http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org provides the latest news from Field Museum Anyone who has spent time in the tropics knows that the diversity of species found there is astounding and the abundance and diversity of ants, in particular, is unparalleled. Scientists have grappled for centuries to understand why the tropics are home to more species of all kinds than the cooler temperate latitudes on both sides of the equator. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the higher species numbers in the tropics, but these hypotheses have never been tested for the ants, which are one of the most ecologically and numerically dominant groups of animals on the planet. http://phys.org/news285830311.html Biology Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:18:38 EST news285830311 A joint expedition of scientists led by Chapurukha M. Kusimba of The Field Museum and Sloan R. Williams of the University of Illinois at Chicago has unearthed a 600-year-old Chinese coin on the Kenyan island of Manda that shows trade existed between China and east Africa decades before European explorers set sail and changed the map of the world. http://phys.org/news282397926.html Other Sciences Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:52:13 EST news282397926 For decades, archaeologists have struggled with understanding the emergence of a distinct South American civilization during the Late Archaic period (3000-1800 B.C.) in Peru. One of the persistent questions has been the role of agriculture and particularly corn (maize) in the evolution of complex, centralized societies. Up until now, the prevailing theory was that marine resources, not agriculture and corn, provided the economic engine behind the development of civilization in the Andean region of Peru. http://phys.org/news281009284.html Other Sciences Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:00:09 EST news281009284 The Field Museum has acquired six pieces of an extremely important Martian meteorite that was hurled into space about 700,000 years ago when Mars collided with an asteroid. http://phys.org/news279813199.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:53:26 EST news279813199 An international team of scientists has described a fossil marine predator measuring 8.6 meters in length (about 28 feet) recovered from the Nevada desert in 2010 as representing the first top predator in marine food chains feeding on prey similar to its own size. A paper with their description will appear the week of January 7, 2013 in the early electronic issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news276774759.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:08 EST news276774759 (Phys.org)—Scientists found treasure when they studied a meteorite that was recovered April 22, 2012 at Sutter's Mill, the gold discovery site that led to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Detection of the falling meteorites by Doppler weather radar allowed for rapid recovery so that scientists could study for the first time a primitive meteorite with little exposure to the elements, providing the most pristine look yet at the surface of primitive asteroids. http://phys.org/news275229109.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:00:01 EST news275229109 This new study uses model selection methods available only in the last several years and is an excellent example of an emerging revolution in scientific inquiry as new techniques are used to breathe new life into old data. http://phys.org/news273166894.html Biology Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:41:46 EST news273166894 Shifts in exchange patterns provide a new perspective on the fall of inland Maya centers in Mesoamerica approximately 1,000 years ago. This major historical process, sometimes referred to as the "Maya collapse" has puzzled archaeologists, history buffs, and the news media for decades. The new research was published online today in the journal Antiquity. http://phys.org/news256998034.html Other Sciences Wed, 23 May 2012 13:23:59 EST news256998034