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Ancient toothless pterosaurs once dominated the world’s skies

Giant toothless pterosaurs with wingspans stretching 39 feet across ruled the skies 60 million years ago, and new research suggests that these ancient flying creatures once had a worldwide presence, and likely played an important role in the Late Cretaceous ecosystem. Despite their formidable size, the pterosaurs in the Azhdarchidae family had no teeth. The new…

New analysis links tree height to climate

What limits the height of trees? Is it the fraction of their photosynthetic energy they devote to productive new leaves? Or is it their ability to hoist water hundreds of feet into the air, supplying the green, solar-powered sugar factories in those leaves? Both factors -- resource allocation and hydraulic limitation -- might play a…

8,000-year-old mutation key to human life at high altitudes: Study identifies genetic basis for Tibetan adaptation

In an environment where others struggle to survive, Tibetans thrive in the thin air of the Tibetan Plateau, with an average elevation of 14,800 feet. A study led by University of Utah scientists is the first to find a genetic cause for the adaptation -- a single DNA base pair change that dates back…

Evolutionary misfit: Misunderstood worm-like fossil finds its place in the Tree of Life

One of the most bizarre-looking fossils ever found -- a worm-like creature with legs, spikes and a head difficult to distinguish from its tail -- has found its place in the evolutionary Tree of Life, definitively linking it with a group of modern animals for the first time. The animal, known as Hallucigenia due to its…

Fukushima’s legacy: Biological effects of Fukushima radiation on plants, insects, and animals

Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown, biological samples were obtained only after extensive delays, limiting the information that could be gained about the impacts of that historic disaster. Determined not to repeat the shortcomings of the Chernobyl studies, scientists began gathering biological information only a few months after the disastrous meltdown of the…

Plants may use newly discovered molecular language to communicate

A Virginia Tech scientist has discovered a potentially new form of plant communication, one that allows them to share an extraordinary amount of genetic information with one another. The finding by Jim Westwood, a professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, throws open the door…

This extreme Antarctic insect has the tiniest genome

The Antarctic midge is a simple insect: no wings, a slender black body and an adult life span of not much more than a week. So perhaps it's fitting the bug is now on record as the owner of the tiniest insect genome ever sequenced. At just 99 million base pairs of nucleotides (DNA's…

Carbon dioxide ‘sponge’ could ease transition to cleaner energy 

A sponge-like plastic that sops up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) might ease our transition away from polluting fossil fuels and toward new energy sources, such as hydrogen. The material -- a relative of the plastics used in food containers -- could play a role in President Obama's plan to cut CO2 emissions 30…

Dramatic growth of grafted stem cells in rat spinal cord

Building upon previous research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veteran's Affairs San Diego Healthcare System report that neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and grafted into rats after a spinal cord injury produced cells with tens of thousands of axons extending virtually the entire length…

How Do People Survive Ebola?

Ebola is a frightening, highly lethal virus — in the current outbreak in West Africa, about 60 percent of people infected with the pathogen have died. Although in the minority, some people do recover from infection. Doctors don't know for certain who will survive Ebola, and there is no specific treatment or cure for the…

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Recent Posts by Pangaea Biosciences

Ancient toothless pterosaurs once dominated the world’s skies

New analysis links tree height to climate

8,000-year-old mutation key to human life at high altitudes: Study identifies genetic basis for Tibetan adaptation

Evolutionary misfit: Misunderstood worm-like fossil finds its place in the Tree of Life

Fukushima’s legacy: Biological effects of Fukushima radiation on plants, insects, and animals

Plants may use newly discovered molecular language to communicate

This extreme Antarctic insect has the tiniest genome

Carbon dioxide ‘sponge’ could ease transition to cleaner energy

Dramatic growth of grafted stem cells in rat spinal cord

How Do People Survive Ebola?

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