ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

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• Prequel outshines the original: Exceptional fossils of 160-million-year-old doahugou biota
• Meat and cheese may be as bad for you as smoking
• Virtually all red dwarf stars have at least one planet in orbit around them
• 30,000 year-old giant virus found in Siberia
• Large mammals were the architects in prehistoric ecosystems

Prequel outshines the original: Exceptional fossils of 160-million-year-old doahugou biota Posted: 04 Mar 2014 11:17 AM PST A new article shows that several Jurassic sites are linked together by shared species and can be recognized as representing a single fossil fauna and flora, containing superbly preserved specimens of a diverse group of amphibian, mammal, and reptile species.

Meat and cheese may be as bad for you as smoking Posted: 04 Mar 2014 09:56 AM PST A high-protein diet during middle age makes you nearly twice as likely to die and four times more likely to die of cancer, but moderate protein intake is good for you after 65. But how much protein we should eat has long been a controversial topic -- muddled by the popularity of protein-heavy diets such as Paleo and Atkins. Before this study, researchers had never shown a definitive correlation between high protein consumption and mortality risk.

Virtually all red dwarf stars have at least one planet in orbit around them Posted: 04 Mar 2014 04:14 AM PST Three new planets classified as habitable-zone super-Earths are amongst eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. A new study identifies that virtually all red dwarfs, which make up at least three quarters of the stars in the Universe, have planets orbiting them. The research also suggests that habitable-zone super-Earth planets (where liquid water could exist and making them possible candidates to support life) orbit around at least a quarter of the red dwarfs in the Sun's own neighbourhood.

30,000 year-old giant virus found in Siberia Posted: 04 Mar 2014 04:14 AM PST A new type of giant virus called "Pithovirus" has been discovered in the frozen ground of extreme north-eastern Siberia. Buried underground, this giant virus, which is harmless to humans and animals, has survived being frozen for more than 30,000 years. Although its size and amphora shape are reminiscent of Pandoravirus, analysis of its genome and replication mechanism proves that Pithovirus is very different. This work brings to three the number of distinct families of giant viruses.

Large mammals were the architects in prehistoric ecosystems Posted: 03 Mar 2014 12:41 PM PST Elephants, rhinoceroses and aurochs once roamed around freely in the forests of Europe, while hippopotamuses lived in rivers such as the Thames and the Rhine. New research shows how we can use knowledge about the past to restore a varied landscape with a high level of biodiversity.

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