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Sciworthy

The Encyclopedia of Science's Frontier

Category: Paleobiology

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How complex plants reshaped the oceans

Posted on May 15, 2025May 7, 2025 by Sciworthy

Researchers found that when complex plants evolved, they increased ocean oxygen and massively restructured the marine ecosystem.

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    Lightning reacts with minerals to create the building blocks of life

    Posted on October 10, 2024September 25, 2024 by Meri Herrero

    Scientists stimulated atmospheric gases with electricity and found they reacted with common salts and minerals to form complex chemicals…

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      When did the Galápagos tortoises become giant?

      Posted on October 3, 2024December 12, 2024 by Aubrey Zerkle

      Researchers analyzed new fossils from Ecuador that suggested the ancestors of Galápagos giant tortoises inhabited northern South America…

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        How complex life arose under extreme stress

        Posted on August 12, 2024August 12, 2024 by Meri Herrero

        Scientists discovered molecules that helped the first complex life forms build strong cell membranes to withstand extreme environments.

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          photo of island and thunder
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          Researchers used bottled “lightning” to make ingredients for life

          Posted on June 20, 2024June 12, 2024 by Sciworthy

          Scientists used spark discharge experiments to test whether lightning converted enough nitrogen to a usable form to support the origins of…

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            black and white nike shoe
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            How quickly did life recover from the end-Permian mass extinction?

            Posted on June 17, 2024June 16, 2024 by Sciworthy

            Paleontologists described exceptionally well-preserved fossils of a complex marine ecosystem that developed within 1 million years of a…

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              black and white sea creature in water
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              How did nautiloids survive​​ extinction?

              Posted on May 20, 2024May 20, 2024 by Sciworthy

              Researchers found nautiloids outlived other shelly creatures in the late-Cretaceous extinction because they had slower metabolisms.

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                gray and black fish on water
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                A trilobite’s last supper

                Posted on February 12, 2024May 9, 2024 by Aubrey Zerkle

                Paleontologists described a trilobite fossil preserved in 3D with its gut contents intact.

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                  silhouette of mountain under cloudy sky during daytime
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                  Did lightning provide food for life’s beginning?

                  Posted on April 10, 2023April 17, 2023 by Aubrey Zerkle

                  Lightning bolts can be deadly or destructive, but some researchers propose they might also have supplied essential elements for the first…

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                    brown dinosaur illustration
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                    How smart were the dinosaurs?

                    Posted on March 2, 2023May 9, 2024 by Aubrey Zerkle

                    A researcher from Vanderbilt University inferred dinosaur intelligence from fossilized skulls. She used the skulls to estimate the number of…

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                      Artist's impression of the planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581. Credit: ESO

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