A whopping two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, Earth was crawling with bizarre animals, including dinosaur cousins resembling Komodo dragons and bulky early mammal-relatives, millions of years before dinosaurs even existed.
New research shows us that the Permian equator was both a literal and figurative hotspot: it was, for the most part, a scorching hot desert, on top of having a concentration of unique animals. Here, you could find ancient crocodile-sized amphibians right next to newly evolved dinosaur and croc relatives. Many of these species were wiped out after an extinction which changed life on the planet forever.
Written by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Recent stories in the national media are magnifying fears of a catastrophic eruption of the Yellowstone volcanic area, but scientists remain uncertain about the likelihood of such an event.
To better understand the region’s subsurface geology, University of Illinois geologists have rewound and played back a portion of its geologic history, finding that Yellowstone volcanism is more far more complex and dynamic than previously thought.
Image copyright: GETTY IMAGESImage caption: Forecasters may soon be able to give a longer term warning of wet UK summers
Researchers in the UK have developed a method of improving the long range accuracy of summer weather in the UK and Europe. The scientists found a connection between sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic in March and April and the subsequent summer’s rain or shine.
A new analysis of the oldest known fossil microorganisms provides strong evidence to support an increasingly widespread understanding that life in the universe is common.
In assessing the global-scale trends in near-surface (0-20 m) ocean temperatures between 1900 and 2010, Gouretski et al. (2012) determined that the world’s oceans warmed by about 1.1°C between 1900 and 1945 (~0.24°C per decade), but then only warmed by an additional net 0.3°C between 1945 and 2010 (~0.046°C per decade), including a cooling trend between 1945 and 1975.
Experts at the heart of US government climate research have asked that their science be excused from the rigorous testing against the null hypothesis. We look at what the null hypothesis means and why government climate research, by abandoning the test of the null hypothesis, in turn, abandons science.
It’s a well-known fact that even the smallest amount of aluminum, if found in a person’s brain tissue, can become a huge problem. There have also been many studies that look into how having high-levels of aluminum in brain tissue is correlated with neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The first teacher of any note only asked questions. Socrates was this teacher. I have read that he said he did this because he did not know and was merely trying to find out what his students knew. Contrary to how Socrates taught is the common conception that a teacher should tell the students what they should know instead of helping them discover what they might already know (reason) without being told.
Lighting has always been a source of awe and mystery for us lowly mortals. In ancient times, people associated it with Gods like Zeus and Thor, the fathers of the Greek and Norse pantheons. With the birth of modern science and meteorology, lighting is no longer considered the province of the divine. However, this does not mean that the sense of mystery it carries has diminished one bit.
A few years ago, it was kryptonite (an imaginary substance) that garnered all the headlines. Now it’s crypto-coins, i.e. computer-bits or something similar.
When the first research started coming out about the horrible effects of sugar, the industry Lobby made efforts to hide the truth from the public. The Sugar Lobby uses exactly the same methods the Tobacco Industries were using for years: misleading advertising, paying scientists to publish research in their favour or discrediting any scientists who published any research against their product.
The Juno space probe was launched back in 2011 on course for Jupiter. It arrived in orbit of the gas giant in summer 2016 after five years of travel, and it began sending back stunning images and extensive scientific data early this year. One of the primary duties of Juno is to study the iconic Great Red Spot, a giant cyclone that has been churning in Jupiter’s clouds for centuries. A newly released study based on Juno data includes the most accurate measurements yet of this monster storm.
Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades.
A professor at Boston University has proclaimed Christmas carol favorite “Jingle Bells” to be a “racist song” and is urging people to shun the jaunty tune.
