News tagged with geologic history

Darwin's theory of gradual evolution not supported by geological history, scientist concludes

Charles Darwin's theory of gradual evolution is not supported by geological history, New York University Geologist Michael Rampino concludes in an essay in the journal Historical Biology. In fact, Rampino notes that a more ...

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 09, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (38) | comments 477 | with audio podcast

Arctic ice at low point compared to recent geologic history

Less ice covers the Arctic today than at any time in recent geologic history. That's the conclusion of an international group of researchers, who have compiled the first comprehensive history of Arctic ice.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jun 02, 2010 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (23) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Messenger orbital data confirm theories, reveal surprises

On March 18, 2011, the MESSENGER spacecraft entered orbit around Mercury to become that planet's first orbiter. The spacecraft's instruments are making a complete reconnaissance of the planet's geochemistry, ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 16, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 24 | with audio podcast

Mercury's surprising core and landscape curiosities

(PhysOrg.com) -- On March 17, the tiny MESSENGER spacecraft completed its primary mission to orbit and observe the planet Mercury for one Earth-year. The bounty of surprises from the mission has completely ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Geologists discover new class of landform -- on Mars

(PhysOrg.com) -- An odd, previously unseen landform could provide a window into the geological history of Mars, according to new research by University of Washington geologists.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 47 | with audio podcast

The Moon puts on camo

A new geologic map of the moon's Schrodinger basin paints an instant, camouflage-colored portrait of what a mash-up the moon's surface is after eons of violent events. The geologic record at Schrödinger is ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 30, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Whales in the desert: Fossil bonanza poses mystery

(AP) -- More than 2 million years ago, scores of whales congregating off the Pacific Coast of South America mysteriously met their end.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Nov 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 8

Fossil find fills in picture of ancient marine life

Paleontologists have discovered a rich array of exceptionally preserved fossils of marine animals that lived between 480 million and 472 million years ago, during the early part of a period known as the Ordovician. ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 13, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New explanation for the origin of high species diversity

An international team of scientists have reset the agenda for future research in the highly diverse Amazon region by showing that the extraordinary diversity found there is much older than generally thought.

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 11, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New Ice Age maps point to climate change patterns

(PhysOrg.com) -- New climate maps of the Earth’s surface during the height of the last Ice Age support predictions that northern Australia will become wetter and southern Australia drier due to climate change.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jan 19, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (10) | comments 3

Chemistry on Mars reveals cooling rate

(PhysOrg.com) -- French researchers from the University of Toulouse have published a paper in Nature, that describes how they used data from NASA's Mars Odyssey (currently orbiting the planet) to ascertain the am ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 07, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

The three ages of Mars

There is no place on Earth that is a perfect copycat of Mars as it is now, or as it was at any specific point in the past. But scientists suggest Earth has little versions of Mars as it might have been over ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 10, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Climate played big role in Vikings' disappearance from Greenland

The end of the Norse settlements on Greenland likely will remain shrouded in mystery. While there is scant written evidence of the colony's demise in the 14th and early 15th centuries, archaeological remains ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 30, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Reservoirs of ancient lava shaped Earth

Geological history has periodically featured giant lava eruptions that coat large swaths of land or ocean floor with basaltic lava, which hardens into rock formations called flood basalt. New research from Matthew Jackson ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jul 27, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Polar dinosaur tracks open new trail to past

Paleontologists have discovered a group of more than 20 polar dinosaur tracks on the coast of Victoria, Australia, offering a rare glimpse into animal behavior during the last period of pronounced global warming, about 105 ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Aug 09, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast