New model of man's role in climate change
The Roman Conquest, the Black Death and the discovery of America -- by modifying the nature of the forests -- have had a significant impact on the environment. These are the findings of Swiss...
View ArticleResearchers reconstruct genome of the Black Death
led by researchers at McMaster University and the University of Tubingen in Germany -- has sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in human history.
View ArticleDecoding the Black Death
Each time Sharon DeWitte takes a 3-foot by 1-foot archival box off the shelf at the Museum of London she hopes it will be heavy.
View ArticleDark Ages scourge enlightens modern struggle between man and microbes
The plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis evades detection and establishes a stronghold without setting off the body's early alarms. New discoveries reported this week help explain how the stealthy...
View ArticleLondon rail workers find likely plague burial pit (Update)
Workers digging a new railway line in London have uncovered what they believe is a burial ground containing victims of the Black Death—a plague that wiped out as much as half of London's inhabitants...
View ArticleModern lab reaches across the ages to resolve plague DNA debate
(Phys.org) —From within an ancient German gravesite to laboratories under the harshest extremes of scientific scrutiny, traces of DNA from a deadly disease illuminate the cold pages of history with...
View ArticleWhy do blacks with advanced kidney disease live longer than whites?
Blacks in the United States are more likely to require dialysis and develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) than whites, but they also live longer than whites once they reach later stages of kidney...
View ArticleLondon skeletons reveal secrets of the Black Death
You can learn a lot from a tooth. Molars taken from skeletons unearthed by work on a new London railway line are revealing secrets of the medieval Black Death—and of its victims.
View ArticleThe bug that lost a few genes to become Black Death
About 6,000 years ago, a bacterium underwent a few genetic changes. These allowed it to expand its habitat from the guts of mice to that of fleas. Such changes happen all the time, but in this...
View ArticleCod bones reveal 13th century origin of global fish trade
London's international fish trade can be traced back 800 years to the medieval period, according to new research published today in the journal Antiquity.
View ArticleMale Australian redback spiders employ courtship strategies to preserve their...
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research shows that male suitors of a female cannibalistic spider risk facing a premature death unless they perform an adequate courtship lasting a minimum of 100 minutes. Further,...
View ArticleDeath rates higher for poor black Americans
In 2000, a black, working-aged resident of a poor neighborhood was significantly more likely to die than a white American a situation that essentially remained unchanged from 20 years earlier,...
View ArticleAccepting the end: Bucket lists, cemeteries show changing attitudes toward death
(Phys.org) -- Bucket lists are more than goals or accomplishments a person wants to achieve before dying. They are also a way for people to discuss death -- even though most of us probably would rather...
View ArticleBird flu kills 4,000 wild ducks in Russia
Around 4,000 wild ducks have been found dead in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, officials said on Friday, blaming H5 bird flu for the mass deaths.
View ArticleHubble sees a wanderer dancing the dance of stars and space
(Phys.org)—The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides us this week with a spectacular image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. In this...
View ArticleStrange new bursts of gamma rays point to a new way to destroy a star
(Phys.org) —A team led by the University of Warwick has pinpointed a new type of exceptionally powerful and long-lived cosmic explosion, prompting a theory that they arise in the violent death throes...
View ArticleStill a lot to learn about India's deadly air pollution
What exactly is the relationship between exposure to air pollution and its effect on human health? How much cleaner would the air have to be to reduce the health burden of dirty air? Can cities be...
View ArticleTo Yorubaland with drones, on the trail of the plague
The city of Ife has been significant to the Yoruba people of West Africa for as long as they can remember. It was briefly abandoned in the 19th century, and Gerard Chouin says the Yoruba repopulated...
View ArticleDid famine worsen the Black Death?
When the Black Death swept through Europe in 1347, it was one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history, eventually killing between a third and half of Europeans.
View ArticlePlague-riddled prairie dogs a model for infectious disease spread
Every now and then, colonies of prairie dogs are wiped out by plague, an infectious disease most often associated with the Black Death of the 14th century.
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