Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened — how those molecules began replicating — has been one of science’s enduring mysteries. […]
Archive for September, 2013
Biochemists Resurrect ‘Molecular Fossils’: Findings Challenge Assumptions About Origins of Life
September 16th, 2013 
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Ancient Ancestor of Tulip Tree Line Identified
September 15th, 2013 Riffin The modern-day tulip tree, state tree of Indiana as well as Kentucky and Tennessee, can trace its lineage back to the time of the dinosaurs, according to newly published research by an Indiana University paleobotanist and a Russian botanist. The tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipfera, has been considered part of the magnolia family. But David Dilcher […]
Darwin’s Dilemma Resolved: Evolution’s ‘Big Bang’ Explained by Five Times Faster Rates of Evolution
September 14th, 2013 Riffin A new study led by Adelaide researchers has estimated, for the first time, the rates of evolution during the “Cambrian explosion” when most modern animal groups appeared between 540 and 520 million years ago. The findings, published online today in the journal Current Biology, resolve “Darwin’s dilemma”: the sudden appearance of a plethora of modern […]
The Final Nail in the Jurassic Park Coffin? Next Generation Sequencing Reveals Absence of DNA in Sub-Fossilized Insects
September 13th, 2013 Riffin It is hardly possible to talk about fossil insects in amber without the 1993 movie Jurassic Park entering the debate. The idea of recreating dinosaurs by extracting DNA from insects in amber has held the fascination of the public for two decades. Claims for successful extraction of DNA from amber up to 130 million-years-old by […]
How Ancient Crocodiles Flourished During the Age of the Dinosaurs?
September 11th, 2013 Riffin New research has revealed the hidden past of crocodiles, showing for the first time how these fierce reptiles evolved and survived in a dinosaur dominated world. While most modern crocodiles live in freshwater habitats and feed on mammals and fish, their ancient relatives were extremely diverse — with some built for running around like dogs […]
Beneath Earth’s Surface, Scientists Find Long ‘Fingers’ of Heat
September 9th, 2013 Riffin Scientists seeking to understand the forces at work beneath the surface of Earth have used seismic waves to detect previously unknown “fingers” of heat, some of them thousands of miles long, in Earth’s upper mantle. Their discovery, published Sept. 5 in Science Express, helps explain the “hotspot volcanoes” that give birth to island chains such […]
Rare Fossil Ape Cranium Discovered in China
September 8th, 2013 Riffin A team of researchers has discovered the cranium of a fossil ape from Shuitangba, a Miocene site in Yunnan Province, China. The juvenile cranium of the fossil ape Lufengpithecus is significant, according to team member Nina Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Penn State. Jablonski noted that juvenile crania of apes and hominins are extremely […]
Feathery Four-Winged Dinosaur Fossil Found In China Bridges Transition To Birds
September 7th, 2013 Riffin A fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings has been discovered in northeastern China. The specimen bridges a critical gap in the transition from dinosaurs to birds, and reveals new insights into the origin evolution of feathers. The transition from dinosaurs to birds is poorly understood because of the lack of well-preserved fossils, and […]
525 Million Years Old Fossil Of Sea Creature –Shows Soft Parts of Body Including Tentacles
September 7th, 2013 Riffin Researchers from China, Leicester and Oxford have discovered a remarkable fossil which sheds new light on an important group of primitive sea creatures. The 525-million-year-old fossil belongs to a group of tentacle-bearing creatures which lived inside hard tubes. Previously only the tubes have been seen in detail but this new specimen clearly shows the soft […]
Study Reveals Terror Bird “Gastornis” Was Probably a Herbivore
September 6th, 2013 Riffin It’s a fiercely debated question amongst palaeontologists: was the giant ‘terror bird’, which lived in Europe between 55 to 40 million years ago, really a terrifying predator or just a gentle herbivore? New research presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Florence today (Thursday 29th August) may finally provide an answer. A team of German researchers […]
