ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of otter from 11.4-million-year-old strata at the Hammerschmiede fossil site.

Scientists have researched the stability and development of landscapes in the Wendland region of Hanover during the past Eemian Interglacial (warm period) around 120,000 years ago. The Eemian is climatically comparable to predictions for the later 21st century. The basic research therefore serves to understand how landscapes respond to climate changes under natural conditions -- without additional human influence. As part of their investigations, the researchers also found evidence of the northernmost Neanderthal occupation of the last warm period to date.

Archaeologists have long had a dating problem. The radiocarbon analysis typically used to reconstruct past human demographic changes relies on a method easily skewed by radiocarbon calibration curves and measurement uncertainty. And there's never been a statistical fix that works -- until now.

In their roughly 3.5 billion years on Earth, bacteria have fine-tuned the art of colonizing all kinds of habitats, from the inner lining of digestive tracts to the blistering hot waters of geysers. But in their quest for world domination, bacteria face a critical snag when moving across diverse environments -- preserving their navigational apparatus.