Articles for Geosphere posted online in April

(Geological Society of America) GSA’s dynamic online journal, Geosphere, posts articles online regularly. Locations and topics studied this month include the Central Anatolian Plateau; the Southern Rocky Mountain Volcanic Field; petrogenesis in the Grand Canyon; and the evolution of the Portland and Tualatin forearc basins, Oregon.

Genome sequencing delivers hope and warning for the survival of the Sumatran rhinoceros

(Stockholm University) A study led by researchers at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm shows that the last remaining populations of the Sumatran rhinoceros display surprisingly low levels of inbreeding. The genomes from 21 modern and historical rhinoceros’ specimens were sequenced to investigate the genetic health in rhinos living today and ones that recently became extinct. With less than 100 individuals remaining, the Sumatran rhinoceros is one of the most endangered mammal species in the world.

Krugman Falsely Claims Miner’s Union Backs Biden’s Anti-Coal Agenda

The New York Times economist Paul Krugman misrepresented a document by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to claim that the union endorsed President Joe Biden’s anti-coal, eco-extremist agenda. Krugman’s latest op-ed cited only a portion of a line…

Wisdom and Loneliness May Be Shaped by Healthy Gut Microbes, Researchers Believe

The evolving science of wisdom rests on the idea that wisdom’s defined traits correspond to distinct regions of the brain, and that greater wisdom translates into greater happiness and life satisfaction while being less wise results in opposite, negative consequences. Scientists have found in multiple studies that persons deemed to be wiser are less prone […]

The post Wisdom and Loneliness May Be Shaped by Healthy Gut Microbes, Researchers Believe appeared first on Good News Network.

Joe Biden: Climate Denier In Chief

In anticipation of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, a two-day global gathering of more than 40 world leaders, President Joe Biden declared that the United States had a “moral imperative” to adopt an “ambitious” goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions…

Did you know? There is a scientific paper written on belly button lint

Chemist Georg Steinhauser collected pieces of belly-button fluff from his navel, recording their colour and weight

Did you know? Marie Curie’s notebooks are still radioactive

Unaware of the effects of radioactivity on the body, Curie and her husband would regularly handle elements without precautions.

What can we learn from vanishing wildlife species: The case of the Pyrenean Ibex

(Pensoft Publishers) The sad history of the Pyrenean Ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica) is a powerful example of species loss due to causes related to human activity. DNA analyses of Pyrenean Ibex found evidence that, after a demographic expansion about 20,000 years ago, its population went through a bottleneck caused by hunting, inbreeding and other factors, which ultimately caused its extinction. Their research is published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Torrential rains drench Hawaii

A strong tropical depression picking up moisture from the ocean caused widespread flooding in the Hawaiian islands.

NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite reveals shape, depth of Antarctic ice shelf fractures

(Penn State) When a block of ice the size of Houston, Texas, broke off from East Antarctica’s Amery Ice Shelf in 2019, scientists had anticipated the calving event, but not exactly where it would happen. Now, satellite data can help scientists measure the depth and shape of ice shelf fractures to better predict when and where calving events will occur, according to researchers.