ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News

Ancient and modern cities aren't so different Posted: 20 Feb 2015 11:26 AM PST Despite notable differences in appearance and governance, ancient human settlements function in much the same way as modern cities, according to new findings.

Paleoclimate, proxies, paleosols, and precipitation: A look to the future Posted: 20 Feb 2015 10:33 AM PST Precipitation reconstructions are essential for predicting impacts of future climate change and preparing for potential changes in terrestrial environmental conditions. Reliable proxy records of paleoprecipitation, especially from past warm periods, are a valuable tool for assessing and modeling future soil and plant moisture and local water availability. However, current terrestrial proxies are limited in their applications, and as a result, a wide range of paleoenvironments are underrepresented in the geologic record.

Greenland is melting: The past might tell what the future holds Posted: 20 Feb 2015 06:48 AM PST Scientists have managed to quantify how the Greenland Ice Sheet reacted to a warm period 8,000-5,000 years ago. Back then temperatures were 2-4 degrees C warmer than they are in the present. Their results are important as we are rapidly closing in on similar temperatures.

Out of Africa: Did humans migrate quickly and all-at-once or in phases based on weather? Posted: 20 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST Considerable debate surrounds the migration of human populations out of Africa. Two predominant hypotheses concerning the timing contrast in their emphasis on the role of the Arabian interior and its changing climate. In one scenario, human populations expanded rapidly from Africa to southern Asia via the coastlines of Arabia approx. 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Another model suggests that dispersal into the Arabian interior began much earlier (approx. 75,000 to 130,000 years ago) during multiple phases, when increased rainfall provided sufficient freshwater to support expanding populations.

Hanoi, Vietnam: The metropolis is weakening the 'craft villages' Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:30 AM PST Vietnam has thousands of "craft villages". Each one specializes in a particular craft: works of art, religious objects, textiles, basket-weaving, food processing, etc. In particular the capital, Hanoi, has more than 500 on its outskirts. Grouped into "clusters", these villages have modernized themselves and diversified since the country’s economy opened up in the 1980s. However, the ancient systems of production are being undermined by the competition for real estate and labor driven by the globalization of the markets and the metropolitanization of the capital.