New insights into how the Caribbean islands were settled

+ studying how climate change affects animals' microbiomes US Edition - Today's top story: Archaeologists determined the step-by-step path taken by the first people to settle the Caribbean islands [View in browser]( US Edition | 30 September 2020 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Archeologists know that people first started to colonize the islands of the Caribbean about 7,000 years ago but the routes they took has remained a mystery. A group of researchers reviewed decades of artifacts and, using radiocarbon dating, created a clearer picture of [how humanity first spread from island to island](. Also in this week’s science and research news, climate scientists explain what the [Earth was like 3 million years ago]( when carbon dioxide levels are the same as now, the technology of [programmable, color-changing tattoos](, and how [ancient microbial life may have survived without oxygen](. Martin La Monica Deputy Editor What route did the first settlers to colonize the islands of the Caribbean take? M.M. Swee/Moment via Getty Images [Archaeologists determined the step-by-step path taken by the first people to settle the Caribbean islands]( Matthew F. Napolitano, University of Oregon; Jessica Stone, University of Oregon; Robert DiNapoli, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Scott Fitzpatrick, University of Oregon Did people settle these islands by traveling north from South America, or in the other direction? Reanalyzing data from artifacts discovered decades ago provides a definitive answer. Purple microbial mats offer clues to how ancient life functioned. Pieter Visscher [Ancient microbial life used arsenic to thrive in a world without oxygen]( Pieter Visscher, University of Connecticut; Brendan Paul Burns, UNSW; Kimberley L. Gallagher, Quinnipiac University How ancient microbes survived in a world without oxygen has been a mystery. Scientists discovered a living microbial mat that uses arsenic instead of oxygen for photosynthesis and respiration. Ice floe drifting in Svalbard, Norway. Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images [The Arctic hasn’t been this warm for 3 million years – and that foreshadows big changes for the rest of the planet]( Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Steve Petsch, University of Massachusetts Amherst Extreme shrinkage of summer sea ice is just the latest evidence of rapid Arctic warming – and what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay there. Other good finds - [Dynamic tattoos promise to warn wearers of health threats]( - [Climate warming is altering animals’ gut microbes, which are critical to their health and survival]( - [The neural cruelty of captivity: Keeping large mammals in zoos and aquariums damages their brains]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe](. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111