Human aerial bombardments might have pushed Neanderthals to extinction, suggests new research. Changes in bone shape left by a life of overhand throwing hint that Stone Age humans regularly threw heavy objects, such as stones or spears, while Neanderthals did not.

"The anatomically modern humans would have this more effective and efficient form of hunting," says […]

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Scientists announced Wednesday the discovery of a previously unidentified nearby source of high-energy cosmic rays. The finding was made with a NASA-funded balloon-borne instrument high over Antarctica.

Researchers from the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) collaboration, led by scientists at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, published the results in the Nov. 20 issue of the journal […]

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The health threat to city dwellers posed by Southern California wildfires like those of November 2008 may have been underestimated by officials.

Detailed particulate analysis of the smoke produced by previous California wild fires indicates that the composition posed more serious potential threats to health than is generally realized, according to a new paper analyzing particulate […]

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View from Portsdown Hill’ by William Daniell, 1824. This view looks across an open vista of creeks and islnds before the expansion of 19th century development. In the mid-distance is Porchester Castle with the Solent and the Isle of Wight beyond. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Portsmouth)

Paintings, watercolours and prints can be used by […]

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Engineers from the University of Zaragoza have developed an algorithm that can optimise hybrid electricity generation systems through combined use of renewable energies, such as photovoltaic and wind power, and non-renewables, such as diesel. Their study, published online in the magazine Renewable Energy, envisions storing the energy in batteries or hydrogen tanks.

The objective of this […]

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Images from NASA satellites give a wider perspective of the full extent and devastation of the wildfires raging in Southern California.

Gusty winds drove wildfires into southern California cities in mid-November 2008. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the Los Angeles metropolitan area on November 16, 2008. (Credit: […]

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The distribution of atmospheric water vapor, a significant greenhouse gas, varies across the globe. During the summer and fall of 2005, this visualization shows that most vapor collects at tropical latitudes, particularly over south Asia, where monsoon thunderstorms swept the gas some 2 miles above the land. (Credit: NASA)

Water vapor is known to be Earth’s […]

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Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe’s big river systems, according to a recently held workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF). This finding provides important clues for protecting Europe’s rivers against a combined onslaught from human development and climate change, which are tampering with existing ecosystems […]

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Freshwater tidal wetland at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Credit: iStockphoto/Andrea Gingerich)

A new study led by Duke University researchers finds that restoring degraded wetlands — especially those that had been converted into farm fields — actually decreases their soil bacterial diversity.

But that’s a good thing, say the study’s authors, because it marks […]

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A hidden network of glacial lakes far below the Antarctic surface regulates the motion of the continent’s ice rivers, a study has found. When the subglacial lakes overflow, the ice above accelerates towards the ocean.

"It’s like putting in a squirt of oil," says Andy Smith of the British Antarctic Survey, who was not involved in […]

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