Caves

Microbes are the smallest known living organisms on Earth and can be found just about everywhere, even in the cold, Mars-like conditions of lava caves.On the island of Hawai'i, scientists recently found a marvelous assortment of novel microbes thriving in geothermal caves, lava tubes, and volcanic vents.  These underground structures were formed 65 and 800 years ago and receive little to no sunlight. They can also harbor toxic minerals and gases. Yet microbial mats are a common feature of Hawai'ian lava caves. Samples of…

Hawai’i is home to multiple lava caves, lava tubes, and geothermal vents. And a new study that researchers published in Frontiers in Microbiology reveals that these caves have higher bacteria diversity than expected. Researchers have discovered thousands of ancient unknown bacteria lurking within the caves. Scientists found thousands of ancient unknown bacteria hiding in caves Thurston Lava Tube, a 500-year-old lava cave located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Image source: VW Pics / Getty…

Steve Smith in a Hawaiian cave passage filled with roots of the Kaʻu district on the Island of Hawai`i. Credit: Kenneth InghamCenturies-Old Lava Caves of Hawaiʻi Island Contain Thousands of Unknown Bacterial SpeciesHigher bacterial diversity than scientists expected has been uncovered in the lava caves, lava tubes, and geothermal vents on the big island of Hawaiʻi. The findings have been reported in a new study published today (July 21, 2022) in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.This research investigates the variety…

The Thurston Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcano National Park, Big IslandPhoto: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)Hawaii’s volcanic environments containa rich array of mysterious microbes, new research this week has found. Scientists say that the islands’ lava caves and other structures created by volcanic activity have unique, diverse, and still uncharacterized communities of bacteria living inside them. The findings indicate that there is much left to learn about life in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth.Researchers at…

Multiple ancient hominin remains from caves in South Africa may be much, much older than previous estimates suggested.The Sterkfontein limestone cave system, not far from Johannesburg, has yielded so many ancient bones from the hominin genus Australopithecus over the last century that its location has been dubbed the Cradle of Humankind – deeply important to the study of human evolution.  Now, new dating techniques suggest that the remains date back nearly 4 million years – making them even older than the famous…

| Boom Studios announced today that it has promoted and hired several employees in the Sales and Marketing teams. And there were some familiar faces all around. Greg Hopkins & Manny Castellanos from Boom Studios Greg Hopkins has joined as Boom Studios' Retail Sales Coordinator. Hopkins joins Boom Studios after owning a comic shop , producing and distributing comic exclusives for artists including Stanley "Artgerm" Lau, Derrick Chew, Kunkka, Ejikure, Alan Quah, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Leirix. Hopkins also owned and…

A team of Chinese scientists has discovered a giant new sinkhole with a forest at its bottom. The sinkhole is 630 feet (192 meters) deep, according to the Xinhua news agency, deep enough to just swallow St. Louis' Gateway Arch.  A team of speleologists and spelunkers rappelled into the sinkhole on Friday (May 6), discovering that there are three cave entrances in the chasm, as well as ancient trees 131 feet (40 meters) tall, stretching their branches toward the sunlight that filters through the sinkhole entrance."This is…

New details of our past are coming to light, hiding in the nooks and crannies of the world, as we refine our techniques to go looking for them. Most lauded is the reconstruction of the evolution of humanity since our African origins around 300,000 years ago, by analyzing our living and fossil DNA.  Replete with the ghosts of African and Eurasian populations of the deep past, these have been resurrected only through the ability of science to reach into the world of the minuscule by studying biomolecules.Now, digital…

Trials are underway to deploy electric vehicles for tourist transportation at the renowned Ellora Caves complex in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, an official said on Monday. He said the firm implementing the scheme at the world heritage site, some 30 kilometres from here, is testing two EVs and the results would be known in a few days.The Ellora complex, comprising Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves spread over 2.2 square kilometres, is visited by thousands of people and the electric service plan was initiated by the…