Antarctica

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It’s hard to imagine Antarctica as anything other than a freezing lifeless landscape, but that wasn’t always the case. Now, an international team has recovered a 90-million-year old soil sample that paints the most detailed picture of ancient Antarctica ever found, revealing a swampy rainforest and balmy temperatures.According to the…

Researchers have found evidence of rainforests near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the climate was exceptionally warm at the time. A team from the UK and Germany discovered forest soil from the Cretaceous period within 900 km of the South Pole. Their analysis of the preserved roots,…

Think of Antarctica and it is probably sweeping expanses of ice, and the odd penguin, that come to mind. But at the time of the dinosaurs the continent was covered in swampy rainforest. Now experts say they have found the most southerly evidence yet of this … Read More

Image copyright AWI/James McKay Image caption An artist's impression of what it might have looked like in West Antarctica 90 million years ago Scientists drilling off the coast of West Antarctica have found the fossil remains of forests that grew in the region 90 million years ago - in the…

AbstractThe mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such…

AbstractThe mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1,2,3,4,5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such…

University of Wollongong climate change biologist Senior Professor Sharon Robinson in the lab. Credit: Paul Jones, UOW This summer, while drought, heatwaves and bushfires ravaged Australia, Antarctica was also experiencing a summer of extreme weather. In East Antarctica, scientists recorded the first reported heatwave event at Casey research station in…

Home News Science & Astronomy Adelie penguins in Antarctica surrounded by guano. (Image: © Getty) There are at least two bright spots in these strange times: Telescopes are still studying distant galaxies and penguins are still pooping across Antarctica. In both cases, if you're looking for new ways to pass…

Somewhat fresher chicken eggs than the ones discovered from the time of Roman Britain. Credit: Steve MirskyHere are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about the discovery of an intact chicken egg dating to Roman Britain.Hi, I’m Scientific American podcast editor Steve…