We find a consistent relation between orbital geometry and components of the climate system by returning to Milankovitch’s original hypotheses and focusing on the well-established physical concepts of an equilibrium state, disequilibrium from that state, and adjustment towards equilibrium. These mechanisms imply that the state of the climate system at any time depends on; (1) the state of the climate

Over the last decade, several studies have indicated the potential for the δ13C isotope signal of charcoals to act as a new local paleoclimatic/paleoenvironmental proxy, complementary to taxonomic analyses. These studies mainly focused on archeological charcoal from the Holocene series, but the potential of the method to be applied Pleistocene sequences is still under debate. Understanding climate-driven

Kostënki 9 is a small Gravettian site in the Kostënki-Borshchëvo area of Russia, known for a highly homogeneous assemblage of ventrally truncated backed bladelets, as well as the presence of ground stone artefacts. The site was mainly excavated during the twentieth century but in recent years small-scale work has begun again at the site. Until now no radiocarbon dates have been available for the site

With the exception of the well known Mesolithic sites in the Danube Gorges (or the Iron Gates), the wider areas of the Central Balkans and southern fringes of the Great Pannonian Plain still represent a terra incognita when it comes to the presence of Mesolithic communities. The absence of Mesolithic sites in the region was associated with environmental changes in the Early Holocene, presumed low human

Chronological sequences of Quaternary terrestrial mammalian faunas can provide important information about the evolutionary history of mammals, regional biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental changes. Here we report the results of studies of a thick, nearly-continuous sedimentary sequence from Jinyuan Cave, in Liaoning Province, northeast China; the sequences contains four mammalian faunas ranging

Multidisciplinary research suggests that Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼130–74 ka) was an important evolutionary stage in African deep history. Population expansion and growth spurred changes in material culture as well as the exploration of previously unoccupied regions and ecosystems. The archaeological sequence at Melikane Rockshelter (1860 masl) in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of highland Lesotho

Geochemical (major oxides, trace and rare earth elements) studies were carried out on the siliciclastic rocks of the Antimonio and Río Asunción formations to interpret the paleoweathering conditions and provenance. The weathering indices like the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and Plagioclase Index of Alterations (PIA) indicate a low to moderate intensity of chemical weathering. The chondrite normalized

The early evolution of theropod dinosaurs is poorly understood. Whereas sauropodomorphs are well-known from the oldest dinosaur bearing outcrops, the record of theropods is fragmentary and ambiguous. The Triassic deposits from Brazil yielded some of the oldest dinosaurs worldwide. These dinosaurs came from two distinct Assemblage Zones (AZ): the Hyperodapedon AZ (Carnian) and the Riograndia AZ (early

The Lindero gold deposit is located in the Southern Puna plateau, northwest Argentina. The deposit is centered in a cluster of six subvolcanic intrusions emplaced at the margin of the Arizaro Basin. Three alteration types were recognized: (i) Ca–Na silicate (clinopyroxene + magnetite + K-feldspar + quartz + calcite ± plagioclase), (ii) K-silicate (K-feldspar + quartz + magnetite ± biotite ± anhydrite)

New 40Ar/39Ar ages and paleomagnetic data are presented from a wide range of ignimbrites and lava flows from the region east of the Atacama Desert in the northern Chilean part of Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes. Eight dacitic to rhyolitic ignimbrites, 12 lava flows and one shallow intrusion were dated by the 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating method, and are the first 40Ar/39Ar ages reported for these

In this contribution, we present field-based evidence that in the Mary Kathleen Domain from the Eastern Fold Belt of the Mount Isa Inlier the 1790-1750 Ma metasediments of the Leichhardt Superbasin were sheared and folded between 1750-1710 Ma. The Mary Kathleen Domain consists of a series of anastomosing high and low strain domains intruded syn- to late-tectonically by a series of 1740-1710 Ma felsic

The Crixás-Goiás Domain, Central Brazil, comprises an association of Archean TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite) and Archean-Paleoproterozoic greenstone belts. The Crixás greenstone belt, located in the northern part of the domain, is constituted of Mesoarchean metakomatiites and metabasalts overlaid by Paleoproterozoic carbonaceous phyllites and metagraywackes that host important gold deposits

Zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope analyses along with whole-rock Sm-Nd isotope studies shed a light on distribution of the Paleoarchean crust in the Kursk block, Eastern Sarmatia. It has been revealed that this domain consists of two provinces with different crust ages: the Paleoarchean Kursk-Besedino granulite-gneiss domain (KBd) and the Mesoarchaean Mikhailovsky granite-greenstone area (Mgga). The KBd

Rainfall patterns that trigger debris flows may vary depending on the amount of sediment storage in their initiation zones. However, the current literature did not fully explore the relationship between the rainfall patterns triggering debris flows and changes in sediment storage. In this study, we investigated the variation in rainfall patterns for debris-flow occurrences via field-based, four-year

Here we examine approximate geometrically self-similar solutions to a parabolic free boundary value problem applied to alluvial fan surface morphology and growth. Alluvial fans are fan- or cone-shaped sedimentary deposits caused by the rapid deposition of sediment from a canyon discharging onto a flatter plain. Longitudinal, topographic profiles of fans can be readily described by a seemingly time

The retreat of the Great Aletsch Glacier is accompanied by a series of slope failures in solid bedrock, which are heavily influenced by the presence of pre-existing deformation structures. Since the 1880’s, the Great Aletsch Glacier has shortened by more than 3 km and decreased about 400 m in thickness. As a reaction to the loss of the stabilizing effect of the ice, one of the largest active deep-seated

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Ocean models at eddy‐permitting resolution are generally overdissipative, damping the intensity of the mesoscale eddy field. To reduce overdissipation, we propose a simplified, kinematic energy backscatter parametrization built into the viscosity operator in conjunction with a new flow‐dependent coefficient of viscosity based on nearest neighbor velocity differences. The new scheme mitigates excessive

The relevance of hydrogeological precursors (HGPs) study is justified by the need to obtain reliable information about the spatio-temporal manifestations and the relationships of HGPs with the parameters of subsequent earthquakes for seismic forecasting. In the review the data on repeated manifestations of HGPs before strong earthquakes obtained from long-term observations in five deep wells on the

Environmental conditions on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the last glacial maximum (LGM) are poorly known. Existing studies of environmental proxies and climate model simulations are contradictory, with interpretations varying between cold-dry and cold-wet environmental conditions which differentially influenced lake volumes, loess deposition and vegetation communities across the TP. Genetic and

The volume of glaciers in Iceland (∼3,400 km3 in 2019) corresponds to about 9 mm of potential global sea level rise. In this study, observations from 98.7% of glacier covered areas in Iceland (in 2019) are used to construct a record of mass change of Icelandic glaciers since the end of the 19th century i.e. the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in Iceland. Glaciological (in situ) mass-balance measurements

Based on more than 4500 km of new and re-processed multichannel seismic lines, high-resolution seafloor bathymetry, available well data, and basement dredge samples, we have re-evaluated the entire stratigraphy and the tectonic evolution of the Alboran and western Algerian basins. We have correlated the sediment units deposited since the beginning of the formation of the different sub-basins, and we

Tortuosity is widely used as a critical parameter to predict transport properties of porous media, such as rocks and soils. But unlike other standard microstructural properties, the concept of tortuosity is vague with multiple definitions and various evaluation methods introduced in different contexts. Hydraulic, electrical, diffusional, and thermal tortuosities are defined to describe different transport

Seismic anisotropy, as a ubiquitous feature in the Earth’s interior, could record the past lithospheric deformation and map directly mantle flow within our planet, and thus becomes a bridge to understand the interaction between the crust and subcrustal mantle or between different tectonic blocks. Plenty of high quality shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements have been performed in Mainland China. In

Fluid release from dehydration reactions is considered to have significant effects on the strength and dynamics of tectonic faults at convergent plate boundaries. It is classically assumed that the production of fluid leads to increased pore fluid pressures that perturb a fault's stress state and thereby facilitates and enhances deformation. This important assumption has never been supported by direct

Vegetated foredunes are widespread aeolian landforms along wave‐dominated sandy coasts. In contrast to previous advances in dune erosion during storm surges, there is little empirical data and understanding of aeolian processes during foredune recovery and growth. Based on a comprehensive data set (airflow, sand transport, topography change and vegetation cover) collected across a steep (1:2.5, 21

Variability in climate exerts a strong influence on vegetation productivity (gross primary productivity; GPP), and therefore has a large impact on the land carbon sink. However, no direct observations of global GPP exist, and estimates rely on models that are constrained by observations at various spatial and temporal scales. Here, we assess the consistency in GPP from global products which extend

Introduction The novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout the globe, causing a pandemic. In Egypt over 96,108 individuals were infected so far. Objective In the present study, the objective is to perform a complete genome sequence of SAR-CoV2 isolated from Egyptian coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. Methods Nasopharyngeal swabs were

Introduction The traditional clinical treatment of long segmental bone defects usually requires multiple operations and depends on donor availability. The 3D bio-printing technology constitutes a great potential therapeutic tool for such an injury. However, in situ 3D bio-printing remains a major challenge. Objectives In this study, we report the repair of long segmental bone defects by in situ 3D

To better understand the vegetation and possible paleoclimate change, we recovered a palynological record obtained from the ZKD14 core covering from the Sifangtai and Mingshui Formations in the northern Songliao Basin, northeastern China. Based on the abundance and variations in determined palynomorphs, two palynological assemblages can be distinguished, including Schizaeoisporites–bisaccate–Tricolporopollenites

Trapped gas causes buried sediments to flow like water, rising and erupting dangerously at the sea floor.

Oday Abushalbaq outlines his experience leading a team of neuroscience researchers from 9,000 kilometres away — while completing his PhD training.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Carbonate reservoirs usually consist of multiple units each with different degrees of layer-bound fracture density, height, length, and angular scatter. Some units may have finite fracture networks (FFNs), and some others may contain only isolated fractures. FFNs are islands of interconnected fractures within a sea of isolated fractures. The fracture volume can be estimated from the initial surge in

Ensemble methods are remarkably powerful for quantifying geological uncertainty. However, the use of the ensemble of reservoir models for robust optimization (RO) can be computationally demanding. The straightforward computation of the expected net present value (NPV) requires many expensive simulations. To reduce the computational burden without sacrificing accuracy, we present a fast and effective

Most transposable elements (TEs) in the mouse genome are heavily modified by DNA methylation and repressive histone modifications. However, a subset of TEs exhibit variable methylation levels in genetically identical individuals, and this is associated with epigenetically conferred phenotypic differences, environmental adaptability, and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. The evolutionary origins

Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) is an interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene that shows broad antiviral activities against a wide range of enveloped viruses. Here, using an IFN-stimulated gene screen against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-SARS-CoV and VSV-SARS-CoV-2 chimeric viruses, we identified CH25H and its enzymatic product 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC) as potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication

Therapeutic approaches for the induction of immune tolerance remain an unmet clinical need for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Based on its role in the control of the immune response, the ligand-activated transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a candidate target for novel immunotherapies. Here, we report the development of AhR-activating nanoliposomes

In untreated HIV-1 infection, rapid viral evolution allows escape from immune responses. Viral replication can be blocked by antiretroviral therapy. However, HIV-1 persists in a latent reservoir in resting CD4+ T cells, and rebound viremia occurs following treatment interruption. The reservoir, which is maintained in part by clonal expansion, can be measured using quantitative viral outgrowth assays

Processing and presentation of self-antigens and foreign antigens and their loading into class I and class II molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) constitute a major feature of the cellular immune response and induce CD8 and CD4 T cell immune responses (1, 2), respectively. The MHC complex, in human, called human leukocyte antigen complex (HLA), is the most polymorphic locus of the

Diverse efforts in protein engineering are beginning to produce novel kinds of symmetric self-assembling architectures, from protein cages to extended two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) crystalline arrays. Partial theoretical frameworks for creating symmetric protein materials have been introduced, but no complete system has been articulated. Only a minute fraction of the possible design

Engineered cytokines are gaining importance in cancer therapy, but these products are often limited by toxicity, especially at early time points after intravenous administration. 4-1BB is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, which has been considered as a target for therapeutic strategies with agonistic antibodies or using its cognate cytokine ligand, 4-1BBL. Here we describe

In science news around the world, the 11th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is officially over, giving the country respite from the disease for the first time in more than 2 years. Pfizer applies for emergency authorization for its coronavirus vaccine, the first such request for a vaccine during the pandemic. U.S. regulators give their first approval to an at-home diagnostic test

Following cable breaks that have brought the 57-year-old facility to the brink of collapse, the Arecibo Observatory will be demolished, officials at the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced on 19 November. The giant radio dish saw plenty of fame over the years. It was the first to detect evidence for gravitational waves, the first to peer through Venus's thick clouds, and the first to detect

In October 2010, in a building the size of three U.S. football fields, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory powered up 192 laser beams, focused their energy into a pulse with the punch of a speeding truck, and fired it at a pellet of nuclear fuel the size of a peppercorn. So began a campaign by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to achieve the goal it is named for: igniting a fusion

Although even the best cancer drugs don't buy much time for most people with advanced cancer, there are rare exceptions: patients whose tumors melt away and who remain healthy years later. Researchers have long dismissed these "exceptional responders" as unexplainable outliers. Now, an effort to systematically study them is yielding data that could help improve cancer treatments. The project, led by

In September, researchers reported discovering signs of phosphine—a toxic compound that on Earth is made in significant amounts only by microbes and chemists—in radio emissions from Venus's atmosphere. The unexpected detection could point to a microbial biosphere floating in the venusian clouds. But those results have since come under scrutiny, including from the original discovery team, which, citing

Schools around the world are again the site of a large, and largely uncontrolled, experiment. When schools reopened in April and May as the first wave of COVID-19 cases subsided, the virus stayed mostly at bay. Health and education officials cheered, relieved that the huge benefits of in-person schooling seemed to outweigh the risk of viral spread among children and teachers—and from schools to wider

Celestial reference frames are the fixed, imaginary grids against which everything else moves, akin to lines of latitude and longitude on Earth. For the past few decades, astronomers have based them on radio observations of several thousand quasars, cosmic lighthouses generated by black holes in distant galactic centers. These radio beacons not only guide the pointing of telescopes, but they are also

The presence of leaves on deciduous trees not only marks the changing of the seasons, but also defines the period of time in which trees store carbon from the air in leaves, wood, and roots. Warming winters causing earlier spring-leaf emergence is a widespread pattern of climate-change impacts across temperate tree species and their locations (1). Much more idiosyncratic is the timing of leaf senescence

The spectrum of the simplest atomic species, the hydrogen (H) atom with only a single electron, was initially described with Bohr's theory of 1913 and was refined with newer theories, from Schrödinger's quantum mechanics to Dirac's relativistic formalism and ultimately Feynman-Schwinger-Tomonaga's quantum electrodynamics (QED). The latter includes the effects of virtual particles that emerge from the

The primary function of cells in all epithelial tissues is to form a physical barrier separating different compartments. Cell-cell adhesion structures seal neighboring membranes to form a barrier. Depending on the number of cells that are clumped together, these are called bicellular or tricellular junctions (1). During development and normal tissue homeostasis, cells in epithelia move and change their

An abrupt and substantial change in a climate system from one steady state to another—called a climate regime shift—has a considerable impact on ecosystems and society because of the abbreviated time period for adaptation (1, 2). Recognizing the occurrence of regime shifts in climate is crucial for the timely development of effective policy responses to cope with the change. On page 1095 of this issue

Tissues are complex and contain a diverse compendium of cell types and states. Genetic disruptions can affect any one or all of these cells and, in doing so, sometimes give rise to disease. There are thousands of genes associated with human disease, and studying the effects of genetic disruption across all cell types within mammalian tissues remains difficult. Perturbations with single-cell sequencing

The efficacy of a market system is rooted in competition. In striving to attract customers, firms are led to charge lower prices and deliver better products and services. Nothing more fundamentally undermines this process than collusion, when firms agree not to compete with one another and consequently consumers are harmed by higher prices. Collusion is generally condemned by economists and policy-makers

Before we were worried about fossil fuels and plastic pollution, nuclear waste stretched our minds to think about our place in geological time. In Deep Time Reckoning, cultural anthropologist Vincent Ialenti would have us look to the experts charged with finding a final resting place for this waste for inspiration. Rather than allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of humanity's effects