Guest Author • May 09, 2017 •
Could we really bring an extinct species back from the dead, and, if we did – what happens next? Sciblogs is running a series of posts on de-extinction to coincide with a special issue of the journal Functional Ecology focusing on the topic. In this guest post, special issue author Dr Tammy Steeves from the University of Canterbury examines the genetic … Read More
Guest Author • Nov 11, 2016 •
By Bill Laurance, James Cook University and Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University Life has existed on Earth for roughly 3.7 billion years. During that time we know of five mass extinction events — dramatic episodes when many, if not most, life forms vanished in a geological heartbeat. The most recent of these was the global … Read More
Guest Author • Sep 25, 2016 •
By Tim Doherty, Research Fellow, Deakin University; Chris Dickman, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Sydney; Dale Nimmo, Lecturer in Ecology, Charles Sturt University, and Euan Ritchie, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Invasive species are a threat to wildlife across the … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 09, 2016 •
Valentin Fischer, Université de Liège Imagine dolphins disappearing from the world’s oceans as a result of prolonged climate change and slower evolution. As shocking and unlikely as such an event might be, it happened in the past to a group of marine animals: the ichthyosaurs. These “fish-reptiles” were an iconic group of marine predators from the dinosaur era … Read More
Guest Author • Feb 11, 2016 •
Tim Doherty, Deakin University; Emma Burgess, The University of Queensland; Martine Maron, The University of Queensland, and Robert Davis, Edith Cowan University Massive Australian bushfires in recent months have tragically claimed people’s lives and destroyed their homes. These events are becoming more common as our warming and drying climate increases the … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 27, 2016 •
Luc Bussiere, University of Stirling In a post-apocalyptic future, what might happen to life if humans left the scene? After all, humans are very likely to disappear long before the sun expands into a red giant and exterminates all living things from the Earth. Assuming that we don’t extinguish all other life as we disappear (an unlikely … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 14, 2016 •
Trevor Worthy, Flinders University Australia is renowned for once being home to a group of gigantic birds known as the mihirungs. These birds are distantly related to waterfowl and included the impressive Dromornis stirtoni, the largest bird ever known on the planet at about 450kg in weight. An artist’s impression of Genyornis newtoni. Anne Musser, Australian Museum … Read More
Peter Dearden • Apr 19, 2015 •
Are we really close to resurrecting the Mammoth? … Read More
Bryan Walker • Jun 16, 2014 •
Elizabeth Kolbert’s recent book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History is science journalism of a high order. As with her earlier notable book on climate change, Field Notes from a Catastrophe, she includes lively narrative accounts of her visits to places around the world where scientists are at work and communicates the import of their […] … Read More
Ken Perrott • Feb 15, 2013 •
Tomorrow morning the asteroid Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass by the earth. At its nearest approach Friday (Feb. 15, Morning of February 16 NZ time), the 150-foot-wide (45 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 will be just 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) from … Continue reading → … Read More