquely well-preserved fossils of 1.6 billion-year-old crown-group rhodophytes (red algae). Ramathallus lobatus. Image credit: S. Bengtson et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000735. The extraordinarily preserved fossils came from phosphorite deposits at …

According to a new study published in The Science of Nature, the annual prey kill of the global spider community is in the range of 400-800 million metric tons (fresh weight), with insects and springtails composing more than 90% of the captured prey. Jumping spider Phidippus mystaceus feeding on a …

After only nine generations, the same plant species is larger and more fragrant if pollinated by bumblebees rather than flies, according to University of Zurich evolutionary biologists Florian Schiestl and Daniel Gervasi. The study by Florian Schiestl and Daniel Gervasi focuses on the role insect pollinators can play in plant …

Parenthood is associated with a longer life than childlessness, particularly in older age, according to a study led by Karolinska Institute researcher Karin Modig. By the age of 60, the difference in life expectancy, which does not seem to be influenced by the sex of the child(ren), may be as …

Astronomers have been puzzling over fast radio bursts (FRB) for the last decade, but there’s not yet any good explanation of these high-energy radio blips. Less that two dozen FRBs have been observed since then, all of which come from outside the Milky Way galaxy. Now that fast radio bursts …

A rare megalithic structure, dating back 4,000 years, has been discovered at the Shamir Dolmen Field on the western foothills of the Golan Heights. The 4,000-year-old ‘multi-dolmen,’ the Shamir Dolmen Field, Israel. Image credit: Gonen Sharon, Tel Hai College. The newly-discovered megalithic stone structure is a unique, monumental, multi-chambered dolmen: …

A study led by University of Tasmania researchers Cesar Tovar and Gregory Woods has shown that immunotherapy can cure Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) of the devil facial tumor disease. The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports. Young Tasmanian devil. Image credit: Keres H. / CC BY-SA 4.0. Tasmanian …

A new bill introduced by Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and approved by the House Ways and Means Committee would allow corporations to force employees to undergo genetic testing — and then share those results with third parties. In theory, this is already illegal, thanks to a 2008 law known as GINA. …