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ANCIENT ECOSYSTEM
Before the ice, Antarctica had a rainforest near South Pole: Fossils reveal a 90-million-year-old secretScientists have uncovered remarkable evidence of a rainforest that flourished in Antarctica nearly 90 million years ago, despite the region...
Something is thawing beneath Alaska — and the price tag could be $43 trillionAlaska's tundra holds immense frozen carbon stores which are thawing. This thaw releases greenhouse gases, potentially causing significant ...
90 million years ago, Antarctica had a temperate forest just 900 kilometers from the South Pole despite months of darkness. 90 million years later, scientists found its roots, pollen and spores preserved in seafloor sediment beneath today's frozen continentAncient West Antarctica hosted a temperate rainforest approximately ninety million years ago. Fossil roots and pollen indicate dense vegeta...
The hidden owl war: An invasive owl is conquering ancient forests, putting the threatened northern spotted owl at even greater riskInvasive barred owls are occupying ancient forests vital for northern spotted owls. These aggressive competitors concentrate in the exact h...
Humans built cities, fought wars & watched empires disappear while one tree kept growing: Over 5,000 years old, the world’s oldest tree Methuselah was discovered like thisMethuselah, a venerable bristlecone pine believed to be nearly five millennia old, grows in California’s White Mountains. This extraordinar...
In 1990, Guatemala launched an ambitious mahogany restoration program in Petén to combat deforestation. Years later, it produced Central America's largest natural forest and transformed the province into a global conservation modelGuatemala's 1990 mahogany restoration program changed the future of the country's forests. Instead of losing more rainforest, the Maya Bios...
Amazon trees kept a rainfall diary in their rings; it shows wet seasons grew up to 22% wetter while dry seasons lost up to 13.5% of their rainResearchers have discovered that ancient Amazonian trees provide vital climate information through their annual rings. By examining oxygen ...
Scientists found ants have been running tiny 'Dairy Farms' for 35 million years, and the sweet reward explains whyAnts and aphids share an ancient mutualistic relationship for nourishment and protection. Ants herd aphids, receiving sugary honeydew and p...
Scientists spent 10 years searching for East Asia's tallest tree—what they found was extraordinaryResearchers found East Asia's tallest tree, a Taiwania fir, standing 84.1 meters high. This discovery followed a decade-long scientific exp...
What was so special about Wrangel and St. Paul islands, where Woolly Mammoths survived until their extinction? Scientists revealed the answer two decades agoFor years, scientists believed the last woolly mammoths disappeared because inbreeding and genetic decline made survival impossible. A land...
In 2006, scientists discovered giant Antarctic lakes 4 kilometres below surface that never froze despite brutal cold and could harbor ancient lifeGiant Antarctic lakes discovered: Scientists discovered two giant lakes beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. These lakes are the second and thir...
Ancient Egyptian crocodile mummies reveal surprising secret about a lost species worshipped over 2,000 years agoAncient crocodile mummies from Kom Ombo are revealing new secrets about Egyptian religion. DNA analysis identified a forgotten species, the...
In 1986, Scottish ecologist Alan Watson Featherstone pledged to restore the Caledonian forest; volunteers later helped plant 1 million native treesAlan Watson Featherstone promised to restore Scotland's ancient Caledonian forest in 1986. His initiative, Trees for Life, began planting n...
120-million-year-old footprints reveal colossal dinosaurs turned central Mongolia into a bustling prehistoric crossroadsFossilized footprints from 120 million years ago reveal a busy dinosaur ecosystem in Mongolia. Giant sauropods and large theropods traverse...
A 400-year-old English forest could be sacrificed for stone used in Britain's historic landmarksA woodland in southeast England faces quarrying for building stone. Kent County Council approved a plan to extract stone from Oaken Wood. L...
Dinosaurs dynasty came to end 66 million years ago but reason behind apex predator's extinction on earth may be due to asteroid force more than one billion times the strength of the atomic blasts at Hiroshima, NagasakiSixty-six million years later, the story of the dinosaurs remains one of nature's most dramatic reminders that life on Earth can change sud...
Did violent volcanic eruptions create modern humans? A landmark 2016 study linking the East African Rift Valley to Homo sapiens around 300,000 years ago says they may haveDid violent volcanic eruptions create modern humans? New science says yes. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, massive eruptions shook the ...
At Kenya’s Lake Turkana, 21 ancient footprints from 1.43 million years ago don’t fit the known hominins, and the size clues point in two directionsThe unveiling of 1.43 million-year-old fossilized footprints near Lake Turkana, Kenya, has left researchers in a conundrum. The prints do n...
In 2003, an Iraqi engineer left California to re-flood wetlands Saddam had turned into desert; up to 60% of the ancient marshes later returnedAzzam Alwash embarked on a mission to restore the ravaged Mesopotamian Marshes upon his return to Iraq. By implementing a straightforward p...
Musango matusadonaensis: 210-million-year-old dinosaur challenges what scientists knew about ancient AfricaA new dinosaur species, Musango matusadonaensis, was discovered in Zimbabwe approximately 210 million years ago. This early sauropodomorph ...