In a new study published in PLOS Biology, an international research team suggests Scandinavia was populated by two main migrations after the last glacial maximum: an initial migration of groups from the south (modern day Denmark and Germany) and an additional migration from the north-east, following the ice-free Atlantic coast.
Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos archipelago provide an iconic model for the evolution of biodiversity on earth due to natural selection. A team of scientists from Princeton University and Uppsala University now reports that they have observed the origin of a new species. A new lineage was formed by the hybridization of two different species of Darwin’s finches.
Researchers from Uppsala University and others have for the first time determined the full genetic consequences of intense inbreeding in a threatened species. The large-scale genomic study of the Scandinavian wolf population is reported in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from KwaZulu-Natal revealed that southern Africa has an important role to play in writing the history of humankind. A research team from Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, South Africa, presents their results in the September 28th early online issue of Science.
A new species of extinct sea monster from the Early Jurassic has been identified by a team of German and Swedish researchers. The fossilized bones were found in a clay pit near the city of Bielefeld in Germany. The findings will be published in the journal Alcheringa.
The risk for developing obesity is influenced by our lifestyle as well as our genes. In a new study from Uppsala University, researchers show that our genetic risk for obesity is not static, but is influenced by our lifestyle. Results from the study have been published in the scientific journal PLOS Genetics.
Newly discovered human-like footprints from Crete may put the established narrative of early human evolution to the test. The footprints are approximately 5.7 million years old and were made at a time when previous research puts our ancestors in Africa – with ape-like feet.
A previously unrecognized 132 million-year-old fossilized sea monster from northern Germany has been identified by an international team of researchers. Findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Juvenile birds discriminate and selectively learn their own species’ songs even when primarily exposed to the songs of other species, but the underlying mechanism has remained unknown. A new study, by researchers at Uppsala University, shows that song discrimination arises due to genetic differences between species, rather than early learning or other mechanisms.
Epigenetic changes are chemical modifications that turn our genes off or on. In a new study from Uppsala University, researchers show that tea consumption in women leads to epigenetic changes in genes that are known to interact with cancer and estrogen metabolism. The results are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
A new study from Uppsala University in Sweden has indicated that the norm-conscious practices used by teachers at preschools termed “gender-neutral” are associated with reductions in children’s tendencies to make gender-stereotypical assumption. The practices are also associated with children’s increased interest in playing with unfamiliar peers of the opposite sex.
In an article in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, scientists at Uppsala University present a type of low-cost and environmental-friendly organic polymer nano-material as photocatalysts for hydrogen generation, and propose the working mechanism of the photocatalytic reactive site.
Researchers from Uppsala University have studied betacells of type-2 diabetic donors, and find that a mislocalized calcium channel contributes to the failed insulin secretion associated with the disease.
The research article on consumption of microplastics by larval fish that was reported for misconduct in research will be retracted from the journal Science. The researchers behind the study themselves requested to retract the article at the end of last week, following sharp criticism of the study in an opinion from the Central Ethical Review Board.
The history of people and landscapes, whether natural or cultural, is fundamentally connected. Answering key historical questions about this relation will allow us to approach our most important environmental issues in novel ways. Today in the open access journal PLOS ONE archeologists present a list of 50 priority issues for historical ecology.
In a new study published in Nature an international research group led from Uppsala University presents the discovery of a group of microbes that provide new insights as to how complex cellular life emerged. The study provides new details of how, billions of years ago, complex cell types that comprise plants, fungi, but also animals and humans, gradually evolved from simpler microbial ancestors.
A recent study from Uppsala University shows how smartphones can be used to make movies of living cells, without the need for expensive equipment. The study is published in the open access journal PLOS ONE, making it possible for laboratories around the world to do the same thing.
In a new paper, published in Scientific Reports, an international team of researchers has analysed fossils and DNA from living and recently extinct species to show that conservation sensitive Australasian marsupials are much older than previously thought.
In a new study, an international team of researchers made significant progress in visualizing the process how plants split water to produce oxygen. The results are published in Nature.
Since the 18th century, geologists have struggled to explain how big magma chambers form in the Earth’s crust. In particular, it has been difficult to explain where the surrounding rock goes when the magma intrudes. Now a team of researchers from Uppsala University and the Goethe University in Frankfurt have found the missing rocks – and they look nothing like what they expected.