5,200-year-old grains in the eastern Altai Mountains redate trans-Eurasian crop exchange
(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) Cereals from the Fertile Crescent and broomcorn millet from northern China spread across the ancient world, integrating into complex farming systems that used crop-rotation cycles enabled by the different ecological regions of origin. The resulting productivity allowed for demographic expansions and imperial formation in Europe and Asia. In this study, an international, interdisciplinary team of scientists illustrate that people moved these crops across Eurasia earlier than previously realized, adapting cultivation methods for harsh agricultural environments.
Making the mouse gut microbiome more human-like
Researchers find that when rodents are prevented from consuming feces, their small-intestine microbiota more closely resembles the microbial communities found in human intestines.
How a Trillion Trees Triumphed Over Trump’s Climate Denialism – The New York Times
WASHINGTON — People warned Marc Benioff, the billionaire chief executive of Salesforce, not to bother talking to the White House about global warming. But Mr. Benioff, a tech mogul and environmental philanthropist, felt sure he had found a climate change…
Study: One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years
(University of Arizona) University of Arizona researchers studied recent extinctions from climate change to estimate the loss of plant and animal species by 2070. Their results suggest that as many as one in three species could face extinction unless warming is reduced.
Arctic Permafrost Thawing Will Double Previous Carbon Emissions Estimates
A new study shows that the abrupt thawing of the Arctic permafrost will double previous estimates of potential carbon emissions — carbon that was once frozen in the permafrost ice. In fact, it is already changing the landscape and ecology of the circumpolar north
‘Rule breaking’ plants may be climate change survivors
Plants that break some of the ‘rules’ of ecology by adapting in unconventional ways may have a higher chance of surviving climate change, according to researchers.
Scientists warn humanity about worldwide insect decline
(University of Helsinki) Insect declines and extinctions are accelerating in many parts of the world. With this comes the disappearance of irreplaceable services to humans, the consequences of which are unpredictable. A group of scientists from across the globe has united to warn humanity of such dangers.
Feeding bluebirds might help them in a surprising way
Bluebirds mainly eat insects, so they often show little interest in backyard bird feeders — unless you’re serving mealworms. There are potential pros and cons with feeding wild birds, but if it’s done right, it can provide a valuable boost…
Waterbug from European rivers found in the Iberian Peninsula
(University of Barcelona) Aphelocheirus aestivalis, a waterbug found in mid and high sections of well-oxygenated and preserved rivers in the European continent, has been found for the first time in Catalonia (Spain) — specifically in rivers Ter and Llobregat- according to an article published in the journal Limnetica. This discovery confirms the presence of this insect from the Aphelocheiridae family in the Iberian Peninsula and enables the incorporation of a new family of Heteroptera in the Catalan fauna.
First childhood flu helps explain why virus hits some people harder than others
Why are some people better able to fight off the flu than others? Part of the answer, according to a new study, is related to the first flu strain we encounter in childhood.
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