Fish, the most biodiverse vertebrates in the animal kingdom, present evolutionary biologists a conundrum: The greatest species richness is found in the world’s tropical waters, yet the fish groups that generate new species most rapidly inhabit colder...
A few months ago, Chase Brownstein, a Yale undergraduate, and Professor Thomas Near were at odds. Together, the pair had authored a first-of-its-kind study reconstructing the evolutionary history of lampreys — an ancient group of jawless fish — using...
When archaeological scientist Andrew Koh unearths a dusty artifact, say a clay pot or alabaster jar, the last thing he’ll do is clean it.
Archaeologists routinely wash artifacts soon after excavating them to examine their ornamentation and style. For Koh...
Yale University’s museums, libraries, and archives contain vast troves of cultural and scientific heritage that fire curiosity and fuel research worldwide. Now there’s a simple new way to make astonishing connections among millions of objects.
Starting...
A new dataset of genetic information collected from 233 primate species, the largest and most complete of its kind, promises to yield insights into primates’ evolutionary biology and how genetics influences their behavior, says Yale biological...
The gradual erosion of layers of rock by rivers flowing through the Appalachian Mountains generates biodiversity of freshwater fish species, suggests a new Yale-led study that offers insight into the causes of species richness in the ancient mountain...
A wafer-thin slice of meteorite at the Yale Peabody Museum contains otherworldly gems. Olivine crystals, known as peridots to jewelers, are embedded in the specimen’s shiny iron-nickel alloy. When held to light, the yellow crystals glow brightly.
“It’s...
At first glance, tube-eyes and cods seem nothing alike. The former, a ribbon-shaped, deep-sea fish, has bizarre tubular eyes that resemble goggles. The latter, one of the world’s most commercially important fishes, has unremarkable looks but pairs well...
A few years ago, composer Matthew Suttor was exploring Alan Turing’s archives at King’s College, Cambridge, when he happened upon a typed draft of a lecture the pioneering computer scientist and World War II codebreaker gave in 1951 foreseeing the rise of...