By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s last woolly mammoths, sequestered on an Arctic Ocean island outpost, suffered from serious genetic defects caused by generations of inbreeding that may […]
Science
Digging up the dirt – could soil contain the answer to food shortages?
By Thin Lei Win ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As water shortages, high temperatures and rising greenhouse gas emissions threaten food production, countries around the world are looking somewhere new […]
Scientists reconstruct skeleton of elusive, pre-historic human
By Ari Rabinovitch JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Researchers in Israel say they have reconstructed the skeleton of a pre-historic human from a long-extinct and elusive species using DNA found in the […]
Water found in atmosphere of planet beyond our solar system
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists for the first time have detected water in the atmosphere of an Earth-like planet orbiting a distant star, evidence that a key ingredient for life exists […]
No ‘gay gene’, but study finds genetic links to sexual behaviour
By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – A large scientific study into the biological basis of sexual behaviour has confirmed there is no single “gay gene” but that a complex mix […]
New Zealand measles outbreak prompts travel warning
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand is asking travelers to make sure they are immunised for measles before traveling to its biggest city, Auckland, as the country faces its worst outbreak […]
Gulp! Jurassic mammal was the first one able to eat politely
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A shrew-like primitive mammal that inhabited China 165 million years ago represents a milestone in mammalian evolution, scientists said on Thursday, boasting a key […]
Star orbiting massive black hole lends support to Einstein’s theory
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Observations of light coming from a star zipping in orbit around the humongous black hole at the centre of our galaxy have provided fresh […]
You may be eating a credit card’s worth of plastic each week – study
GENEVA (Reuters) – Plastic pollution is so widespread in the environment that you may be ingesting five grams a week, the equivalent of eating a credit card, a study commissioned […]
China to tighten rules on foreigners using genetic material
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China said on Monday it will tighten regulations on human genetic material, putting checks on the passing of it abroad and insisting that any foreign companies or […]
