Scaling laws in enzymes may help predict life ‘as we don’t know it'

A team of researchers is developing tools to predict the features of life as we don't know it.

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Mystery solved about the origin of the 30,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf

The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called 'oolite' which is not found in or around Willendorf. Anthropologist, geologists and prehistorians have now found out, with the help of high-resolution tomographic images, that the material from which the Venus was carved likely comes from northern Italy. This sheds new light on the remarkable mobility of the first modern humans south and north of the Alps.

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Death spiral: A black hole spins on its side

Researchers found that the axis of rotation of a black hole in a binary system is tilted more than 40 degrees relative to the axis of stellar orbit. The finding challenges current theoretical models of black hole formation.

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What brain-eating amoebae can tell us about the diversity of life on earth and evolutionary history

Researchers recently announced that an amoeba called Naegleria has evolved more distinct sets of tubulins, used for specific cellular processes, than previously thought. Their insight has a host of implications, which range from developing treatments for brain-eating infections to better understanding how life on earth evolved such enormous diversity.

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Climate change: A threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

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Number of wildfires to rise by 50 percent by 2100 and governments are not prepared, UN experts warn

Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century, warns a new UN report. It calls for radical change in government spending on wildfires, shifting from reaction and response to prevention and preparedness.

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Largest ever human family tree: 27 million ancestors

Researchers have taken a major step towards mapping the entirety of genetic relationships among humans: a single genealogy that traces the ancestry of all of us.

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How some gut microbes awaken 'zombie' viruses in their neighbors

Gut bacteria brew all sorts of chemicals, but we don't know what most of them do. A new study suggests that one such compound, previously linked to cancer, may serve as a bizarre weapon in microbial skirmishes.

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The last day of the dinosaurs

The asteroid which killed nearly all of the dinosaurs struck Earth during springtime. This conclusion was drawn by an international team of researchers after having examined thin sections, high-resolution synchrotron X-ray scans, and carbon isotope records of the bones of fishes that died less than 60 minutes after the asteroid impacted.

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Evidence for exotic magnetic phase of matter

Scientists have discovered a long-predicted magnetic state of matter called an antiferromagnetic excitonic insulator -- broadly speaking, a novel type of magnet. Understanding the connections between electrons' 'spin' and charge in such materials could have potential for realizing new technologies.

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Singing in the brain

For the first time, neuroscientists have identified a population of neurons in the human brain that light up when we hear singing, but not other types of music.

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Onset of modern sea level rise began in 1863, study finds

Scientists have found that modern rates of sea level rise began emerging in 1863 as the Industrial Age intensified, coinciding with evidence for early ocean warming and glacier melt. The study, which used a global database of sea-level records spanning the last 2,000 years, will help local and regional planners prepare for future sea-level rise. 

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Likelihood of extreme autumn fire weather has increased 40 percent, modeling shows

The likelihood of hot, dry, windy autumn weather that can set the stage for severe fires in California and western Oregon has increased 40 percent due to human-caused climate change, new computer models show.

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