2+ mon, 1+ week ago   (1130+ words) Around 20,000 years ago, a cave was home to generations of owls that regularly coughed up pellets containing the bones of their prey. Those discarded bones later became an unexpected resource for another group of animals. According to a new study…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago   (403+ words) Plague was already a deadly killer 5,500 years ago, long before cities, farming, or the rat-infested conditions usually linked to historic outbreaks. By analyzing ancient DNA from hunter-gatherer cemeteries in Siberia, researchers discovered early plague strains in nearly 40% of the individuals…...

3+ mon, 1+ day ago   (218+ words) Researchers in South Korea have recreated the legendary “sea silk” once prized by emperors, using fibers from a clam cultivated in Korean coastal waters. They discovered that its famous golden shine comes from tiny protein structures that reflect light rather…...

3+ mon, 2+ week ago   (575+ words) Researchers have uncovered the oldest known hand-held wooden tools ever discovered, offering new insight into the skills and behavior of early humans nearly half a million years ago. An international team led by scientists from the University of Reading, the…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago   (904+ words) A simple hand stencil found on a cave wall in Indonesia has been identified as the oldest known example of rock art on Earth. It surpasses a previous discovery in the same region by at least 15,000 years. An international research…...

9+ mon, 4+ week ago   (493+ words) A major international research effort is reshaping the long-held belief that lead exposure is primarily a modern problem. The new findings show that early human ancestors encountered lead repeatedly for more than two million years, suggesting that this toxic metal…...

5+ mon, 1+ day ago   (443+ words) Located in central Israel, Tinshemet Cave has produced an exceptional collection of archaeological and human remains. Among the most important discoveries are several human burials, the first mid-Middle Palaeolithic (MP) burials uncovered in more than fifty years. These finds are…...

5+ mon, 1+ week ago   (1068+ words) A giant barn owl, a type of rodent called a hutia, and a burrowing bee entered a cave. Only two of them left. Which one stayed behind? The answer is the one that cannot fly. This unusual chain of events…...

6+ mon, 2+ week ago   (450+ words) A remarkably complete skeleton uncovered along the UK's Jurassic Coast has been identified as a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur -- a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that once dominated the world's oceans. The dolphin-sized creature, named Xiphodracon goldencapensis and nicknamed…...