Droughts in the sixth century paved the way for Islam

Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. Researchers from the University of Basel have reported these findings in the journal Science. Combined with political unrest ...

Evidence of the amino acid tryptophan found in space

Using data from the Spitzer space observatory, Dr. Susana Iglesias-Groth, a researcher from The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has found evidence for the existence of the amino acid tryptophan in the interstellar ...

Hubble's multi-wavelength view of recently released Webb image

Patches of bright pink and wisps of dark red paint the foreground of this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NGC 5068 is a barred spiral galaxy with thousands of star-forming regions and large quantities of interstellar ...

Study addresses causes of eye color variation in primates

Have you ever wondered why some people have lighter eyes than others? Differences in iris coloration have traditionally been explained as a result of sexual selection, but a recent study led by researchers from the Department ...

Here's looking at you, fellow!

(PhysOrg.com) -- Already Charles Darwin investigated facial expressions of monkeys in order to find out how closely related humans and monkeys really are. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics ...

Small evolutionary shifts make big impacts, study finds

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the developing fetus, cell growth follows a very specific schedule. In the eye's retina, for example, cones -- which help distinguish color during the day -- develop before the more light-sensitive rods ...

Shedding light on the senses fish use for navigation

(Phys.org) —New research conducted at Queen's University has discovered that polarized light vision, which is used for navigation and orientation by rainbow trout, changes with age.