Earth & Climate
UPI: Bones of ‘living fossil’ found in Texas
The coelacanth research of SMU paleontology doctoral student John Graf has been covered by UPI. Graf identified a new species of coelacanth from fossil fish bones discovered in Texas. Graf identified the fish from a 100 million-year-old skull fossil. Graf said the new coelacanth is the first found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It’s the youngest coelacanth discovered in Texas. Continue reading
VOA: New 100-Million-Year-Old Fish Discovered in Texas
The coelacanth research of SMU paleontology doctoral student John Graf has been covered by Voice of America. Graf identified a new species of coelacanth from fossil fish bones discovered in Texas. Graf identified the fish from a 100 million-year-old skull fossil. He named the new species Reidus hilli. Graf said the new coelacanth is the first found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The fossil is the youngest coelacanth discovered in Texas. Continue reading
NBC News: Climate-changing methane ‘rapidly destabilizing’ off East Coast, study finds
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Methane hydrate samples.[/caption]
Methane hydrate samples.[/caption]
NBC News has covered the research of SMU marine geologist Matthew Hornbach, who led the study that has uncovered a powerful new way to use data from the geological record to discover non-anthropogenic climate changes underway. Continue reading
Nature: Seismic signs of escaping methane under the sea
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Sand is not the only thing on the move in the waters off the eastern United States — a shift in the Gulf Stream is melting methane hydrate in sediments that could release methane gas.
(Image: D. Harvey/Natl. Geographic/Getty Images)[/caption]
Sand is not the only thing on the move in the waters off the eastern United States — a shift in the Gulf Stream is melting methane hydrate in sediments that could release methane gas.(Image: D. Harvey/Natl. Geographic/Getty Images)[/caption]
Nature magazine covered the research of SMU marine geologist Matthew Hornbach, who led the study that has uncovered a powerful new way to use data from the geological record to discover non-anthropogenic climate changes underway. Continue reading
100 million-year-old coelacanth discovered in Texas is new fish species from Cretaceous
A new species of coelacanth fish has been discovered in Texas. Pieces of tiny fossil skull found in Fort Worth have been identified as 100 million-year-old coelacanth bones.
The new species is the youngest coelacanth to be discovered in Texas, and the only coelacanth discovered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Continue reading
SMU Geothermal Lab students are finalists in U.S. Department of Energy’s National Geothermal Student Competition
A group of SMU graduate students in the SMU Geothermal Laboratory has been selected as one of three finalist teams in a prestigious national geothermal energy competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy competition challenges student teams to conduct research aimed at breakthroughs in geothermal energy development. Continue reading
Frontburner: Texas’ Bone Wars Studied by SMU Professor
Jason Heid, an editor with D Magazine’s popular Frontburner blog, covered the research of SMU vertebrate paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs and the infamous Bone Wars of the late 1800s.
The Bone Wars refers to a flurry of fossil speculation across the American West escalated into a high-profile national feud. Drawn into the spectacle were two scientists from the Lone Star State, geologist Robert T. Hill, now acclaimed as the Father of Texas Geology, and naturalist Jacob Boll, who made many of the state’s earliest fossil discoveries. Continue reading
Texas frontier scientists who uncovered state’s fossil history had role in epic Bone Wars
In the late 1800s, furious fossil speculation across the American West escalated into a high-profile national feud called the Bone Wars. Vertebrate paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs unveils how the Bone Wars touched Texas through the lives of two Lone Star scientists, geologist Robert T. Hill and naturalist Jacob Boll. Continue reading
Posted in Earth & Climate, Fossils & Ruins, Videos
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Circadian clock research may enable flexible designer plants; treat cancer and diabetes
How does a plant know when to sprout a leaf, fold its petals or bloom? Why do humans experience jet lag after a trip abroad?
The answer is the internal circadian clocks that are present in every organism and that respond to external cues such as light and temperature, says SMU chemist Brian D. Zoltowski. Zoltowski’s lab studies one of the many proteins involved in an organism’s circadian clocks. Continue reading