A new study at the University of Chicago has shown that elaborate protein structures accumulate over deep time even when they serve no purpose, because a universal biochemical property and the genetic code force natural selection ...
Evolution
Dec 9, 2020
3
4715
Most biological processes are carried out by complexes of multiple proteins that work together to carry out some function. How these complicated structures could have evolved is one of modern biology's great puzzles, because ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 20, 2020
1
203
The question over how Homo antecessor, the earliest known hominin species in Europe, is related to other Homo species and where it sits on the evolutionary tree has been much debated. Although genetic data and fossil records ...
Archaeology
May 8, 2020
1
395
If you were to believe newspapers and dietary advice leaflets, you'd probably think that doctors and nutritionists are the people guiding us through the thicket of what to believe when it comes to food. But food trends are ...
Environment
Dec 10, 2019
2
208
By using ancient protein sequencing, researchers have retrieved genetic information from a 1.9 million year old extinct, giant primate that used to live in a subtropical area in southern China. The genetic information allows ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 13, 2019
12
5767
Solving a decades-old mystery, Stanford researchers have discovered proteins that enable hardy microbes called archaea to toughen up their membranes when waters are overly warm. Finding these proteins could help scientists ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 7, 2019
0
103
Researchers have found the earliest direct evidence of milk consumption anywhere in the world in the teeth of prehistoric British farmers.
Archaeology
Sep 10, 2019
1
457
One of the tricks you learn hunting dinosaurs in Canada is to look for orange. Dinosaur bones are dull browns, tans, and greys. But in the middle of the drab sandstones of the badlands—a dry landscape where wind and water ...
Archaeology
Jul 26, 2019
2
60
Archeologists once relied solely on artifacts, such as skeletal remains, fossils and pottery sherds, to learn about past species and cultures. Today's scientists can also study ancient proteins to paint a more complete picture ...
Other
May 22, 2019
0
3
A new study suggests that 6000-years-ago people across Europe shared a cultural tradition of using freshwater mussel shells to craft ornaments.
Archaeology
May 7, 2019
0
66
