How glacier algae are challenging the way we think about evolution

By Alexander Bowles, Postdoctoral research associate, University of Bristol

People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth – glaciers – but are also shaping them.

With a team of scientists from the UK and Canada, we traced the evolution of purple algae back hundreds of millions of years and our findings challenge a key idea about how evolution works. Though small, these algae are having a dramatic effect on the glaciers they live on.

Glaciers are among the planet’s fastest changing…

Read complete article

~	The most realistic way to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee – allow him a graceful exit

~	Kenya: Witnesses Describe Police Killing Protesters

~	Supreme Court rules cities can ban homeless people from sleeping outdoors – Sotomayor dissent summarizes opinion as ‘stay awake or be arrested’

~	Supreme Court makes prosecution of Trump on obstruction charge more difficult, with ruling to narrowly define law used against him and Jan. 6 rioters

~	How camping bans − like the one the Supreme Court just upheld − can fit into ‘hostile design’: Strategies to push out homeless people

~	UN rights chief calls time on ‘economic violence’ against women and girls

~	Nigeria battles cervical cancer as doctors raise awareness about screening and HPV vaccine

~	Global interest in ayahuasca is leading to spiritual tourism and creating challenges for local communities

~	Euro 2024: have England lost their nerve? A psychologist explains

~	One in five 18- to 24-year-olds don’t wash their hands at festivals. Here’s what you need to know about hand hygiene