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A creature's internal temperature plays a big role in its behavior. Over the past decades our understanding of the behavior of various dinosaur groups has evolved. A combination of bone histology (patterns of bone growth as an individual develops from juvenile to adult), energetics gleaned from anatomy and ecology, and fossil geographic distribution all suggest that at least some dinosaur groups evolved an ability to regulate their internal temperature (endothermy).There is evidence from isotope work that some species within Theropod, Sauropod, and Ornithician dinosaur groups maintained a high body temperature. In contrast, specific biomolecules and inference of ecologic preference suggests that many other dinosaur lineages did not maintain endothermic metabolism. Dinosaur physiology and thermal regulation continues to be studied and debated.What has been missing is a consistent and reliable method for ascertaining their body temperature.Recently Randon J. Flores and coworkers applied a technique known as carbonate clumped isotopes to fossil teeth (enamel) of specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex to determine its body temperature. The sample was from the Cretaceous age Hell Creek Formation, North America. This technique measures the abundance of C13-O18 bonds in carbonate minerals that make up the enamel. These bonds of the heavier isotopes of carbon and oxygen are more common at lower temperatures. They are not affected by the isotope composition of the reacting fluids and is a direct indicator of the temperature of mineral formation.

In this essay, Jean-Baptiste Koehl reflects on the origin of a 100-year-old divide within the geoscience community and explores how tectonics and paleontology may be brought closer together through the concept of orogenic bridges.

A new study blames 122 companies for contributing to severe drought in the region....

 In the opening of my most recent post where I wrote about the essential role in science of challenging conclusions,  I quoted Carl Sagan from The Demon-Haunted World (1996) about certitude being applicable only to pure mathematics.  I had only read the excerpt from Sagan's book that Richard Dawkins included in his always rewarding The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008).  I decided to read the book as a bit of after-the-fact due diligence.  What if I'd been wrong about what Sagan was saying?  (I wasn't.)

Back in July (25 & 26), Marc and Natee attended DinoCon 2026 in Birmingham, the successor to DinoCon 2025 in Exeter, which was the spiritual successor to all those TetZooCons. It was huuuge. In Episode 52 of our questionably punctual podcast, they di...

In a rare expression of forecast confidence, NHC predicted Polo would become a Cat 5 at a time when it was still a tropical storm....

My Utton Center posse is throwing a book launch party Friday (Sept. 25, 2026, 12:30 p.m.) at the Guild in Nob Hill. When we were conjuring up a title over the summer, we came up with "A conversation about the past, present, and future of Albuque...

Marine carbon dioxide removal could support climate action but faces major scientific, technical and governance challenges, according to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report....

Three groups of scientists will receive crowdfunded support to further the scientific exploration of space....

Today we are investigating tectonic plates. What are they?  "Chocolate Plates; simulating the properties of a lithospheric plate".

Landscapes past and present emerge from a surveyor's lines, as if by magic.In 1881, Israel Cook Russell set out to map a lake that had been gone for 10,000 years, one that had filled the dry basins of northwest Nevada with fresh water. He was eager t...

Here are some points of vulnerability:

A century of development, rising seas, and climate change have made South Florida far more vulnerable to a catastrophic storm....

 Click to access video on YouTube...

M.S. in Climate Finance student Martín Urrutia Illanes combines engineering, renewable energy development and financial analysis to address Chile's climate challenges....

While Roman doubles its lifetime and Artemis astronauts retire, a new discovery may be the youngest exoplanet ever....

(Schematic cross-section showing leaf stomatal O_3 uptake, chloroplast oxidative stress, and the resulting downregulation of Earth's global photosynthetic carbon uptake (GPP))

Trust in science appears to be in crisis these days. So-called 'alternative facts' often fall on fertile ground, particularly amongst populist circles. During the Covid-19 pandemic in particular, this loss of trust was evident, for example, in the 'Querdenken' movement, which, amongst others, deliberately questioned protective measures and the effectiveness of vaccines. But what exactly does the pandemic have to do with uncertainty, and how can trust be built through better science communication? 

Greeshma Gadikota is developing a wide range of new approaches for sustainably acquiring and refining the raw inputs that become hardware and energy....

Back-to-back European heatwaves pushed this year's Glacier Loss Day to its second earliest date on record, indicating accelerating glacial melt across Switzerland, France and Italy....

"Late that night, in absolute darkness, it hit, with the far shrieking screams, the queer rumbling of a vast and irresistible freight train." (Marjory Stoneman Douglas)...

When people think of volcanoes, they imagine large, devastating eruptions and lava streams gushing from the summit of an edifice. However, even when volcanoes are not visibly 'active', there can be more lurking below the surface.  Hydrothermal alteration is one of the important and often less-talked-about culprits that changes dome-forming rocks and minerals from within. It can occur in parallel with other processes, and, therefore, it might flow under the radar. As a matter of fact, one in five historical volcanic collapses recorded since 1500 AD have been caused by hydrothermal alteration. Good thing that today's post will cover the whys, hows and know-how of hydrothermal alteration.

While it's true that That Movie launched the dinosaur obsessions of (possibly) millions in '93, it's always important to remember that it rode in on the peak of a wave of Dinomania inspired by the Dinosaur Renaissance. Dinosaurs were no longer ...

Hot on the heels of the discovery of Diplodocus in Spain (Sánchez-Fenollosa et al. 2026), I am publicly committing to this prediction. I think it's inevitable that someone will find an apatosaurine in Europe, for the following reasons:

I sat down today (and yesterday, and the day before that, and also last week...) to write about trees, as I often do. Backyard trees, specifically ? part of my ongoing fascination with how we can reimagine private land as a public good in our citie...

Driest Rio Grande flow on record Updating my "drought and climate change" lecture each fall is a useful exercise - this year more useful than most. Much like the year itself, my slide deck is setting all time records for new data visualizatio...

Deciphering Earth's geological history is no easy feat. For undergraduate students beginning their journey in geology, identifying a rock and drawing connections with relevant geodynamic processes occurring over millions of years can be a challenge. In this week's blog post, Phillip Ruscia explains how virtual reality (VR) and the High Immersion Virtual Experiences (HIVE) research lab at the University of Toronto are bridging the "abstraction gap" and preparing the next generation of geoscientists.

Sustainable development alum Dylan Dettloff used his Columbia Climate School Collaborative Research Grant to develop a Python-based decision tool to help rural and water-scarce communities identify the most suitable desalination technologies....

The Climate School is excited to again serve as Climate Group's education partner and host a full lineup of events on and off campus throughout the week....