A changing climate, growing human populations and widespread fires contributed to the last major extinction event − can we prevent another?

New findings from the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California suggest human-caused wildfires in the region, along with a warming climate, led to the loss of most of the area’s large mammals.

Regan E. Dunn, Adjunct Professor of Earth Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences • conversation
Aug. 17, 2023 • ~8 min

Bringing Stone Age genomic material back to life

Scientific breakthroughs will enable exploration of Earth’s biochemical past, with hopes of discovering new therapeutic molecules.

Christy DeSmith • harvard
May 4, 2023 • ~6 min

Reconstructing ancient bacterial genomes can revive previously unknown molecules – offering a potential source for new antibiotics

Ancient microbes likely produced natural products their descendants today do not. Tapping into this lost chemical diversity could offer a potential source of new drugs.

Pierre Stallforth, Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry and Paleobiotechnology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena • conversation
May 4, 2023 • ~9 min

Humanity is compressing millions of years of natural change into just a few centuries

What climate changes in the distant past can tell us about the near future.

Darrell Kaufman, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Northern Arizona University • conversation
Nov. 1, 2021 • ~7 min

Did prehistoric women hunt? New research suggests so

New research is challenging the hypothesis that men did the hunting in prehistoric societies.

Annemieke Milks, Honorary Research Fellow, UCL • conversation
Nov. 4, 2020 • ~5 min

How bison, moose and caribou stepped in to do the cleaning work of extinct mammoths

The historical record is full of surprises – and it could encourage conservationists to think more creatively.

Maarten van Hardenbroek van Ammerstol, Lecturer in Physical Geography, Newcastle University • conversation
April 29, 2020 • ~6 min

Climate change research projects win $1 million in Harvard grants

Harvard’s Climate Change Solutions Fund, now in its fifth year, is awarding seven research projects $1 million in grants.

Harvard Gazette • harvard
April 10, 2019 • ~11 min

/

1