Snakes are familiar, distinctive—and often feared—reptiles. And they've been around for a long time: body fossils found in the UK, Portugal and the US stretch all the way back to the late Jurassic period, about 150 million ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Oct 6, 2023
0
256
In 2020, Oxford-based philosopher Toby Ord published a book called The Precipice about the risk of human extinction. He put the chances of "existential catastrophe" for our species during the next century at 1 in 6.
Environment
Oct 6, 2023
0
16
When an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago, it set off a devastating mass extinction. The dinosaurs (except for a few birds) all died out, along with lots of the mammals. But some small mammals survived, laying the ...
Evolution
Oct 5, 2023
0
204
Amphibians are in trouble and in desperate need of conservation action, according to a new global assessment of the world's amphibian population.
Plants & Animals
Oct 4, 2023
0
13
Around the world, natural history museums hold a treasure trove of knowledge about Earth's animals. But much of the precious information is sealed off to genetic scientists because formalin, the chemical often used to preserve ...
Evolution
Oct 3, 2023
0
143
To help resolve the scientific debate over whether it was a giant asteroid or volcanic eruptions that wiped out the dinosaurs and most other species 66 million years ago, Dartmouth researchers tried a new approach—they ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2023
2
305
Today, 1.2 billion people live in poverty. To lift them out of it, an average of about six tons of raw materials are needed per person and year—in particular minerals, fossil fuels, biomass and metal ores. This is the result ...
Environment
Sep 27, 2023
2
46
Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid the size of San Francisco crashed into a shallow sea off the coast of modern-day Mexico and plunged the world into an extinction event that killed off as much as 75% of life, including ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 27, 2023
0
260
Scientists have for the first time recovered RNA from an extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger, raising hope for the resurrection of animals once thought lost forever, Stockholm University researchers told AFP.
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 26, 2023
1
932
Sixty-six million years ago, the Cretaceous period ended. Dinosaurs disappeared, along with around 90% of all species on Earth. The patterns and causes of this extinction have been debated since paleontology began. Was it ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 26, 2023
1
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