Science Advances

New research by scientists from ETH Zurich, the University of Cambridge and the University of Science and Technology of China shows that large closed-basin lakes can combine high concentrations of phosphorus at steady state with extremely high rates of biological productivity.

Was the rise of humanity simply a matter of luck? A new theory says no, that we - and perhaps other intelligent life - are the probable outcome of evolution. The post A bold new theory of intelligent life and origin of humanity first appeared on EarthSky.

A new study finds that rat infestation in many of the world's cities appears to be soaring, especially in Washington

The abundant phytoplankton Prochlorococcus shed extra compounds into their surroundings, which are then taken up by other organisms, MIT researchers have found. This "cross-feeding" may play a large role in the ocean's capacity to cycle and store carbon.

How did early cells keep themselves distinct while allowing for some amount of exchange?

For the first time ever, researchers have witnessed—in real time and at the molecular-scale—hydrogen and oxygen atoms merge to form tiny, nano-sized bubbles of water.

Paleontologists have used synchrotron X-ray tomography of annual growth increments in the dental cementum of fossil mammals from three faunas across the Jurassic period to map the origin of patterns of mammalian growth patterns.

Earlier this year, an international group of scientists published a paper in ScienceAdvances on the draft genome of the little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis), one of about nine species of extinct flightless birds endemic to Aotearoa (New Zealand). ...

Scientists have identified the main process, called impact vaporization, that formed the moon's atmosphere and continues to sustain it today.

Shortly after an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, life for non-avian dinosaurs ended, but the evolutionary story for the early ancestors of birds began.

According to new research, giant plumes of Saharan dust, transported across the Atlantic Ocean by trade winds, can suppress hurricane formation over the ocean and affect weather in North America.

Amoebidium appalachense, a protist closely related to animals, harbors the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London.

Eyed needles were a new technological innovation used to adorn clothing for social and cultural purposes, marking the major shift from clothes as protection to clothes as an expression of identity.

Footprints made 80,000 years ago and ancient DNA are among the clues that hint at Neanderthals' social and community lives.

Mars has a distinct structure in its mantle and crust with discernible reservoirs, and this is known thanks to meteorites that scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and colleagues have analyzed on Earth.

New research into molten rock 20km below the Earth's surface could help save lives by improving the prediction of volcanic activity.

A special group of molecules, known as peptides, can form more easily under the conditions of space than those found on Earth.

The outbreak of a deadly disease called stony coral tissue loss disease is destroying susceptible species of coral in the Caribbean while helping other, "weedier" organisms thrive—at least for now—according to a new study published in Science Advances.

The origin of life on Earth is still enigmatic, but we are slowly unraveling the steps involved and the necessary ingredients. Scientists believe life arose in a primordial soup of organic chemicals and biomolecules on the early Earth, eventually leading to actual organisms.

Blame it on a smaller orbiting black hole repeatedly punching through the accretion disk.