When the landmass that is now the Indian subcontinent slammed into Asia about 50 million years ago, the collision changed the configuration of the continents, the landscape, global climate and more. Now a team of Princeton University scientists has identified one more effect: the oxygen in the world’s oceans increased, altering the conditions for life. (more…)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Earth’s fractured outer shell is composed of giant plates of solid rock that move —grinding together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another to create the mountain ranges and other major surface features of our planet and generating earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and other powerful events. However, Earth’s surface has not always experienced these “plate tectonics” and questions about when this began and how it has changed through time have been much debated by scientists. (more…)
Alte DNA beleuchtet genetischen Einfluss arktischer Jäger und Sammler auf indigene Bevölkerung Nordamerikas
Neue Forschungen unter Beteiligung von Ron Pinhasi der Universität Wien belegen, dass arktische Jäger und Sammler Nachkommen unter den heutigen indigenen Bewohnern Nordamerikas hinterließen. (more…)
New research shows how clustered particles determine elasticity of some gels
From the toothpaste you squeeze on your brush first thing in the morning to the yogurt you slurp down to the fabric softener that keeps your pajamas cozy and soft, gels are ubiquitous in consumer products, foods, and in industrial applications, too. (more…)
For decades, research from UA scientists has shaped our understanding of our solar system and universe – beginning with the Apollo 11 mission 50 years ago. (more…)
Forschungsteam der Universität Tübingen belegt, dass ein Großteil des Wassers und Kohlenstoffs im Erdmantel aus dem äußeren Sonnensystem stammt
Meteoriten aus dem äußeren Sonnensystem brachten in der späten Entwicklung unserer Erde Wasser, Kohlenstoff und andere flüchtige Stoffe in großer Menge in den Erdmantel ein. Erst dadurch wurde die Erde bewohnbar. (more…)
Fact: About 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, 75 percent of plant and animal species went extinct, including the dinosaurs (except those that evolved into birds).
Fact: About 66 million years ago, an enormous asteroid or comet hit the Earth near what is now Chicxulub, Mexico, throwing rock, dust and water vapor into the atmosphere.
Fact: About 66 million years ago, a massive volcano erupted lavas in India that are now called the Deccan Traps, burying much of the subcontinent under more than 11,000 feet of basalt (lava rock) and pouring poisonous gases into the atmosphere. (more…)
Most people behave differently when under extreme pressure. Carbon and ice are no different.
Two new studies show how these key planetary ingredients take on exotic forms that could help researchers better understand the composition of Earth’s core as well as the cores of planets across the galaxy. Craig Manning, a UCLA professor of geology and geochemistry, is a co-senior author of one of the papers, which was published in the journal Nature, and senior author of the other, which was published in Nature Communications in February. (more…)
