About: Pangaea Biosciences

Recent Posts by Pangaea Biosciences

For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate

For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate
Today is the 210th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, a day now celebrated by some as Darwin Day. Darwin is best known for his theory of evolution through natural selection. When Darwin’s work was first made public in 1859, it shocked Britain’s religious establishment. And while today it is accepted by virtually all scientists, evolutionary theory…
Read more

Why are insects in decline, and can we do anything about it?

Why are insects in decline, and can we do anything about it?
What is the sixth mass extinction? Many scientists think the current worldwide annihilation of wildlife is the beginning of a huge loss of species on Earth. It has happened five times in the last 4bn years, as a result of meteorite impacts, long ice ages and huge volcanic eruptions. But this one is the result not of…
Read more

Scientists Find a Possible Link Between Gut Bacteria and Depression

Scientists Find a Possible Link Between Gut Bacteria and Depression
The human microbiome—a collection of bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses commingling in the gut and intestines—has been linked to a wide range of human health conditions, including digestive health and the prevention of autoimmune diseases. Some research has even identified a possible link between gut health and brain function. Building on this work, a study…
Read more

The Wild Experiment That Showed Evolution in Real Time

The Wild Experiment That Showed Evolution in Real Time
In the fall of 2010, Rowan Barrett was stuck. He needed a piece of land, one with plenty of mice, and after days of futile searching, he found himself at a motel bar in Valentine, Nebraska, doing what people do at bars: telling a total stranger about his problems. A young evolutionary biologist, Barrett had…
Read more

Scripps Institution Scientists Study Imperial Beach As Sea Level Rises

Scripps Institution Scientists Study Imperial Beach As Sea Level Rises
San Diego scientists who are interested in rising sea levels recently spent a chunk of time in the coastal community of Imperial Beach. They were there to see the impact of a storm swell on top of an astronomical high tide. The low-lying city is nearly surrounded by water and the community faces real and immediate…
Read more

Body size may influence women’s lifespan more than it does men’s

Body size may influence women’s lifespan more than it does men’s
Body size-height and weight- may influence women's lifespan far more than it does men's, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. And while physical activity is linked to longer lifespans in both sexes, it seems the more time men spend physically active every day, the better it is for their chances…
Read more

Human mutation rate has slowed recently

Human mutation rate has slowed recently
Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, and Copenhagen Zoo have discovered that the human mutation rate is significantly slower than for our closest primate relatives. The new knowledge may be important for estimates of when the common ancestor for humans and chimpanzees lived -- and for conservation of large primates in the wild. Over the past…
Read more

Artificial intelligence applied to the genome identifies an unknown human ancestor

Artificial intelligence applied to the genome identifies an unknown human ancestor
By combining deep learning algorithms and statistical methods, investigators from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Institute of Genomics at the University of Tartu have identified, in the genome of Asian individuals, the footprint of a new hominid who…
Read more

First moon plants sprout in China’s Chang’e 4 biosphere experiment

First moon plants sprout in China’s Chang’e 4 biosphere experiment
A sprouting cotton seed on China’s Chang’e 4 lunar lander is the first plant ever to germinate on another world, heralding a new era for life in space. Seeds of cotton, oilseed rape, potato and arabidopsis were carried to the moon as part of a biosphere experiment, along with fruit fly eggs and some yeast. Pictures…
Read more

Recent Comments by Pangaea Biosciences

No comments by Pangaea Biosciences yet.