The study of “exoplanets,” the sci-fi-sounding name for all planets in the cosmos beyond our own solar system, is a pretty new field. Mainly, exoplanet researchers like those in the […]
University of Kansas
Posted inAstrogeology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Impact events, Plant Biology, Press Release
A Fossil Fruit Shows Ancestors Of Coffee And Potatoes Survived The Cretaceous Extinction
The discovery of an 80-million-year-old fossil plant pushes back the known origins of lamiids to the Cretaceous, extending the record of nearly 40,000 species of flowering plants including modern-day staple […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Rare Fossils Provide A Detailed Picture Of Middle Ordovician Biodiversity
A clutch of marine fossil specimens unearthed in northern Portugal that lived between 470 and 459 million years ago is filling a gap in understanding evolution during the Middle Ordovician […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general)
Did Ancient Supernovae Prompt Human Ancestors To Walk Upright?
A new paper from a University of Kansas researcher suggests bipedalism arose when ancient supernovae caused lightning that burned Earth’s forests and prompted human ancestors to walk upright. Did ancient […]
Posted inImpact events
66-million-year-old Deathbed Linked to Dinosaur-killing Meteor
The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota. Then, tiny glass beads […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Did Supernovae Kill Off Large Ocean Animals at Dawn of Pleistocene?
About 2.6 million years ago, an oddly bright light arrived in the prehistoric sky and lingered there for weeks or months. It was a supernova some 150 light-years away from […]
Posted inMars, Press Release
Looking For Vanadium To Search For Life on Mars
The search for biology on neighbor planet Mars won’t play out like a Hollywood movie starring little green men. Rather, many scientists agree if there was life on the Red […]
Posted inExtinction events, Press Release
Distance at Which Supernova Would Spark Mass Extinctions Increased
In 2016, researchers published “slam dunk” evidence, based on iron-60 isotopes in ancient seabed, that supernovae buffeted the Earth One of these supernovae was about 2.6 million years ago. University […]
Posted inRadiation
Do Solar Events Trigger Birth Defects on Earth?
Studies find airplane crews at high altitude are exposed to potentially harmful levels of radiation from cosmic rays. “Neutrons which don’t reach the ground do reach airline altitude,” said Adrian […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars
Researchers Hone Technique for Finding Signs of Life on Mars
For centuries, people have imagined the possibility of life on Mars. But long-held dreams that Martians could be invaders of Earth, or little green men, or civilized superbeings, all have […]