Lake Hillier: Pink Australian lake gets its colour from red and purple microbes

DNA sequencing has revealed that a bright pink lake on an island off Western Australia gets its colour from a mix of salt-loving bacteria and algae Earth 10 March 2022 By Alice Klein Aerial view of Lake Hillier, Australia Tourism Western Australia The unusual bubblegum pink colour of a remote lake in Western Australia has … Read more

The First Explosion of Life on Earth Made an Impact Deep Under The Surface

The Cambrian Explosion – around 541 million years ago – was when life and organisms really got going on planet Earth. Now new research has revealed how that explosion of life has left behind traces deep within Earth’s mantle.   For scientists, it shows the connected interplay between Earth’s surface and what lies beneath, as … Read more

Scientists Can Now Trace Earth’s History in Individual Grains of Sand

Grains of sand on a beach can tell us more than you might think about the history of the planet, new research reveals – something to think about the next time you’re heading to the coast for a swim or splash around.   Scientists have developed a new metric to determine what they call the … Read more

T. Rex May Have Actually Been 3 Species, According to a Close Look at The Bones

A towering colossus and predatory beast, the comically tiny-armed Tyrannosaurus rex is perhaps the most iconic of all prehistoric predators. Its place in the popular imagination is mirrored in academia, with researchers investigating everything from how it walked, to how it mated, to how many there even were.   Despite abundant research into the genus Tyrannosaurus, all adult … Read more

DNA Shed by Deep-Sea Organisms Reveals a Dark Abyss Teeming With Tiny Life Forms

Sweeping the ocean floor at hundreds of points throughout the world, researchers have revealed an astonishing diversity of microscopic life thriving in the deepest and darkest parts of our planet.   The sediment collected at each spot was analyzed for environmental DNA (eDNA), which marine animals shed as they go about their lives. While sea … Read more

A Cosmic Airburst May Have Devastated a Vast Native American Culture 1,500 Years Ago

More than 1500 years ago, a vast culture known as the Hopewell tradition (or Hopewell culture) stretched across what is today the eastern United States.  The cause of the culture’s decline has long been debated, with war and climate change two of the possibilities, but now a new avenue of inquiry has opened up: debris from a … Read more