To find the first direct evidence of heightened UV radiation during the end-Permian mass extinction, researchers turned to chemical evidence preserved in pollen grains.
pollen
Posted inNews
Ancient Nile Tributary May Have Aided Pyramid Construction
Pollen from sediment cores shows that a now dry channel cutting through Giza was once a flowing waterway that Egyptian pyramid builders could have used to transport supplies.
Posted inFeatures
Fiona Lo: A “Really Long, Convoluted Path” to Health
Lo uses her background in atmospheric sciences to forecast pollen concentrations.
Posted inNews
Chicxulub Impact Changed Tropical Rain Forest Biodiversity Forever
Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid reset most of life on Earth. But without this catastrophic event, the composition of neotropical rain forests wouldn’t be the same.
Posted inNews
Bat Guano Traces Changes in Agriculture and Hurricane Activity
Researchers hiked and rappeled into two caves in Jamaica to collect over 40 kilograms of excrement.
Posted inScience Updates
Eyes in the Sky Improve Pollen Tracking
Physicians, public health officials, and experts in remote sensing and ecology recently met to identify ways that satellites, webcams, and crowdsourced science could help them manage asthma and allergies.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Southern California Climate Change over 100,000 Years
Researchers used a sediment core from a lake in California’s San Bernardino Mountains to track the effect of climate on vegetation, fire, and erosion between about 120,000 and 15,000 years ago.
Posted inNews
Looking for Prehistoric Pollen? Check the Floodplains
A new methodology calculates the soil properties most likely to preserve pollen.
Posted inNews
The Flickering Sky Islands
In the Andes, islands in the sky flicker, and evolution kicks into high gear.
Posted inNews
Google Trends Could Help Scientists Track Allergy Season
Admit it: When your nose starts to run and your eyes itch, you search Google, too.