Supercomputer model simulations reveal cause of Neanderthal extinction

(Institute for Basic Science) IBS climate scientists discover that according to new supercomputer model simulations, only competition between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens can explain the rapid demise of Neanderthals around 43 to 38 thousand years ago.

Green-Energy Crime: Endangered Red Kite Blocking Wind Farm Found Shot Dead

Red kites and wind power just do go well together. These predatory birds can find good prey, especially where farmers mow meadows or plow fields. Lethal are cases such as the one in Baden-Württemberg, where areas with green fodder have…

Neanderthals were choosy about making bone tools

Evidence continues to mount that the Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago, were more sophisticated people than once thought. A new study shows that Neanderthals chose to use bones from specific animals to make a tool for specific purpose: working hides into leather.

Harpoons Are Silenced: Iceland’s Whaling Boats Spend Second-Straight Season Tied Up in Port

Iceland’s two whaling companies have cancelled hunting for a second straight year as demand drops and the COVID-19 pandemic poses difficulties.

The post Harpoons Are Silenced: Iceland’s Whaling Boats Spend Second-Straight Season Tied Up in Port appeared first on Good News Network.

Don't blame bats for their zoonotic viruses

Bats have an image problem even when they aren’t linked to a pandemic. Some people resent them for occasionally inhabiting attics and chimneys, for example, while others just typecast them as spooky or dangerous. As the novel coronavirus rampages around…

Even 400,000 years ago, the loss of animal species took a toll on humans

When animals go extinct, humans pay a price in more ways than one. In fact, research published recently in the journal Time and Mind, suggests even our ancient ancestors missed a species they hunted when it disappeared or migrated elsewhere….

Scientists explore links between genetics, gut microbiome and memory

Scientists have traced the molecular connections between genetics, the gut microbiome and memory in a mouse model bred to resemble the diversity of the human population. Researchers identified lactate, a molecule produced by all species of one gut microbe, as a key memory-boosting molecular messenger.

Global warming warps Arctic wildlife | News – The Times

The Arctic Ocean may be changing faster than any other sea, with global warming causing surges in killer whales and salmon but threatening polar bears and seals, scientists have said. The decline in sea ice and shifts in currents are…

Diverse livelihoods helped resilient Levänluhta people survive a climate disaster

A multidisciplinary research group dated the bones of dozens of Iron Age residents of the Levänluhta site in Finland, and studied the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. The results provide an overview of the dietary habits based on terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems, as well as of sources of livelihoods throughout the Levänluhta era.

What are exoplanets?

Exoplanets are worlds orbiting distant stars. The history of our knowledge of exoplanets, the various types of exoplanets, how astronomers find them, and more, here.