News tagged with modern science

Study finds modern dog breeds genetically disconnected from ancient ancestors

Cross-breeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today's pets, according to a new study led by Durham University.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

'Modern Portfolio Theory' optimizes conservation practices: study

While climate change is likely to alter the spatial distributions of species and habitat types, the nature of those changes is uncertain, making it more difficult for conservationists to implement standard ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

From beaker to bits: Collaboration creates computational model of human tissue

Computer scientists and biologists in the Data Science Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a rare collaboration between the two very different fields to pick apart a fundamental roadblock to ...

Biology / Other

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Four-winged dinosaur's feathers were black with iridescent sheen

A team of American and Chinese researchers has revealed the color and detailed feather pattern of Microraptor, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that lived about 130 million years ago. The non-avian dinosaur's ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Biodegradable transistors -- made from us

Silicon, a semi-conducting element, is the basis of most modern technology, including cellular phones and computers. But according to Tel Aviv University researchers, this material is quickly becoming outdated in an industry ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 07, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Study: Demise of large animals caused by both man and climate change

Past waves of extinctions which removed some of the world's largest animals were caused by both people and climate change, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Their findings were reported today, 05 ...

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Earth's makeup found to be more diverse than previously thought

(PhysOrg.com) -- For most of modern science, researchers have believed that the Earth was primarily made up of enstatite chondrites, a subclass of meteorites. This was because of the similarity of chromium, ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Evidence suggests Neanderthals took to boats before modern humans

(PhysOrg.com) -- Neanderthals, considered either a sub-species of modern humans or a separate species altogether, lived from approximately 300,000 years ago to somewhere near 24,000 years ago, when they inexplicably ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 31 | with audio podcast report

Pulsars: The Universe's gift to physics

Pulsars, superdense neutron stars, are perhaps the most extraordinary physics laboratories in the Universe. Research on these extreme and exotic objects already has produced two Nobel Prizes. Pulsar researchers now are poised ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 47 | with audio podcast

Sustainability scientist to give anthropologist view of globalization at the local scale

The modernization of isolated villages brings about a change in human information flow patterns that not only destroys the social fabric of the community, but also the economy and the landscape, according to Sander van der ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Feb 19, 2012 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Research finds arsenic supply at highest risk

Modern technology depends on reliable supplies of a wide variety of materials, but there is increasing concern about the dependability of those supplies.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Book explores discoveries in cosmology and how our universe could have come from nothing

The earliest philosophers argued that out of nothing, nothing comes (ex nihilo, nihil fit). This ignited intense philosophical and theological debates and invoked challenging questions over the coming centuries. ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 96

Shared genes with Neanderthal relatives not unusual

During human evolution our ancestors mated with Neanderthals, but also with other related hominids. In this week's online edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), researchers from Uppsala Univer ...

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Are Nobels out of step with science?

This year's crop of Nobel prizes has sharpened a sometimes bitter debate as to whether science's top awards should each be limited to just three individuals in an era of collaborative research.

Other Sciences / Other

created Oct 05, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 35

Human-Neanderthal coupling was rare: study

Scientists have shown that modern humans have some traces of genes from Neanderthals, but a study out Monday suggests that any breeding between the two was most likely a rare event.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 12, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 4