Lysosomes are small compartments inside cells that break down and recycle biological materials. Once regarded mainly as cellular waste-disposal centers, lysosomes are now understood to be important signaling hubs for calcium and sodium ions. Through these signals, they help regulate intracellul...
A 113-million-year-old marine murder mystery may finally be solved. Using chemical clues locked inside microscopic fossils, Northwestern University scientists found evidence that ocean acidification drove one of the largest extinction events in the history of planktic foraminifera—tiny shell-bui...
Sea-surface salinity, the concentration of dissolved salts in the upper layer of the ocean, is much more than a measure of how salty the sea is. It responds rapidly to changes in rainfall, evaporation, river discharge and, specifically in polar regions, the melting and formation of sea ice. Sal...
Before rain falls, the moisture that forms it may have traveled anywhere from just a few kilometers to hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. It usually begins as water that evaporated from oceans, lakes, forests or fields. According to a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters,...
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have recovered and analyzed the first ancient smallpox virus genomes ever identified in the Americas, providing the strongest direct evidence to date that the disease was introduced through European colonization.
Until the Panamanian isthmus formed about 2. 8 million years ago, North and South America were isolated continents with unique groups of animals. A riot of marsupials—mammals with brood pouches—and sloths in the south contrasted with camels, horses, pronghorn antelopes and saber-toothed cats in ...