Earth and Environmental Sciences
The bone of contention in the evolution of vertebrates
It takes backbone to try and tackle one of the age-old mysteries of the evolution of life, but a researcher at The University of Manchester has proven he’s certainly not too spineless to take on the challenge. Just like close to ten per cent of all life on Earth, we humans are vertebrates – meaning […]
Magma crystallisation provides scientists with volcanic crystal ball
Volcanos have been around since time on Earth began – and the devastation they can cause has hardly changed in the intervening 4.5 billion years. In the past month alone, untold damage has been wrought by volcanic eruptions – in Hawaii, Indonesia and Guatemala. Of course, it is not possible to prevent volcanoes from erupting […]
Inspiring the future women of STEM
Science and engineering is all about coming up with solutions to the great mysteries and challenges of our age. But one of these challenges is proving hard to overcome, and that’s how to encourage more girls to choose a career in these subjects. When children are very young and first begin learning about the world […]
Baby bird proves big deal to palaeontologists
A tiny bird that was smaller than your little finger and lived the briefest of lives has proven itself a giant of fossil history. The chick in the picture below may look like a character from a Disney remake of Walking With Dinosaurs, but this little chap has provided us with a valuable insight into […]
New predator shows its teeth
Fuxianhuiid – it may not be simple to say but these ancient arthropods have always seemed like pretty simple animals in all other respects. However, things aren’t always what they seem and the discovery of a new type of fuxianhuiid has provided a valuable insight into how predators evolved. A team of scientists including Dr […]
Jurassic Park meets Arachnophobia
It’s the ultimate 90s movie mash-up – Arachnophobia meets Jurassic Park. And it’s happened in real life, right here at the University of Manchester. Imprisoned within a block of amber dating back to the Cretaceous period, a spider has been discovered that could provide an unparalleled insight into the evolution of everyone’s favourite creepy-crawly. And […]
Who’s the daddy? Mystery of the mummy brothers unravelled
Who can resist an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show when it’s a DNA results special? Well, here at The University of Manchester, we’ve just wrapped up our own DNA mystery – and the result was just as shocking. As is a popular theme on the ITV chat show, the question we wanted to answer […]
Why dolphin culture really is some-fin else
The intelligence, culture and social relationships of whales and dolphins are so advanced, the only thing stopping them from building an underwater city is opposable thumbs. That’s the finding of the latest research from The University of Manchester, in collaboration with The London School of Economics (LSE) and Stanford University. The study, published this week […]
Squid – a 200 million-year-old delicacy
Ever wondered what was on the menu 200 million years ago? Well, if you like calamari, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover that not much has changed. New research by one of the leading experts in ichthyosaurs Dean Lomax has discovered the potential source of the newborn reptile’s diet: squid. What’s interesting is this isn’t […]
The first UoM students in space?
Tim Gregory and Tessa Naran share more in common than just their UoM background. They also both want to be astronauts and are currently appearing on our screens every Sunday at 9pm. The reason? They’re participants in the new BBC 2 show Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?. Beating off tough competition from 3,000 […]