The post How do paleontologists reconstruct environments from the ancient past? appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

See our ancient ancestors come to life through paleoartist John Gurche’s realistic human likenesses for the Smithsonian’s Hall of Human Origins. “The human story is […]

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At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, curator of arachnids and myriapods Hannah Wood has examined and analyzed hundreds of pelican spiders both in the field […]

The post Pelican spiders: Ancient assassins that eat their own kind appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recent analysis using DNA sequencing of ancient Roman pills found aboard a ship that sank in Italy’s Gulf of Baratti between 140 -120 B.C, has revealed that the medicines consist of material from simple garden plants, namely carrot, radish, parsley, celery, wild onion and cabbage.

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Nearly 60 million years ago rainforests prospered at temperatures that were 3-5 degrees higher and at atmospheric carbon dioxide levels 2.5 times today’s levels.

The post Plant diversity in tropical forests increased during ancient global warming event appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

People living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorn 2,000 years earlier than previously reported and before ceramic pottery was used there, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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The post Smithsonian paleobotanist Scott Wing discusses ancient global warming & what it portends for the future appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A new genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-caused climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out.

The post Warming climate unlikely to cause near-term extinction of ancient Amazon trees, study says appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

An ancient new player has entered the debate over global warming and it is pink. Labrador fishermen call them “red rocks” because underwater they resemble […]

The post Ancient algal ‘tree rings’ show dramatic decline in Arctic and sub-Arctic sea ice appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

If you’ve seen the movie Jurassic Park, you know that amber played a significant role in rebuilding a lost world: A mosquito trapped within its […]

The post Resin from shipwreck hints at trade routes and botany of ancient Asia appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

For more than 120 years the Venus Table of the Dresden Codex -- an ancient Mayan book containing astronomical data -- has been of great interest to scholars around the world. The accuracy of its observations, especially the calculation of a kind of 'leap year' in the Mayan Calendar, was deemed an impressive curiosity used primarily for astrology.

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A team of psychologists, kinesiologists and archaeologists at Indiana University and elsewhere are throwing new light on a longstanding archaeological mystery: the purpose of a large number of spherical stone artifacts found at a major archaeological site in South Africa.

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Millions of years ago, Africa's savannas were covered with thick, ancient forests, which disappeared and turned into the grassy ecosystems that they are today.

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An international team of scientists has described a rare fossil site that is believed to be among the earliest evidence of different fish species using a common nursery -- much like ones utilized by some fish today.

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Quasars are supermassive black holes that sit at the center of enormous galaxies, accreting matter. They shine so brightly that they are often referred to as beacons and are among the most-distant objects in the universe that we can currently study. New work from a team led by Carnegie's Eduardo Bañados has discovered 63 new quasars from when the universe was only a billion years old. (It's about 14 billion years old today.)

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Antarctica's melting glaciers launched so many icebergs into the ocean 14,600 years ago that sea level rose 6.5 feet in just 100 years.

From N.H. to Nova Scotia, Ancient forests emerge only during rare periods of extreme low tide.

An ancient, two-sided amulet uncovered in Cyprus contains a 59-letter inscription that reads the same backward as it does forward.

A Chinese statue of a Buddha has revealed a hidden surprise: The mummified remains of a monk who lived nearly 1,000 years ago.

Roughly a third of all scanned mummies contained no body inside.

Many animals have been found buried with the same level of care as humans, suggesting a deep bond between humans and animals.

2,500-year-old stone slab could offer clues to deciphering the lost language and religion of the Etruscans.

The spells are written in a mysterious language, but a few names of demons could be deciphered.

Archaeologists conducting digital surveys below the surface of St. Nicholas Church have discovered an untouched temple.

Artifacts uncovered at the bottom of Lake Titicaca show this religion pre-dated the Incas by 500 years.

While younger trees were left shattered by the hurricane, this iconic oak dubbed The Big Tree stood tall.

The European Music Archaeology Project's 'Archaeomusica: The Sounds and Music of Ancient Europe' givers visitors an idea of Europe's old sounds.

When the ocean rose up and saved a Greek town from a marauding Persian army nearly 1,500 years ago, renowned Greek historian Herodotus chalked it up to an act o

An ancient tsunami in a Swiss lake triggered by an Alpine landslide suggests that cities now on the lake's shore may face dangers more commonly associated with

This century's deadly tsunamis kicked off an intense search for buried clues to prehistoric killer waves along Alaska's southern shores.

The 50,000-year-old, perfectly preserved forest is showcased like never before in a newly released documentary.

The 100-million-year-old sandstone slab of 70 mammal and dinosaur tracks from the Cretaceous period is one of the rarest ever discovered.

A paper hypothesizes that some of our language skills evolved out of specific cave art features.

Triassic fossils found on lands that were previously part of Bears Ears National Monument could fall under 'multiple-use' management.

These volcanic seamounts are rich with life and are estimated to be at least 30 million years old, formed when Australia and Antarctica broke apart.

Researchers uncover the remnants of lost continents hidden under the ice sheets of Antarctica.

Researchers have unearthed fossils of an extinct spider family that contain reflective material in the eyes that gave them superior night vision.

Just like 'Jurassic Park,' except with flowers instead of dinosaurs.

The Earth's mountains, rivers, animals and rocks have been around for millions or billions of years. Do you know which ones have been around the longest?

This book with blessings from many cultures and religions will make practicing gratitude for food, family and friends a renewed experience.

'If you see me, weep,' reads one of these so-called 'hunger stones.'

The sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient tool for finding primes, but it might get a boost by modern computing.

While the Mars Curiosity rover sports state-of-the-art equipment, much of that machinery is bound to its body by a simple network of knots.

Ancient Mars featured flowing rivers and sizable lakes — but that doesn't mean the Red Planet definitely could have supported life.

The medicinal soil called "healing soil" has been found to contain powerful antibiotics that kill superbugs.

Researchers say the giant tsunami occured in the Cape Verde Islands 73,000 years ago.

Researchers studying fossilized bivalves discovered evidence of a one-two punch of cataclysmic climate change.

The clones come from trees that were larger than any alive today.

On the heels of a failed COP15, one story reminds me of the importance of media in the fight to save our planet.