Evolutionary elements arrived on Earth much later than thought
A large proportion of the elements carbon and nitrogen, as well as the compound water, were not delivered to Earth until very late in...
Scientists discover the ancestor of all animals in fossils
A team led by UC Riverside geologists has discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most familiar animals today, including humans.
The...
Scientists find the origins of the building blocks of life
Rutgers researchers have discovered the origins of the protein structures responsible for metabolism:
Simple molecules that powered early life on Earth and serve as chemical...
How sperm unpack dad’s genome so it can merge with mom’s
A sperm enters an egg, an embryo develops and eventually a baby is born.
But back up a second -- how does the mother's half-genome...
Scientists discover why the oceans are so diverse
A new study in the journal Science has given insight into why the world's oceans are full of more species than ever before -...
New technology to speed up the development of more resilient crops
A research collaboration led by The University of Western Australia has created a new technique that speeds up the development of seeds, producing better...
One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years
Accurately predicting biodiversity loss from climate change requires a detailed understanding of what aspects cause extinctions, and what mechanisms may allow species to survive.
A...
When frogs die off, snake diversity plummets
Since 1998, scientists have documented the global loss of amphibians.
More than 500 amphibian species have declined in numbers, including 90 that have gone extinct,...
Tiny salamander’s huge genome may harbor the secrets of regeneration
The type of salamander called axolotl, with its frilly gills and widely spaced eyes, looks like an alien and has other-worldly powers of regeneration.
Lose...
Surprise discovery shakes up our understanding of gene expression
Scientists at University of Chicago have uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality.
Rather than directions going one-way from DNA...