Category Archives: News & Archives

Great whites may have wiped out the biggest shark that ever lived

The megalodon -- also known as the biggest shark ever -- became extinct a million years earlier than previously thought, due to competition from much smaller great white sharks, according to new research. The full paper is published in the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences. A team of scientists claim that the giant prehistoric predator,…

Butterflies Vs. Border Wall: National Butterfly Center Seeks Restraining Order

The National Butterfly Center, in danger of losing access to most of its wildlife nature preserve along the Rio Grande, is asking a court to stop federal officials from building a border wall across its land. The North American Butterfly Association first sued more than a year ago after government officials allegedly cut down trees and cleared…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Meet the ‘Antarctic king,’ an unlikely fossil from 250 million years ago

Wildlife in Antarctica conjures up images of penguins, seals and other animals who have adapted to survive in such a harsh, frozen environment. But researchers have made an unexpected discovery that pulls back the curtain on what life may have been like in Antarctica millions of years ago. Instead of miles of ice and icebergs…

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…

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…

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…