Mosasaurs, giant marine reptiles that existed more than 66 million years ago, lived not only in the sea but also in rivers. This is shown by new research based on analyses of a mosasaur tooth found in North Dakota and believed to belong to an animal that could reach a length of 11 metres.
In southern Africa, a group of people lived in partial isolation for hundreds of thousands of years. This is shown in a new study based on analyses of the genomes of 28 people who lived between 10,200 and 150 years ago in southern Africa. The researchers also found genetic adaptations that likely shaped Homo sapiens as a species.
A completely new order of marine sponges has been found by researchers at the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University. The sponge order, named Vilesida, produces substances that could be used in drug development. The same substances support the hypothesis that sponges – and therefore animals – emerged 100 million years earlier than previously thought.
When males are forced to compete for females, new species form more rapidly. This has been shown when researchers compared beetles allowed to mate freely with groups of the same species where competition for mating was restricted. The experiments, which have been going on for 40 years, explain how important sexual selection is for the emergence of new species.
Women who have been exposed to multiple traumatic experiences during childhood have more difficult births than others. They are much more likely to need emergency caesarean sections, suffer major haemorrhages or pre-eclampsia, and need more antibiotics. These findings come from a new study involving 1,253 women, who were monitored from before giving birth to one year afterwards.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will give an open lecture in Uppsala on Friday 28 November. The title of the lecture is “Multilateralism, Health and Peace: Past Achievements, Present Difficulties, Future Hope”. The lecture is open to the public and will be followed by a panel discussion.
The attitudes and knowledge of individual case officers or working groups are determining what help battered women get when they need a new home. In the absence of national or municipal guidelines, these decisions are taken far down in the organisation. A new report from the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (NCK) reveals major differences between municipalities.
