A genetic investigation has finally tracked down the source of the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine, closing a case that has been up in the air for years. Researchers nailed down the Andes Mountains in South America as the birthplace of Phtytophthora infestans, otherwise known as potato blight or late blight. The pathogen, taking the form of a fungus-like microorganism (oomycete/water mold), has devastated potato and tomato plants throughout history. A new study published in the jou ...read more

A set of leggings with a matching Minnie Mouse shirt, freeze-dried blueberries, a face cream; These seemingly unrelated items shared one toxic trait — they were recalled because they contained a dangerously high level of lead.The Minnie Mouse outfit, for example, used lead paint to print the smiling character onto the shirt and matching daisies onto the pants. Almost 90,000 units were sold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although government bans have reduced lead ...read more

According to a new U.K. study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may have shorter life spans than those without. In this first-of-its-kind study, the authors determined that both men and women saw a drop in life expectancy, and this may be due to limited access to treatments and an overall misdiagnosis of ADHD.   A Shortened Life Expectancy Researchers from the University College London (UCL) analyzed data fro ...read more

“Get me a rewrite,” reporters used to shout into a telephone when they called into a newsroom with changing information. Scientists may now want to yell the same thing — but about how our existing genetic code came to be, according to a study in PNAS. That rewrite could shift our understanding of how life evolved on Earth from its simplest forms, and what it could look like on other planets.How the Genetic Code WorksThat code is both deceptively simple in appearance, but amazingly complica ...read more

In the relentless search to know how the ancestors of humans spread across the world, the latest evidence has revealed that hominins were in Europe at least 1.95 million years ago. Clues on their presence were recently found by researchers at an archaeological site in Romania that could now help explain hominins’ early dispersal out of Africa.A study published in Nature Communications details the prominent find, which predates evidence of hominins previously found at other sites across Europe ...read more

The ability to fly won’t save you from becoming a land predator’s next meal. At least, that’s what one pterosaur may have found out. An international research team recently discovered rare neck vertebrae from a prehistoric flying reptile that was likely bitten by a crocodile-like animal 76 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The team published their recent findings in the Journal of Palaeontology.This rare find could help researchers better understand the predator-prey dynami ...read more

Just because we haven’t found dinosaur bones near the equator doesn’t mean they don’t exist — just that we haven’t looked in the right places.A study modeling the extinct beasts’ evolution, published in Current Biology, points to the earliest dinosaurs establishing themselves near the Earth’s center, then spreading out to other parts of the globe. So far, the oldest known dinosaur fossils — dating back about 230 million years — hail from farther south, including Brazil, Argenti ...read more

One of the last things you'd think could be lost is a volcano. Yet, when we look at the record of volcanic activity, even in the past few hundred years, there are signals that a large eruption occurred ... we just don't have any other evidence of the source of that big blast. Slowly but surely, through geochemical sleuthing, some of those mystery eruptions have been matched up with volcanoes. It turns out that many times, that source is more surprising than anticipated.A recent study in the Proc ...read more

Back in the days of yore, language translation was a highly specialized profession, critical for coordinating diplomacy or international trade. The first bilingual dictionary book, Vocabularius ex quo, was a German-Latin set of words published in 1467, while clay tablets containing lists of works in Sumerian and Akkadian date back as early as 2300 B.C.Language translation has become easier over the years in many cases thanks to the work of linguists and other anthropologists. The development of ...read more

The avian flu continues to circulate in parts of the world, including the U.S., infecting domestic poultry, cattle, and some humans. A study published in Scientific Advances examines how mass vaccination of poultry against H5 subtypes of avian influenza virus (AIV) — including H5N1 and H5N6 — may help to slow the spread of avian influenza, however, in turn, the vaccination may also lead to the virus evolving faster. Understanding Avian Influenza VirusThe H5 virus is a strain of influenza A ...read more