Two algal species share important genes with all modern land plants, a new analysis finds.
Author: CARL ZIMMER
Humans Shipped an Awful Cargo Across the Seas: Cancer
A cancer afflicting mussels originated off the Pacific coast of Canada, but then crossed into other species in Europe and South America.
Birds Are Vanishing From North America
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion, or 29 percent, over the past half-century, scientists find.
In the Ethiopian Mountains, Ancient Humans Were Living the High Life
Humans may have inhabited sites at high elevations far earlier than once believed, a new study suggests.
A Skull Bone Discovered in Greece May Alter the Story of Human Prehistory
The bone, found in a cave, is the oldest modern human fossil ever discovered in Europe. It hints that humans began leaving Africa far earlier than once thought.
Wired Bacteria Form Nature’s Power Grid: ‘We Have an Electric Planet’
Electroactive bacteria were running current through “wires” long before humans learned the trick.
Who Were the Ancestors of Native Americans? A Lost People in Siberia, Scientists Say
Genetic analysis of ancient teeth and bones suggests Native Americans largely descend from a vanished group called the Ancient Paleo-Siberians.
Matter: Denisovan Jawbone Discovered in a Cave in Tibet
Until now, fossils of the ancient human species had been found in just one Siberian cave. The discovery suggests that Denisovans roamed over much of Asia.
Matter: An Ancient Human Species Is Discovered in a Philippine Cave
Archaeologists in Luzon Island have turned up the bones of a distantly related species, Homo luzonensis, further expanding the human family tree.
Matter: The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought
As a threat to wildlife, an amphibian fungus has become “the most deadly pathogen known to science.”