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

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

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

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