We contain microbes so deeply weird they alter the very tree of life
Recent research shows that our bodies are home to microbes unlike anything science has encountered before – some so alien that they are rewriting the tree of life. Image: ibmphoto24
Training the physician of the future
Many argue that the innovations in medical education now being explored at places like UTRGV are on a scale rarely seen. “I think there is something of a medical education revolution occurring at the moment,” says Jane Moore, who teaches obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Oxford in the UK. Image: mallix
Astonishment, skepticism greet fossils claimed to record dinosaur-killing asteroid impact
A fossil site in North Dakota records a stunningly detailed picture of the devastation minutes after an asteroid slammed into Earth about 66 million years ago, a group of paleontologists argue in a paper due out this week. Image: MaropengSA
Story of most murderous people of all time revealed in ancient DNA
The iconic sarsen stones at Stonehenge were erected some 4500 years ago. Within a few centuries the site became a memorial to a vanished people. By then, almost every Briton had been wiped out by incomers. It isn’t clear exactly why they disappeared so rapidly. But a picture of the people who replaced them is emerging. Image: -Jeffrey-
Siberian cave reveals secrets of its mysterious Denisovan inhabitants
Almost a decade ago, researchers sequenced DNA from an ancient bone fragment to reveal that it belonged to a woman from an entirely new group of humans. After years of waiting, we are now getting our first glimpse of the only confirmed home of the Denisovans. Imagine: Katerina Douka
Human or hybrid? The big debate over what a species really is
The lack of consensus on what a species is has big implications for how we think about the natural world and for our efforts to conserve it. What’s more, how we define a species has become a question at the very heart of human identity. Image: Mandy_Jansen
