Rare 2,000-year-old war trumpet found in Britain that may be related to Celtic Queen Boudica
Archaeologists have discovered a rare 2,000-year-old war trumpet in England that may have been used in Queen Boudica’s war against Rome. The war trumpets, also known as carnics, were part of metal artefacts discovered in west Norfolk last year ahead of house construction. The treasure was announced on Wednesday (January 7) by Preconstruct Archeology, the […]
A 60,000-year-old poison arrow from South Africa is the oldest poison weapon ever discovered
Several 60,000-year-old arrowheads excavated from a rock cave in South Africa are the world’s oldest evidence of the existence of poisonous weapons, a new study has found. This discovery postpones confirmation of the use of poisonous weapons by hunter-gatherers by more than 50,000 years. In a new study, scientists chemically analyzed the tips of 10 […]
Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA may be embedded in his art, and scientists think they’ve succeeded in extracting some of it
Scientists have announced that they may have extracted Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA from a Renaissance painting for the first time. Trace DNA embedded in a red chalk sketch called “Saint Son”, which some claim was created by da Vinci, shows similarities to genetic material recovered from letters written in the 1400s by Frosino di ser […]
NASA telescope combines 100 maps of the universe into one: ‘Every astronomer will find something of value here’
Six months after first setting its sights on space, NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft has unveiled its first complete cosmic all-sky mosaic. The first of at least four such maps expected from SPHEREx, the new map, which combines more than 100 individual exposures, promises to reveal unprecedented night sky detail. “It’s incredible that SPHEREx has collected so […]
The 9,500-year-old crematorium of a hunter-gatherer woman is the oldest of its kind in the world
The 9,500-year-old remains of a woman in Malawi set a new record and is Africa’s oldest evidence of intentional cremation, as well as the oldest known cremation of an adult still ‘in situ’, or in its original location, a new study finds. The crematorium is located in a hunter-gatherer cemetery at the foot of Mount […]
Greenland’s giant ice dome disappeared 7,000 years ago – and is melting at today’s temperatures
Parts of Greenland’s ice sheet completely melted about 7,000 years ago at temperatures close to those expected by the end of this century, a new study shows. Prudhoe Dome, a 1,640-foot-thick (500-meter) ice cap that currently covers 965 square miles (2,500 square kilometers) of northwestern Greenland, melted during warm temperatures during the early Holocene, exposing […]
One of Siberia’s last shamans was an 18th-century woman whose parents were related, a DNA study reveals
The mummified bodies of centuries-old indigenous Siberians reveal secrets about their genetics over a long period before, during and after the Russian conquest of their land, including that the female shaman buried in a red woolen dress had closely related parents, a new study has found. Archaeologists have recovered more than 100 naturally mummified bodies […]
‘They’re much more connected than we thought’: study could rewrite our understanding of glia, the nervous system’s supporting cells
Providing nerves with fresh mitochondria may help reduce chronic nerve pain, new research suggests. The study, conducted in mouse cells, live mice, and human tissue, revealed a previously unknown role for mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells. This shows that supporting cells within the nervous system can transport mitochondria to nerves that respond to pressure, temperature, […]
773,000-year-old fossils discovered in Casablanca may be the oldest common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals
The geography of human origins is changing, with the discovery of 773,000-year-old fossils in a Moroccan cave that pinpoint the beginning of the modern human lineage in northwest Africa, according to a new study. In a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday (7 January), a team of Moroccan and French researchers detailed an […]
Diagnostic dilemma: Huge ‘stone’ in man’s bladder looked like an ostrich egg
Patient: 35-year-old male living in Iran Symptoms: A man visited the urology department of a hospital complaining of bladder discomfort. He had no problems urinating and had no history of surgery or disease in that part of his body. Nor did he experience the typical symptoms of a urinary tract infection, such as constantly feeling […]