Bering

Photo of grave. Credit: Nadezhda F. StepanovaThe migration of individuals from North Asia to North America across the Bering Sea is a well-established event in early human history. Despite this, the genetic composition of the people who inhabited North Asia during this time period has remained elusive due to a scarce number of ancient genomes obtained from this region. However, in a recent report published in Current Biology, researchers reveal genomes from ten individuals, some up to 7,500 years old, which shed light on…

The samples were collected on the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea on an ambitious trans-Arctic expedition in 1994. Credit: US Coast GuardPrinceton scientists found that the Bering Land Bridge was flooded until 35,700 years ago, with its full emergence occurring only shortly before the migration of humans into the Americas.A new study shows that the Bering Land Bridge, the strip of land that once connected Asia to Alaska, emerged far later during the last ice age than previously thought.The unexpected findings…

Skull. Credit: Sergey V. Semenov The movement of people across the Bering Sea from North Asia to North America is a well-known phenomenon in early human history. Nevertheless, the genetic makeup of the people who lived in North Asia during this time has remained mysterious due to a limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on January 12 describe genomes from ten…

Artist’s depiction of ERBS. Illustration: NASAA 2.7-ton defunct satellite came down over the Bering Sea on January 8 near the Aleutian Islands, andwhile most of it burned up in the atmosphere, NASA says it’s likely that some pieces reached the surface.NASA says its Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) made its reentry at 11:04 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 8, with Space Force’s Space Track confirming a reentry near the Aleutian Islands, as reported in SpaceNews. The 5,400-pound research satellite had spent the last 38…

Frozen Bering Strait near Nome/Alaska. Credit: Crissi/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). …

Snow crab fishing season in Alaska’s Bering Sea has been canceled for the first time in history. Bristol Bay’s red king crab fishery will also be closed, for the second year in a row. Both decisions follow shellfish surveys that revealed startling population collapses.Between 2019 and 2021, snow crab numbers in the Bering Sea fell by about 90%. 2022 counts have dropped even further, said Miranda Westphal, a state Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) biologist, to Alaska Public Media. “In 2021 when they surveyed, we saw…

The research vessel Sikuliaq sails in Alaska’s Resurrection Bay in July 2020. The ship's home port is Seward. The University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences operates the Sikuliaq. The National Science Foundation owns the ship. Credit: Sarah Spanos A team of scientists will soon head to the Aleutian Islands aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq on a voyage to reconstruct the region's ancient history…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Polar Star, pictured carving through ice in this 2017 USCG image, supported the Naval Postgraduate School research team in the field during a detailed study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, into sea ice variability in the Bering Sea and its broader impact to the Arctic region. Credit: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer David Mosley The…