Earth For Millions Research Articles

The Late Pleistocene Megafauna: Huge Animals that Used to Roam the Earth

Not so long ago, huge mammals weighing more than 1,000 kg existed practically all over the world. We call these giants the Pleistocene megafauna because they lived in a time period called the Pleistocene and were almost completely extinct around 11,700 years ago. These mammals lived on Earth for millions of years and were very important to almost all land-based ecosystems. However, natural climate change and humans decreased their ability to survive. Today, we find fossils of Pleistocene megafauna all over the world, including bones, hair, droppings, and even footprints. Scientists dig for these fossils to learn more about these animals and why they went extinct. Studying these ancient animals also gives scientists important information that helps them understand the risks that today’s living animals face in our world.

Empowering the Rural Community as Turtle Breeder: Case Studi of Dunu Village, Gorontalo Utara Regency

Turtles are marine reptiles that have existed on Earth for millions of years and have managed to survive until today. Turtles play a crucial role in the marine ecosystem, maintaining the balance of nature and contributing to marine biodiversity. The method used in this research is a qualitative approach, which includes conducting in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and analyzing relevant documents. The data obtained will be analyzed using descriptive and interpretative approaches to illustrate the process of empowering the rural community in Dunu Village. This research aims to understand how the empowerment of the Dunu village community as turtle breeders takes place. The study was conducted for a duration of two weeks, starting from June 27, 2023, to July 11, 2023. The research findings indicate that in Dunu village, Gorontalo Utara Regency, three types of turtles are being conserved. The turtle species involved are the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), and olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). There are two individuals from Dunu village who are recognized as professional turtle breeders and actively participate in the protection of turtle eggs, caring for hatchlings, and conducting patrols along the beach where the turtles nest. These two breeders received training from the Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam (BKSDA) Sulawesi Utara through the Seksi Konservasi Wilayah II Gorontalo.

GbMYBR1 from Ginkgo biloba represses phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and trichome development in Arabidopsis

Main ConclusionGbMYBR1, a new type of R2R3-MYB repressor from Ginkgo biloba, displayed pleiotropic effects on plant growth, phenylpropanoid accumulation, by regulating multiple related genes at different levels.Ginkgo biloba is a typical gymnosperm that has been thriving on earth for millions of years. MYB transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in diverse processes in plants. However, the role of MYBs remains largely unknown in Ginkgo. Here, an MYB TF gene from Ginkgo, designated as GbMYBR1, was found to act as a repressor in multiple processes. GbMYBR1 was mainly expressed in the leaves of Ginkgo. Over-expression of GbMYBR1 in Arabidopsis thaliana led to growth retardation, decreases in lignin content, reduced trichome density, and remarkable reduction in anthocyanin and flavonol contents in leaves. Proanthocyanidin content was decreased in the seeds of transgenic Arabidopsis, which led to light-brown seed color. Both qPCR and transcriptome sequencing analyses demonstrated that the transcript levels of multiple genes related to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, trichome formation, and pathogen resistance were down-regulated in the transgenic Arabidopsis. In particular, we found that GbMYBR1 directly interacts with the bHLH cofactor GL3 as revealed by yeast two-hybrid assays. Our work indicated that GbMYBR1 has pleiotropic effects on plant growth, phenylpropanoid accumulation, and trichome development, mediated by interaction with GL3 or direct suppression of key pathway genes. Thus, GbMYBR1 represents a novel type of R2R3 MYB repressor.

The First Dinosaur: How Science Solved the Greatest Mystery on Earth by Ian Lendler

Reviewed by: The First Dinosaur: How Science Solved the Greatest Mystery on Earth by Ian Lendler Elizabeth Bush Lendler, Ian The First Dinosaur: How Science Solved the Greatest Mystery on Earth; illus. by C. M. Butzer and with photographs. McElderry/Simon, 2019 224p Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2700-6 $24.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2702-0 $12.99 R Gr. 6-9 The remains of dinosaurs were, of course, trapped within and scattered upon Earth for millions of years before humans appeared and wondered over them, but without humans' collective knowledge and imagination to conceive that fossils testify to life before pre-Biblical (or other mythological) time, they might just as well have stayed hidden. In this big picture view of the scientific revolution—well, leaps and baby steps—that led to the identification and description of Megalosaurus, Lendler offers a thoroughly engaging history of myriad milestones that were crossed before anyone could believe in dinosaurs' existence. The narrative is both patient and enthusiastic, with an approach that leads readers steadily from the first naturalists to document their findings and include description and measurements; through naturalists who dared speculate that outlandish specimens could not be accounted for by the Bible; through geologists who pushed Earth's creation back into deep time; to scientists who shared, critiqued, and dismissed one another's findings and kept debate on the boil. This journey is raucous and often very funny, with big-name scientists, forgotten scholars, and credit to the quarry workers and canal diggers whose perspicacity would never illuminate the halls of the geological societies. Well-captioned period reproductions are included, as well as index, citations, and bibliography. Readers carrying their dinophilia into middle school and beyond will be delighted with this deep dive into the origins of their mania. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Are We Learning as Much as Possible from Spaceflight to Better Understand Health and Risks to Health on Earth, as Well as in Space?

The objective of this review is to discuss the changes in human biology and physiology that occur when humans, who evolved on Earth for millions of years, now are subjected to space flight for extended periods of time, and how detailing such changes associated with space flight could help better understand risks for loss of health on Earth. Space programs invest heavily in the selection and training of astronauts. They also are investing in maintaining the health of astronauts, both for extensive stays in low earth orbit on ISS, and in preparation for deep space missions in the future. This effort is critical for the success of such missions as the N is small and the tasks needed to be performed in a hostile environment are complex and demanding. However, space is a unique environment, devoid of many of the “boundary conditions” that shaped human evolution (e.g. 1 g environment, magnetic fields, background radiation, oxygen, water, etc). Therefore, for humans to be successful in space, we need to learn to adapt and minimize the impact of an altered environment on human health. Conversely, we can also learn considerably from this altered environment for life on earth. The question is, are we getting the maximal information from life in space to learn about like on earth? The answer is likely No, and as such, our “Return on Investment” is not as great as it could be. Even though the number of astronauts is not large, what we can learn from them could help shape new questions for research focused on health for those on earth, as well is contribute to “precision health” from the study of astronaut diversity. This latter effort would contribute to both the health of astronauts identifying risks, as well as contribute to health on earth via better understanding of the human genome and epigenome, as well as factors contributing to risk for diseases on earth, particularly as individuals age and regulatory systems become altered. Better use of the International Space Station, and similar platforms in the future, could provide critical insights in aging-associated risks for loss of health on Earth, as well as promote new approaches to using precision medicine to overcome threats to health while in space. To achieve this goal will likely require advanced approaches to collecting such information and use of more systems biology, systems physiology approaches to integrate the information.

Book Review Climate Change and Water Resources by Sangam Shrestha, Mukand S. Babel and Vishnu Prasad Pandey (eds). IWA Publishing, London, 2014. 376 pages. ISBN: 9781780405902 (Hardback)

Climate changes have played a role in the shaping of the Earth for millions of years, illustrated by floods (even mentioned in the Bible and in the Greek Mythology!), droughts, glaciation, heat waves and the appearance and disappearance of various sorts of animals and plants, including mankind. Yet we are presently facing a kind of environmental political correctness concerning the anthropogenic aspects of climate change, which, adopted by a number of politicians and journalists, does not necessarily rely on sound science and is often used to promote political agendas. For instance, some aspects in the preparation of COP21, which took place in France at the end of November and early December 2015, illustrate that the political deviation of scientific results cannot be underestimated. …

Sedimentary challenge to Snowball Earth

Evidence from the magnetic field fossilized in sedimentary rocks suggests that, more than 600 million years ago, ice occupied tropical latitudes. A popular explanation for these findings, the Snowball Earth concept, envisages a fully frozen Earth for millions of years, caused by a runaway ice–albedo feedback. A rapid, catastrophic meltback at very high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is thought to have ended this extreme climatic state. However, sedimentary rocks deposited during these cold intervals indicate that dynamic glaciers and ice streams continued to deliver large amounts of sediment to open oceans throughout the glacial cycle. The sedimentary evidence therefore indicates that despite the severity of glaciation, some oceans must have remained ice-free. Significant areas of open ocean have important implications for the survival and diversification of life and for the workings of the global carbon cycle. The Snowball Earth concept envisages a fully frozen Earth for millions of years several times during the Neoproterzoic Era between 1,000 and 542 million years ago. However, the sedimentary evidence suggests that despite the severity of glaciation, some oceans must have remained ice-free.

Swarm intelligence systems for transportation engineering: Principles and applications

Agent-based modeling is an approach based on the idea that a system is composed of decentralized individual “agents” and that each agent interacts with other agents according to localized knowledge. Special kinds of artificial agents are the agents created by analogy with social insects. Social insects (bees, wasps, ants, and termites) have lived on Earth for millions of years. Their behavior is primarily characterized by autonomy, distributed functioning, and self-organizing capacities. Social insect colonies teach us that very simple organisms can form systems capable of performing highly complex tasks by dynamically interacting with each other. Swarm intelligence is the branch of artificial intelligence based on study of behavior of individuals in various decentralized systems. The paper presents a classification and analysis of the results achieved using swarm intelligence (SI) to model complex traffic and transportation processes. The primary goal of this paper is to acquaint readers with the basic principles of Swarm Intelligence, as well as to indicate potential swarm intelligence applications in traffic and transportation.

Transport modeling by multi-agent systems: a swarm intelligence approach

There are a number of emergent traffic and transportation phenomena that cannot be analyzed successfully and explained using analytical models. The only way to analyze such phenomena is through the development of models that can simulate behavior of every agent. Agent-based modeling is an approach based on the idea that a system is composed of decentralized individual ‘agents’ and that each agent interacts with other agents according to localized knowledge. The agent-based approach is a ‘bottom-up’ approach to modeling where special kinds of artificial agents are created by analogy with social insects. Social insects (including bees, wasps, ants and termites) have lived on Earth for millions of years. Their behavior in nature is primarily characterized by autonomy, distributed functioning and self-organizing capacities. Social insect colonies teach us that very simple individual organisms can form systems capable of performing highly complex tasks by dynamically interacting with each other. On the other hand, a large number of traditional engineering models and algorithms are based on control and centralization. In this article, we try to obtain the answer to the following question: Can we use some principles of natural swarm intelligence in the development of artificial systems aimed at solving complex problems in traffic and transportation?

The circadian clock: a manager of biochemical processes within the organism.

The periodic succession of night and day has influenced life on earth for millions of years. Many organisms have "internalized" this periodic change in the form of the circadian clock. Its main function is to organize the time course of biochemical, physiological and behavioural processes thereby optimizing an organism's performance in anticipating changing environmental conditions. Therefore, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that connect the core pacemaker, which is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus, with peripheral organs. Several laboratories set out to identify genes that are under the influence of the circadian clock. It appears that the circadian clock coordinates transcription of key metabolic pathways thereby orchestrating the time course of physiological and behavioural processes. We review these investigations and put our experiments, the comparison of gene expression in SCN tissue of Per2 mutant and wild-type mice, in the context of these findings.

Long-term Mortality Patterns in Chinese History: Evidence from a Recorded Clan Population

Humans have lived on earth for millions of years, yet the study of population history only began to be established in the mid-twentieth century. Henry's method of family reconstitution, which relies onparish registers, has resulted in considerable progress in the study of historical demography in Europe and other areas. But because data arelacking, there were hardly any detailed studies of fertility and mortality before the sixteenth century, and very little is known about demographic changes in early human history. This paper consists of an analysis of a set of Chinese genealogies to examine long-term mortalitypatterns in a selected clan population over a period of more than 1,000 years. By using these data, as well as findings reported by other scholars, we shall present some tentative suggestions about long-termmortality change in Chinese history.

A biological clock in the brain--the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus

Rhythms of 24 hr periodicity underlie most aspects of daily life, although we are rarely aware of its presence. This circadian rhythmicity is a consequence of evolution of the living organism, which takes place on the earth for millions of years. Some of these rhythms are actually derived from an endogenous oscillating mechanism whose inherent period is not exactly 24 hrs. Therefore, it must be constantly adjusted to the solar cycle of day and night. It has been firmly established that the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is the highest center of these endogenous circadian rhythms. Lesions of the SCN eliminates most behavioral and physiological rhythms and actvities of the SCN exhibited a dramatic change between day and night. Furthermore, rhythms of SCN neurons persist under in vitro conditions. The cellular or molecular mechanism for these neurons to generate a 24 hr rhythm is unclear at present. The SCN contains many neuropeptides and some of them display circadian rhythms, while others do not. We found that this distinct behavior of peptides in the SCN was due to different regulation of MRNA or gene transcription. This observation indicate the possibility that genes are involved in the generation of circadian rhythms in the SCN.