Will the day come when the script of the Indus Valley will be deciphered?
About 4,000 years ago, the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, emerged and flourished in parts of modern-day Pakistan, western India, eastern Iran, and Afghanistan. In addition to building large cities, people created a writing system consisting of hundreds of signs that remain undeciphered. Sometimes called the Harappan script, this sign varies, […]
Study finds that the appendix evolved at least 32 times across 361 species, making it ‘unlikely to be a futile evolutionary coincidence’
Most people only know two things about the appendix. It’s not necessary, and if your appendix ruptures, you need immediate surgery. The basic story goes back at least as far as Charles Darwin, the British naturalist who developed the theory of natural selection. In The Origin of Man, he described the appendix as a remnant […]
Pi has been calculated to trillions of digits, but is it completely irrational?
Pi, an irrational number, has no end. But computer engineers are still chasing the eternal string of decimal places deep into the unknown. Recently, technology media company StorageReview set an incredible new record by calculating 314 trillion digits of Pi on a single Dell PowerEdge R7725 server that ran continuously for almost four months. This […]
Roman military fort discovered in Scotland, far north of Hadrian’s Wall
Archaeologists in Scotland have discovered the remains of a Roman fort built next to a huge wall across Scotland. This defensive border, known as the Antonine Wall, separated present-day southern Scotland, conquered by the Romans, from unconquered northern Scotland. The 38-mile (62-kilometer) long wall, constructed primarily of turf or earthen materials, began construction in AD […]
This week’s science news: AMOC’s collapse signal, the sun’s galactic migration, the world’s smallest QR code, oil’s end date
This week’s science news was full of archaeological treasure discoveries, starting with the revelation that the cornerstone of a Czech garden shed was actually a Bronze Age spearhead mold. This mold, carved in ancient volcanic rock and dated to approximately 1350 BC, is a remnant of an ancient urn culture. This culture is a Late […]
After reading about AI, people are more likely to buy something despite a staggering 60% illusion rate
Most Americans say they don’t trust artificial intelligence (AI), but researchers have discovered a surprising new metric that suggests the opposite. In other words, people are more likely to buy something after reading an AI-generated online review summary than a human-written online review. However, the AI ​​hallucinated 60% of the time when asked about the […]
Can you see the shadow of the earth?
Where there is light and objects, there is always a shadow. Blocking sunlight also creates a shadow on the earth. But can you see the shadow of the Earth? Astronomers told Live Science that they can indeed see it gripping some objects. In fact, under the right conditions, you might even be able to spot […]
Children wearing bronze ‘warrior’ belts discovered in 2,500-year-old cemetery in Italy
Archaeologists in southern Italy have discovered the grave of two children buried with large bronze bands around 2,500 years ago. Metal accessories are unusual because they are usually found only in adult male burials of the pre-Roman Samnite culture. During recent work at the site of a former tobacco factory in Ponte Cagnano, a town […]
Congo Basin’s ‘blackwater’ lakes and rivers are now releasing ancient carbon into the atmosphere
Blackwater lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are releasing ancient carbon into the atmosphere, a new study has found. Previously, scientists thought this carbon was safely stored in the surrounding peatlands, but this study shows that this is not the case. The finding contradicts the long-held assumption that old peat carbon remains locked underground […]
Scientists use ‘negative light’ to send secret messages hidden in heat
Researchers have developed a technique that invisibly transmits information disguised as background thermal radiation. They used a phenomenon called “negative light” to transmit 100 kilobits of data per second in a way that was completely imperceptible to outside observers. Most methods of hiding data in transit involve hiding the data within other data or encrypting […]