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Global warming is breaking a 400-year climate link between two oceans
The Indian and Pacific oceans have been climatically linked for centuries, but scientists say that connection is now breaking down in an exceptional way. Ancient climate records suggest volcanoes disrupted the relationship in the past, while today human-caused warming appears to be driving a much more unusual shift.
Mathematical 'Code' Found In Great Pyramid May Reveal Ancient Secret, Researcher Claims
A researcher claims the Great Pyramid of Giza contains a hidden mathematical code linked to the Moon, stars and planets, but the theory remains unproven.
Scientists unlock secrets of ancient Egyptian materials with proteomics
Analysis revealed seed proteins from sesame and moringa, which held religious and symbolic significance.
Why Chile’s 2,000-Year-Old Alerce Trees Have Become Magnets for Underground Fungi
The loss of one ancient Alerce tree could wipe out centuries of fungal diversity.
Microscopic fragments of ancient alien tech may litter the moon — and scientists have a plan to find them
Researchers propose that tiny technological remnants left over from extinct alien civilizations could have landed on the moon after traveling through interstellar space. It may not take long to find them, the team claims.
Mercury may not need an ancient dynamo to explain its magnetic crust
New analyses of MESSENGER data find that present-day magnetic field can explain most of its crustal magnetism
Opinion | No way: Wisdom and, or, but, politics
The wisdom of ancients offers guidance for our modern, confusing times, writes columnist David Romtvedt. %
Four Islamic polymaths prove breadth beats specialisation
The fathers of Islamic science hold lessons for students: breadth over specialisation, and never let constraints get in the way
How did ancient Israelites make wine? Scientists are stomping grapes to find out
Researchers use reconstructed Hasmonean winepress, four tons of Merlot and modern sensors in attempt to recreate how residents of Holy Land prepared their libations
The First Denisovan Arm Bone Offers a New Clue to What These Ancient and Mysterious Humans Looked Like
New fossils, tools and butchered bones put an elusive human lineage into everyday life.
Scientists uncover 149 species new to science on ancient Indian Ocean seamounts near Australia
Researchers examining ancient underwater volcanoes identified 149 species never before described by science in the Indian Ocean near Australia.
Scientists uncover 149 species new to science on ancient Indian Ocean seamounts near Australia
"People had been around the islands in shallow water before, but no one had looked at life in the deep."
Inside the Buzzy, Controversial Business of Artifact Jewelry
Do ancient artifacts have a place as jewelry, or only in museums? Jewelers and archaeologists weigh in.
The moon may have formed in just 5 hours, new simulations suggest
Novel simulations, which reassessed the ancient collision between Earth and the protoplanet Theia, suggest that the moon could have emerged from the aftermath of this impact much more quickly than scientists previously thought.
The wildest sport you’ve never heard of has some unlikely stars: American cowboys
Nine American cowboys joined thousands of global athletes in Kyrgyzstan for the World Nomad Games, competing in Kok-Boru — Central Asia’s ancient, brutal sport of equestrian goat-grabbing.
Moment of Science: Abundant oxygen not enough to explain massive ancient insects, new study suggests
Unlocking answers about giant ancient insects! Here's why an abundance of oxygen 300 million years ago may not explain why some animals got so gigantic after all.
Scientists Are Still Trying To Understand How the Moon Formed
The Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions, and the Giant Impact Hypothesis strives to explain this. New research into the ancient impact shows how the temperature of both worlds, and how it affects the strength of the materials involved in the collision, shaped the outcome, including the isotopic compositions.
Moment of Science: Abundant oxygen not enough to explain massive ancient insects, new study suggests
Unlocking answers about giant ancient insects! Here's why an abundance of oxygen 300 million years ago may not explain why some animals got so gigantic after all.
Ancient Roman fresco and mosaic featuring maritime city unveiled at newly restored Baths of Trajan
Authorities in Rome have unveiled what is believed to be the largest fresco and mosaic complex of ancient Rome.
Ancient Roman fresco and mosaic featuring maritime city unveiled at newly restored Baths of Trajan
Authorities in Rome have unveiled what is believed to be the largest fresco and mosaic complex of ancient Rome | 1010 WINS
Ancient Roman fresco and mosaic featuring maritime city unveiled at newly restored Baths of Trajan
Authorities in Rome have unveiled what is believed to be the largest fresco and mosaic complex of ancient Rome.
Scientists have traced the human eye back to a tiny one-eyed ancestor that lived nearly 600 million years ago — and remnants of that ancient “cyclops” eye may still survive inside our brains as the pineal gland
What if the mysterious gland Descartes thought held the soul is actually a shriveled relic from our one-eyed ancestor—and some animals still use theirs.
15,000-Year-Old Cave Art in Ireland Could Push Back Human Arrival on the Island by Thousands of Years
Ancient Irish cave art may reveal a lost Ice Age route from Wales.
Ancient Egyptians Were Putting Some Strange Things into Their Paint
Protein traces reveal practical workshop recipes and a connection to the god Ptah.
Jenks Center presents ‘Stone Age Science’ with Joshua Passell
The following was submitted by the Jenks Center: On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the Jenks Center, 109 Skillings Road, will host “Stone Age Science,” from 6-7 p.m., with Joshua Passell. The natural world is rich with mysteries, but not so mysterious that our ancient ancestors were unable to understand
Science says ancient roman concrete could repair its own cracks: The secret was hidden in tiny white chunk
Modern concrete can become vulnerable when cracks allow water and chemicals to seep into its interior. Ancient Roman concrete, by contrast, appears to have contained a reserve of reactive, calcium-rich material that could contribute to its long-term durability.
What if your ‘lizard brain’ never existed? Scientists challenge a 70-year-old theory and uncover the wiring battle that may have shaped human intelligence
For decades, the human brain was like some evolutionary skyscraper: ancient instincts on the bottom, emotions in the middle, and sophisticated reasoning on the top. That’s a good reason why we sometimes feel stuck between impulse and logic.
How Ancient Farmers Used Floral Designs to Track Goods
A Mesopotamian culture’s decorated ceramics show some early roots of math, researchers argued.
Scientists reconstructed a Wyoming forest from 56-million-year-old fossil leaves; it lost about 60% of its canopy during ancient warming and took more than 100,000 years to recover
Deep in the rock record of Wyoming, a layer of fossil leaves tells a quiet but powerful story about what happens to forests when the planet warms rapidly. About 56 million years ago, during a spike in global temperatures known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a lush subtropical forest that once covered the region lost roughly 60 percent of its canopy.
Scientists recreated an ancient Chinese bronze-casting technique with 3D printing; a process that took weeks now takes under 40 hours
Researchers have recreated the logic of an ancient Chinese bronze-casting technique with digital modelling, 3D printing and substitute materials, cutting a process that traditionally takes weeks to less than 40 hours. The study focused on ‘piece-mold casting,’ a distinctive method used to produce ritual bronzes during China’s Shang and Zhou dynasties.
Ancient Egyptian tomb holding the king's 'keeper of secrets' unearthed at Saqqara
The tomb of a pyramid-age official has been found at Saqqara in Egypt.
Scientists uncovered a bizarre crocodile cousin from 215 million years ago that started life walking on all fours, then changed its entire stance as it grew — by adulthood it was standing upright and striding around on two legs
A crocodile relative in ancient Arizona underwent a radical transformation during its lifetime, shifting from four-legged crawler to upright biped—a developmental puzzle that rewrites what scientists thought possible for reptiles.
Scientists Detect Strange New Structures Deep Inside the Earth
Scientists analyzed data from over two million earthquakes and identified six ancient structures lurking at the core-mantle boundary.
How did the Romans build their towering aqueducts?
The ancient Romans are well known for their aqueducts. But how did they build these impressive structures?
3,200-year-old inscription may point to a long-lost ancient Egyptian city from the time of Ramesses II
An inscription written in the time of Ramesses II may indicate the location of a lost ancient Egyptian city.
Ancient American cheetahs were not exactly cheetah-like
The extinct big cats stalked grasslands 2.5 million years ago.
Rabies: Why this deadly disease remains a threat
This ancient disease has plagued humans for 4,000 years. Here's why rabies still poses risks to people and pets today.
Scientists looked inside a rock pellet smaller than a grain of rice and found a 445-million-year-old world preserved within it — more than 20 microscopic marine organisms, including a species never seen before
A microscopic time capsule from an ancient ocean reveals an entire ecosystem frozen in stone—and scientists didn't even know to look for it.
Rome’s Inequality Was Bad. But China's Han Dynasty Was Even Worse
The richest one percenters dominated ancient Rome and Han China.
2,000-year-old Roman concrete may offer clues on how Pyramid of Giza was built
Insights into how the ancient concrete grows denser could help create a low-carbon modern version and explain how the Great Pyramid endured.
Iron helped scientists trace Earth's oxygen. Now it's telling a bigger story
For decades, scientists have studied iron preserved in ancient rocks to reconstruct how Earth's oceans and atmosphere became rich in oxygen. A new study suggests iron has recorded other major transformations ...
Lavish private bath used by Roman emperor and 'high-status residents' discovered at imperial palace in Serbia
The ancient bath complex was tucked in a tower in the corner of the royal palace and reveals unique architecture.
Assistant Professor Thomas Rose, an expert in archaeometallurgy, dies at 37
Assistant Professor Thomas Rose, an expert in ancient metallurgy, has died of injuries from a bicycle accident. He was 37.
Ancient “living fossils” may reveal how complex life began
A newly discovered microbe living inside ancient stromatolite communities may offer a rare look at how complex life first emerged. Researchers captured the first direct images of an Asgard archaeon physically connected to a bacterium, with the two microbes appearing to exchange nutrients and other compounds. Scientists think similar partnerships billions of years ago may have helped produce the first complex cells.
What Did Jurassic Forests Sound Like? Like This.
Scientists spent over a decade reconstructing the calls of nine species of ancient insects to create the first accurate Jurassic soundscape.
A coffee-table-size scorpion roamed Earth before forests existed
A meter-long scorpion with massive pincers stalked ancient Britain 415 million years ago, long before forests and the better-known age of giant insects. Its surprising size and possible semi-aquatic lifestyle could reshape ideas about how early arthropods became giants.
NES – Nintendo Classics adds Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, R.C. PRO-AM II, and Ikari Warriors
The Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Classics app has added Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, R.C. PRO-AM II, and Ikari Warriors, Nintendo announced. In Japan, Dragon Buster…
Thousands of Ancient Human Brains Refuse to Rot—and Scientists Finally Know Their Strange Secret
The human brain sometimes avoids decay for millennia while the rest of the body turns to bones.
Scientists challenge a 70-year-old “lizard brain” myth
A long-standing picture of brain evolution as newer, rational layers stacked on top of an ancient “lizard brain” may be deeply misleading. Researchers found that evolution instead appears to balance two competing styles of brain wiring, expanding one while shrinking the other depending on what an animal needs to survive.
Discover the chambered nautilus with Dr. Gregory J. Barord
Join SciFri Educate for a live Q&A about the ancient chambered nautilus.
1.4-million-year-old footprints reveal a surprisingly large human relative
Ancient footprints in Kenya reveal that eight Paranthropus boisei may have traveled together 1.4 million years ago, with some individuals reaching surprisingly large, human-like body sizes. The tracks offer a rare glimpse of their social behavior and suggest these extinct human relatives may have lived in more complex groups than previously thought.
Scientists discover a massive heat anomaly deep inside Mars
Mars has a hidden temperature divide, with its southern interior potentially hundreds of degrees hotter than the north and partially molten. The discovery could help explain several long-standing Martian mysteries, including unusual magnetism, seismic behavior, and clues to the planet’s ancient water history.
Human Mini Brains Kept Alive For 5 Years, Listen To The Sounds Of An Ancient Jurassic Forest, And Much More This Week
All the biggest science news stories of the week.
Yankees' win against Boston was big in so many ways
Toi start the final regular season meeting between MLB's ancient rivals, the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 1-0, on Friday night in the Bronx.
'An exciting surprise': Ancient shark 'graveyard' uncovered in Egyptian desert
Fossilized teeth from at least seven shark species have been discovered in the Egyptian desert, hinting at its complex, watery past.
Your dislike of eating bugs may be 9,000 years old
Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only occasionally, while Neanderthals may have consumed them much more regularly. Populations near the tropics also retained genes that make insect exoskeletons easier to digest.
Starstruck: NASA Research Shows How Sun’s Ancient History Shaped Earth
In two recent NASA-funded studies, scientists uncover how ancient events in the Sun’s history may have helped create Earth’s unique climate and may have driven previously unexplained climactic shifts.
Barany in the garden: Gardening by the moon: Ancient tradition meets modern science
Can the moon really influence what happens in your garden? Researchers have put the long-held belief to the test.
An Ancient Shark Graveyard Has Been Found in The Egyptian Desert
An entire ocean lost to the sands.
Scientists discovered four snakes curled together in a burrow for 38 million years as the volcanic ash preserved their remarkable fossils
A snake fossil discovery in Wyoming has given palaeontologists an unusually close look at the lives of these ancient reptiles. Four complete skeletons belonging to a newly recognised species, have helped researchers understand an early member of the ‘boa family’ and the history of small, burrowing snakes in North America.
This 23-foot crocodylian may have ruled South America’s food chain
Miocene South America was packed with giant prey—and the predators hunting them were just as spectacular. Fossil bite marks suggest crocodylians, especially the enormous Purussaurus neivensis, were more important predators than mammals in this ancient tropical ecosystem. At around seven meters long, Purussaurus may even have helped control populations of giant herbivores.
16 mummies and a dog reveal a hidden order inside an ancient Egyptian tomb
A tomb in Egypt’s Theban Necropolis reveals a surprisingly organized story of burial, reuse, and changing beliefs spanning hundreds of years. Researchers found 16 mummified people, the remains of at least four more, and a mummified dog, with burials ranging from wealthy individuals laid in coffins with amulets and imported goods to later bodies carefully stacked in increasingly crowded spaces.
The New Science of Dreaming
Researchers have figured out how to induce lucid dreaming—and are using it to help answer to ancient questions about our minds.
300 years of mummies found in ancient Egyptian tomb
At least 20 people and one dog reside in the Theban Necropolis chamber.
The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars — and now-contentious time zones
Experts explore how the social and political construction of time has evolved from ancient natural rhythms to modern standardized systems like time zones and daylight saving time.
Life on Earth may have begun twice. A Science Advances study found that bacteria and archaea inherited one ancient genetic code but independently evolved the machinery needed to become free-living cells — leading the researchers to describe it as “one origin of the genetic code, but two origins of life.
The study proposes one inherited genetic system but two independent completions of cellular metabolism, not two unrelated acts of abiogenesis.
'The lance head was still inside the pelvis:' Mass grave found in Austria may hold casualties of unknown ancient Roman battle
A new analysis of skeletons recovered from an ancient mass burial has revealed a surprising number of groin injuries.
Neptune’s tiny moons may be the wreckage of shattered ancient worlds
JWST has uncovered surprising clues that Neptune’s strange inner moons may be the wreckage of an ancient cosmic catastrophe. Researchers detected clay-like minerals on Larissa, Galatea, and Neptune’s rings that form in the presence of liquid water—yet the moons themselves show no obvious water ice. The material likely came from deep inside much larger icy moons that were shattered when Triton was captured by Neptune, destroying much of the planet’s original satellite system.
Astronomers discover the existence of a ‘black hole star’
The never-before-seen objects are gargantuan, immensely bright, and ancient.
3,500-year-old skeletons challenge what scientists thought they knew about syphilis
Ancient remains from Vietnam suggest diseases like yaws may have been passed from mother to child thousands of years ago, a form of transmission often assumed to indicate syphilis. The discovery could overturn how scientists interpret ancient infections and complicate the long-running mystery of syphilis’s origins.
Scientists find evidence for two origins of life on Earth
Scientists probing life’s deepest origins have uncovered evidence that the first free-living cells may have emerged not once, but twice. The findings suggest a striking possibility: life may share one ancient genetic code, yet have undergone two separate transitions into free-living existence.
2,400-year-old grave of possible ancient pro wrestler discovered in Turkey
A tomb excavated in Aspendos, Turkey, revealed a skeleton buried with several coins featuring ancient wrestlers.
Can AI and Modern Science Help Unlock Some of the Ancient Mysteries of Qumran?
Two new research projects using state-of-the-art technology could help solve […]
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War.
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War | Talk 1370
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War | 830 WCCO
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War | WWL
As the world rediscovers 'The Odyssey,' disabled actors in Greece explore the pain of war
As Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” renews global interest in Homer’s epic, Greece’s ancient Epidaurus theater is presenting another side of the Trojan War.
Meteorite that smashed through a New Jersey roof reveals clues to life’s origins
A rare meteorite that crashed through a New Jersey roof contains evidence of ancient salty fluids, organic compounds, and amino acids from a primitive asteroid. Its pristine chemistry could offer new clues about how space rocks helped supply early Earth with some of the ingredients needed for life.
In ancient Rome, tax fraud was punishable by death
Stone tablets recount a corruption case so widespread that it became a capital offense in 480 CE.
Scientists find unexpected life on Ötzi the Iceman’s 5,300-year-old body
More than 5,000 years after his death, Ötzi the Iceman is still hosting a remarkable mix of ancient and modern microorganisms. Researchers separated microbes that lived in his body during his lifetime from those that arrived after his death, uncovering traces of his original gut bacteria and cold-loving yeasts that may have survived alongside him in the glacier for millennia.
Science Writer Nicola Twilley Discusses Mummy Sleuths, the Hunt for the Ancient Microbiome, and Finding Humanity in the Past
In a recent interview, Nicola Twilley talks about her reporting that followed scientists from the Institute for Mummy Studies as they excavate and glean discoveries from paleofeces preserved in the world’s oldest salt mine, and how that story changed her perspective on humanity and the past. Twilley was a 2025 award winner of the National Academies’ Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications.
80-million-year-old snake brain reveals a surprising evolutionary secret
An exceptionally preserved snake fossil from Brazil reveals that early snakes were far more diverse than scientists once thought. Detailed brain reconstructions show that Tametara mirim was adapted for burrowing, while another ancient snake was suited to life above ground. Other fossils point to marine lifestyles as well. By 80 million years ago, snakes were already experimenting with very different habitats and sensory systems.
'Unique Refuge': A Lost Sea May Still Be Alive Beneath Antarctica's Eerie Blood Falls
An ancient ecosystem living in the dark.
Scientists went looking for giant trees in Taiwan and found a lost world
Taiwan’s steep, remote mountains have sheltered extraordinary forests containing hundreds of giant Taiwania firs. After years of difficult expeditions, LiDAR mapping, and citizen-science detective work, researchers discovered an 84.1-meter (276-foot) tree, the tallest known in East Asia. They also found dense “temples of giants” where dozens of enormous trees grow together. These ancient forests rank among the world’s most carbon-rich ecosystems.
Did Celtic women fight in battle?
The Celts were highly regarded as warriors in the ancient world, but were all fighters men, or did Celtic women also fight in battle?
From gendered sacrifice to ancient politics: DNA uncovers early Chinese civilisation
New analysis reveals the Shimao people were a distinct civilisation that evolved locally in a small region over centuries.
How scientists finally confirmed rare pink seaweed as new species
An ancient algae first spotted four decades ago will now join the collection of the Natural History Museum.
Supercharged millet could help children's gut health without usual supplement side effects
Every day in the urban slums of Mumbai, hundreds of young children were fed toddler-appropriate porridge, soft curry or fresh-baked goods. For some, these were made of ordinary pearl millet, an ancient ...
Ancient mummy DNA provides scientific evidence that colonization brought smallpox to the Americas
New research says ancient mummy DNA provides the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas.
‘This Is Very Strange’: Ancient Smallpox May Have Been Less Deadly
Scientists have found smallpox viruses in the remains of people in Chile from around 500 years ago, revealing how the virus may have evolved into a global killer.
This 4,000-year-old city defied the rules of history
As Mohenjo-daro prospered, the gap between its richest and poorest households actually shrank. Its shared infrastructure, fair trade systems, and lack of powerful royal elites suggest that equality may have helped fuel the ancient city’s success.
The Vampire Squid Discovery That Science Had to Correct
For decades, the vampire squid stood alone as the last survivor of an ancient cephalopod order, until a strange specimen hauled from the deep South China Sea changed everything. Or so scientists thoug...
Ancient Chinese cosmology comes alive in Jackson Park
Audience members cooled themselves with handmade fans as Amanda Maraist danced through the sultry air among the stainless steel lotus petals of Yoko Ono's “Sky Landing” sculpture in Jackson Park
'The fastest game on grass': How the ancient Irish sport of hurling is thriving in Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Hurling Club was founded in 1996 and has around 240 members. Two of the original members told WPR about the sport and why this club has grown to be one of the largest outside of Ireland.
A Forgotten Wave of Extinction May Have Erased Thousands of Human Languages
“The strongest evidence is the timing of the decline."