Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History Archives

Optical microscopy images of six filamentous microfossils. -- Scientific Reports

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Unveiling Ancient Life: New Method Sheds Light On Early Cellular And Metabolic Evolution

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2024September 25, 2024

Fossils don’t always come in large, dinosaur-sized packages. Microfossils refer to a type of fossil that is so small, it can only be perceived with a microscope. These microfossils can […]

Phylogenetic inference using Assembly Theory. A) Algorithmic pipeline for the generation of a phylogenetic tree from MS data using Joint Assembly. Recursive MA is employed to calculate approximated Joint MA indices for single and paired samples, which are used in JAO calculations (see methods). The JAO matrix represents the overlap of joint assembly spaces of samples, which is then transformed into a tree through an inference algorithm (WPGMA). B) Comprison of the assembly-based JAO phylogenetic tree model with the consensual genome-based model. Colors refer to the predefined cladal domains, as in Figures 4, and indicate the cladal cohesiveness of the clustering. Full annotations of the trees are included in Figure 7 and SI. -- q-bio.PE

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Constructing the Molecular Tree of Life using Assembly Theory and Mass Spectrometry

by Keith CowingAugust 21, 2024August 21, 2024

The connected nature of all life on earth, dating back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), has been explored using knowledge of taxonomy and biochemistry, with significant insights enabled […]

PaleoScan assembled at Museu de Paleontologia Plácido Cidade Nuvens in Brazil -- NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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Tricorder Tech: Digitizing Earth’s Fossil Record With Low-cost 3D Scanning

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2024August 13, 2024

Editor’s note: As we begin to expand our search for life to other worlds we are going to need to be economical interms of the equipment we send and how […]

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Life Detection Knowledge Base (LDKB)

by Keith CowingAugust 9, 2024August 9, 2024

Life Detection Knowledge Base (LDKB) is an online, community owned resource to provide knowledge and support discourse about the detection of signs of life.

Home Biology Evolution Home Biology Paleontology & Fossils July 31, 2024 Editors' notes Mass extinction 66 million years ago triggered rapid evolution of bird genomes, study finds by University of Michigan Photograph of a Broad-billed Tody, Todus subulatus, a member of the bird group Coraciimorphae.

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Impact events, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release

Mass Extinction 66 million Years Ago Triggered Rapid Evolution Of Bird Genomes

by Keith CowingAugust 1, 2024August 1, 2024

Shortly after an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, life for non-avian dinosaurs ended, but the evolutionary story for the early ancestors of birds began.

In 2012, Canadian researchers looked at fossils of a estuarine ostracod called Velatomorpha altilis and analysed them for size and shape changes over a 2–3 million-year interval from a portion of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs World Heritage Site in Nova Scotia. Pélabon and his colleagues used fossil data like these for their analysis of microevolutionary forces. This photo shows a fossil ostracod from the Permian period, which is somewhat younger than the ostracods used in the Canadian fossil study, but provides a sense of what these fossils are like. Photo: Wilson44691, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Unlocking The Secrets Of Evolution

by Keith CowingJuly 31, 2024July 31, 2024

Ever since Darwin published his landmark theory of how species evolve, biologists have been fascinated with the intricate mechanisms that make evolution possible.

Amoebidium appalachense cells stained for DNA (in blue, showing the nucleus) and actin (in green), highlighting the cell membranes in the cellularization step of the colony CREDIT Alex de Mendoza

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Ancient Microbes Offer Clues To How Complex Life Evolved

by Keith CowingJuly 26, 2024July 26, 2024

A new study published in Science Advances reveals a surprising twist in the evolutionary history of complex life. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that a single-celled […]

Comparison of methods. Comparison of methods. Left: Machine learning approach. Right: Pipeline of standard image processing methods. More fossils are separated with the machine learning approach. -- Science Direct

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Tricorder Tech: A Novel AI Algorithm For Analyzing Microfossils

by Keith CowingJuly 17, 2024July 7, 2024

Editor’s note: the two large rovers NASA has in operation on Mars utilize AI – or Machine Learning – both on Earth and in some cases inside a rover itself […]

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Ice Planet Update: Digital Twin Of RRS Discovery Shows How Antarctic Research Began

by Keith CowingJuly 8, 2024July 7, 2024

A project led by the University of Southampton has created a ‘digital twin’ of RRS Discovery – the pioneering research vessel that first took explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest […]

This infographic compares the characteristics of three classes of stars in our galaxy: Sunlike stars are classified as G-type stars; stars less massive and cooler than our Sun are K dwarfs; and even fainter and cooler stars are the reddish M dwarfs. The habitable zones, potentially capable of hosting life-bearing planets, are wider for hotter stars. The longevity for red dwarf M stars can exceed 100 billion years. K dwarf ages can range from 15 to 45 billion years. Meanwhile, our Sun only lasts for 10 billion years. The relative amount of harmful radiation (to life as we know it) that stars emit can be 80 to 500 times more intense for M dwarfs relative to our Sun, but only 5 to 25 times more intense for the orange K dwarfs. Red dwarfs make up the bulk of the Milky Way's population, about 73%. Sunlike stars are merely 6% of the population, and K dwarfs are at 13%.-- NASA, ESA and Z. Levy (STScI)

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Exoplanet Host Star Classification: Multi-Objective Optimisation Of Incomplete Stellar Abundance Data

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2024June 25, 2024

The presence of a planetary companion around its host star has been repeatedly linked with stellar properties, affecting the likelihood of sub-stellar object formation and stability in the protoplanetary disc, […]