Archaeologists unearth ancient Sumerian riverboat in Iraq
The bitumen-coated boat once plied the waterways around one of the world’s first cities. Enlarge (credit: German Archaeological Institute) All that’s left today of an ancient boat discovered in 2018 in what was formerly Ur.....»»
Microscopic fossilized shells reveal ancient climate change patterns
At the end of the Paleocene and beginning of the Eocene epochs, between 59 to 51 million years ago, Earth experienced dramatic warming periods, both gradual periods stretching millions of years and sudden warming events known as hyperthermals......»»
Locked in a glacier: Virus adaptations to extreme weather provide climate change insights
Ancient viruses preserved in glacial ice hold valuable information about changes in Earth's climate, a new study suggests......»»
Bonobo evidence suggests ancient origin of the "common enemy effect"
In the face of threats from other groups, humans, chimpanzees, and a selection of other species get closer to their own. Now an international team led by Kyoto University has shown that even our more peaceful cousins, bonobos—who have never been ob.....»»
Ancient microbes linked to evolution of human immune proteins
When you become infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it are those passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, two key e.....»»
Saving the vanishing forests of Iraq"s Kurdistan
In a plant nursery in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, hundreds of pine, eucalyptus, olive and pomegranate saplings grow under awnings protecting them from the fierce summer sun......»»
Ancient civilizations had ways to counter the urban heat island effect—how history"s lessons apply to cities today
As intense heat breaks records around the world, a little-reported fact offers some hope for cooling down cities: Under even the most intense periods of extreme heat, some city blocks never experience heat wave temperatures......»»
Ancient tree resin artifacts provide earliest-known evidence of humans dispersing through the Pacific
Exactly when and how humans dispersed into and through the Pacific remains an intensely debated topic. Previous studies have been hampered by imprecise chronometric dating, making the exact timing and movement of people into the Pacific difficult to.....»»
Four things ancient Greeks and Romans got right about mental health
According to the World Health Organization, about 280 million people worldwide have depression and about one billion have a mental health problem of any kind......»»
Ancient DNA reveals Indigenous dog lineages found at Jamestown, Virginia
Previous scientific studies have indicated that North American dog lineages were replaced with European ones between 1492 and the present day. To better understand the timing of this replacement, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Cha.....»»
This Code Breaker Is Using AI to Decode the Heart’s Secret Rhythms
Inspired by his expertise in breaking ancient codes, Roeland Decorte built a smartphone app that continuously listens for signs of disease hidden in our pulse......»»
New Windows 11 build removes ancient, arbitrary 32GB size limit for FAT32 disks
But the Windows NT-era disk formatting UI hasn't been fixed yet. Enlarge / If you've formatted a disk in Windows in the last 30 years, you may have come across this dialog box. (credit: Andrew Cunningham) As we wait for.....»»
Why not knowing what to do isn"t always a bad thing for leaders
In 2002, after a Pentagon news briefing, the then US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld was widely ridiculed for his thoughts about knowledge. Discussing the issue of whether Iraq was supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, he said, "A.....»»
Cactus dreams: Revealing the secrets of mescaline making
Mescaline, a natural hallucinogen known since ancient times, was not only a favorite of artists and bohemians but also a mainstay of brain research throughout the first half of the 20th century, until it was eclipsed in the 1950s by the much more pot.....»»
Stonehenge"s Altar Stone origins reveal advanced ancient Britain
New research led by Curtin University has revealed Stonehenge's monumental six-ton Altar Stone, long believed to originate from Wales, actually hails from Scotland. The study titled "A Scottish Provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge" was publis.....»»
Rare archaeological site reveals "surprising" Neanderthal behavior at Pyrenees foothills
An unchartered area in the foothills of the Southern Pyrenees in Spain is providing insights into a poorly known period of Neanderthal history, offering clues that could help archaeologists uncover the mystery of their downfall, according to research.....»»
Sumerian Six is Commandos by way of Guardians of the Galaxy
If you've never played a stealth tactics game before, Sumerian Six is shaping up to be a wonderful entry point to the genre......»»
House call: A new study rethinks early Christian landmark
Since its discovery by modern researchers a century ago, an ancient structure known as the "Christian building" has become widely considered the cornerstone of early Christian architecture. Constructed around 232 C.E. in the ancient city of Dura-Euro.....»»
Findings reveal eurypterids evolved giant size independently at least nine times
Sea scorpions, ancient predators that patrolled Earth's marine and freshwater habitats hundreds of millions of years ago, are the focus of a sizable scientific mystery......»»
Jamestown DNA helps solve a 400-year-old mystery and unexpectedly reveals a family secret
An ancient DNA (aDNA) study at the 17th-century English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, has identified two of the town's earliest settlers, and revealed an unexpected family secret......»»
New study unveils 16,000 years of climate history in the tropical Andes
A new study that explores ancient temperatures and rainfall patterns in the tropical Andes of South America has revealed how 16,000 years of climate history in this part of the world was driven by carbon dioxide levels and ocean currents from global.....»»