Biology on EARTH Magazine

Archaeologists hit pay dirt in medieval latrines

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:27:26 -0500

Archaeologists digging in Lübeck, Germany, unearthed an unusual source of information about past dietary habits in the city: parasite eggs recovered from 700-year-old latrines.

Researchers excavated fecal samples dating from the 12th through the 17th centuries from latrines in eight medieval houses in the city, which was a busy Baltic Sea trading port in the Middle Ages. Using microscopic techniques and analyses of preserved DNA, they identified parasitic worms in the samples. While they found high counts of roundworm eggs in samples spanning the roughly 500-year period studied, there was a notable shift in the presence of eggs from different types of tapeworms, the team reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Skate eggs found on hydrothermal vents

Tue, 01 May 2018 16:25:23 -0400

A skate egg case found near hydrothermal vents in the Galápagos spreading center. Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust.

In July 2016, a team of scientists came upon a surprise 1,660 meters beneath the ocean’s surface near the Galápagos Islands: a clutch of yellow eggs, laid by a Pacific white skate, a cousin of rays and sharks. It was not the eggs themselves that surprised the team, but where they were found: near a volcanic hydrothermal vent. The large number of eggs at the site led the team to suggest that the skate was likely using the vent’s heat to incubate the eggs.

Geomedia: Books: "Half-Earth" is only half-compelling

Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:14:31 -0500

"Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life," Edward O. Wilson, Liveright, 2017 (paperback), ISBN-13: 978-1631492525

Edward O. Wilson, professor emeritus and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard, is a scientist of acclaim and renown, a naturalist and experimentalist who has made astounding discoveries about the natural world. These discoveries range from small details about ant communication to much larger ideas related to sociobiology, the co-evolution of genes and culture, island biogeography and biophilia, for example. His work is widely known, in large part, because he’s a talented and prolific writer, and he has twice won the Pulitzer Prize.

Stable isotopes offer novel methods of disease detection

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 16:38:41 -0500

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson holds the American record for the longest cumulative time spent in space at 665 days. Bone loss is a serious concern for space travelers — in less than half a year, they can lose up to a third of what a nonspace-traveler would expect to lose in a lifetime — so NASA monitors the bone density of astronauts. Credit: NASA.

Astronauts lead dangerous lives. Besides the inherent risks of blastoff, re-entry and space flight, astronauts experience myriad physical changes from spending time in microgravity. They’re frequently monitored for kidney stones, for example, and for muscle and bone loss that result from a prolonged lack of gravity. How to combat the bone deterioration seen during extended time in space is one of the key questions NASA hopes to resolve before sending people on longer missions, such as to Mars.

Down to Earth With: Deep-sea biologist Stace Beaulieu

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 14:10:58 -0400

Stace Beaulieu is a senior research specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Mass., who studies the biology of deep-sea ecosystems, including hydrothermal vents. Credit: Tom Kleindinst, WHOI.

People often find their way to the geosciences after a college class sparks their interest. But not Stace Beaulieu, a senior research specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Mass. — she knew what she wanted to do at age 6. Beaulieu grew up in Florida and spent her childhood snorkeling and reading science magazines with pictures of deep-sea creatures that tantalized her imagination and piqued her curiosity. “I had a one-track mind pretty much from elementary school through grad school — I never changed my mind. I was so excited about learning about what was deeper. I still am today.”

Microbes care about energy efficiency

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 13:48:20 -0400

Researchers found that archaea collected from this hot spring in Yellowstone National Park chose unexpectedly when offered a variety of food sources. Credit: Maximiliano Amenabar.

Microbes live in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, from the crushing depths of deep-sea trenches to scalding geothermal springs. Part of the reason microbes thrive in many different environments is their ability to use a variety of energy sources — including light, organic matter, and inorganic materials like hydrogen, sulfur, and iron — to power the metabolic reactions that allow them to grow and survive.

Two-faced space worm could inform regenerative medicine

Fri, 13 Oct 2017 09:54:06 -0400

An amputated flatworm fragment sent into space spontaneously regrew into an extremely rare double-headed worm. Credit: Junji Morokuma, Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University.

It sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie: Worms sent into space return to Earth with two heads. But it isn’t fiction at all. In a recent study, researchers sent worms with regenerative capabilities — some left whole and some cut into pieces — to the International Space Station (ISS) to study how the worms’ bodies would respond in space and whether their behavior might help efforts to treat human ailments.

Neonicotinoids: Prominent pesticides escape into the environment

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:48:30 -0400

Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

The 1990s was a watershed era in pest control — and, by extension, agriculture — thanks to a particular bit of chemical innovation. With the emergence of a compound called imidacloprid onto the insecticide market, farmers — from those growing rice, corn and other staples, to orchard owners cultivating fruit trees, to backyard gardeners tending vegetable patches — had a powerful new tool with which to combat aphids, beetles, weevils, whiteflies and a host of other insects with a knack for damaging crops.

Six new deep-sea species discovered

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:11:31 -0400

This mineralized deep-sea chimney, named "Jabberwocky" by researchers, is in the early stages of growth and provides habitat for many species near the Longqi hydrothermal vent site. Credit: University of Southampton.

About 2,000 kilometers southeast of Madagascar and 2.8 kilometers below the surface of the Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered six never-before-seen animal species living around deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The creatures were spotted by a remotely operated vehicle during an expedition in 2011 to a site called Longqi, or “Dragon’s Breath,” around which stand mineralized vent chimneys — some more than two stories tall — that are rich in copper and gold. Genetic testing confirmed the novelty of the animals, which include new species of polychaete worms and limpets as well as a previously unknown species of hairy-chested “Hoff” crab, named for actor David Hasselhoff.

Life on land 300 million years earlier than thought

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 11:06:11 -0500

Life emerged on land about 300 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study in Geology by scientists who discovered minerals in 3.22-billion-year-old rocks that they suggest could only have formed with the help of biological processes.

Toad behavior linked to climate change

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 13:39:12 -0400

Endangered Fowler's toads emerge in the spring earlier due to changing climate. Credit: David Green, McGill University.

Fowler’s toads — listed as endangered in Canada — hibernate for eight months to escape harsh winter conditions. They bury themselves up to a meter deep in the sand dunes along the shore of Lake Erie in Long Point, Ontario, which is the northern extent of their range. In May, they emerge at the surface to breed, in response to warmer air temperature and the lunar cycle. But scientists have now found that the toads are emerging earlier in the spring, according to a new study in Global Change Biology.

Benchmarks: September 26, 1991: Crew sealed inside Biosphere 2

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:03:51 -0400

The Biosphere 2 facility was operated as a closed-ecosystem experiment from 1991 to 1993. Various universities have since used it as a research facility, including the University of Arizona, which now maintains it and offers public tours. Credit: ©Omar Bárcena, CC BY-NC 2.0.

It takes about an hour to drive from Tucson, Ariz., to the Biosphere 2 research facility, perched atop a plateau in the Santa Catalina Mountains. Through its glittering glass walls, you can still see the shadowy silhouette of the Brazilian rainforest that grows inside. Indeed, the facility once enclosed numerous small-scale experimental ecosystems — from a swath of swaying savanna to a 700,000-gallon ocean complete with its own coral reef. And, beginning on Sept. 26, 1991, Biosphere 2 enclosed a crew of four men and four women who would call the bubble home for two years.

Counting 'tree' rings in fish skulls provides climate clues

Fri, 29 May 2015 12:56:07 -0400

Most fish have little structures in their skulls that record growth patterns — periods of feast and famine — just like tree rings. Now, scientists are using these structures, called otoliths, to show how fish size may decrease as a result of a changing ocean.