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Magma located under areas that include the Yellowstone region and the western margin of North and South America can erupt violently, spewing vast quantities of ash into the air, followed by slower flows of glassy, viscous magma. [A] new study by University of Wyoming researchers suggests scientists can go back to the past to study present-day solidified magma chambers where the erosion has removed overlying rock, exposing granite underpinnings. One such large granite body, the 2.62 billion-year-old Wyoming batholith, extends more than 125 miles across central Wyoming. University of Wyoming earth scientist Davin Bagdonas traversed the Granite, Shirley and Laramie...

Climate change alters the way in which species interact with one another — a reality that applies not just to today or to the future, but also to the past, according to a paper published by a team of researchers in the journal Science. "We found that, at all time scales, climate change can alter biotic interactions in very complex ways," said paleoecologist Jessica Blois of the University of California, Merced, the paper's lead author. "If we don't incorporate this information when we're anticipating future changes, we're missing a big piece of the puzzle." Blois asked for input from researchers...