Category Archives: Science

One of The Supercontinents is Different from the Others (It’s Rodinia)

Many people have heard of Pangaea, the supercontinent that included all continents on Earth and began to break up about 175 million years ago. But before Pangaea, Earth’s landmasses ripped apart and smashed back together to form supercontinents repeatedly. This cycle has been going on for at least the last 3.0 billion years of Earth’s history, regulating our planet’s geography, climate, and carbon cycles. (more…)

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Birth of a New Protein: How Evolution Does More Than Tinker

A UA-led team has found that a protein from a new gene can fold like more ancient proteins, contrary to what had been believed.

A yeast protein that evolved from scratch can fold into a three-dimensional shape — contrary to the general understanding of young proteins — according to new research led by the University of Arizona. (more…)

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Warum es für Pflanzen gut sein kann auf Sex zu verzichten

Sexuelle Fortpflanzung ist die dominante Reproduktionsform im Tier- und Pflanzenreich. Trotzdem gibt es Arten, die sich teilweise oder ausschließlich asexuell vermehren. Überraschenderweise sind diese asexuellen Arten oft weiter verbreitet als ihre nächsten sexuellen Verwandten. (more…)

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Old Faithful’s geological heart revealed

Dense seismograph network shows subsurface geyser plumbing structures

Old Faithful is Yellowstone National Park’s most famous landmark. Millions of visitors come to the park every year to see the geyser erupt every 44-125 minutes. But despite Old Faithful’s fame, relatively little was known about the geologic anatomy of the structure and the fluid pathways that fuel the geyser below the surface. Until now. (more…)

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