Viking DNA Extracted From 1,000 Year Old Skeleton

Viking DNA Extracted From 1,000 Year Old Skeleton

Analysis of DNA from the remains of ancient humans provides valuable insights into such important questions as the origin of genetic diseases, migration patterns of our forefathers and tribal and…
Even For Pterosaurs, Flying Was Hard Work

Even For Pterosaurs, Flying Was Hard Work

New research into gigantic flying reptiles has found that they weren’t all gull-like predators grabbing fish from the water but that some were strongly adapted for life on the ground. Pterosaurs…
Scientists Without Borders

Scientists Without Borders

I am sure that most readers are familiar with programs like the Nobel Prize winning Doctors Without Borders (i.e., Médecins Sans Frontières) and its spin-offs. Now the New York Academy of Sciences…
Eta Carinae - The Homonculus In A Cosmic Cauldron

Eta Carinae - The Homonculus In A Cosmic Cauldron

Eta Carinae has the shape of a 'little man' and surrounds a star doomed to explode within the next 100 000 years. Being brighter than one million Suns, Eta Carinae is the most luminous star known in…
Biofuel Crops Are New Invasive Species Threat

Biofuel Crops Are New Invasive Species Threat

Planting biofuel crops on converted forestlands or other ecologically valuable lands has already become a hotly debated practice. Now, a new report co-authored by Nature Conservancy scientists says…
SnoMotes Go Where No One Wants To Tread

SnoMotes Go Where No One Wants To Tread

The best places to get accurate data about the world's ice shelves are not exactly the safest. Using satellites is not an accurate solution. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and…
Dutch Geneticists Sequence First Female DNA

Dutch Geneticists Sequence First Female DNA

In 2001, the DNA sequence was published of a combination of persons. The DNA sequences of Jim Watson, discoverer of the DNA’s double helix structure, followed in 2007, and later the DNA of gene…
TSLP - Skin Irritation Leads To Death In Mice

TSLP - Skin Irritation Leads To Death In Mice

When patches of red, flaky and itchy skin on newborn mice led rapidly to their deaths, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis looked for the reason why. What they found…
Childhood Obesity Levelled Off

Childhood Obesity Levelled Off

There was no significant increase in the prevalence of obese children and teens in the U.S. between 1999 and 2006, in contrast to the increase that had been reported in prior years, according to a…
Phoenix Mars Lander and geodesy

Phoenix Mars Lander and geodesy

Phoenix Mars Lander as well as knowledge about Mars itself depend on geodesy, in particular planetary geodesy. I will put together a piece on that shortly...