Science

For years, the conventional wisdom was that Mars existed as little more than a cold, barren dust ball in space. The idea that it once supported life was considered unlikely. But then we started sending probes the the Red Planet, and more recently rovers like Curiosity. Since its arrival in …

A strange sound in the Mariana Trench notable for its complexity likely represents the discovery of a new minke whale call, says a team of marine researchers from Cornell University and Oregon State University. Minke whale. Image credit: Len Joh / CC BY-ND 2.0. Dubbed the ‘Western Pacific Biotwang,’ this …

A team of researchers in Spain has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), the world’s most endangered feline and a unique example of a species on the brink of extinction. The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus): a female lynx with two cubs. Image credit: Centre …

Early Homo sapiens arrived in South America earlier than believed, new research shows. Sample of stone tools (scrapers, flakes and bipolar cobble) found at the Arroyo Seco 2 site. Image credit: G.G. Politis et al. The conclusion comes from the analysis of ancient tools and bones from a variety of …

Archaeologists excavating at the site of the ancient Biblical city of Tel Lachish have unearthed a gate-shrine dating to the 8th century BC (First Temple period). Lachish gate-shrine. Image credit: Guy Fitoussi / Israel Antiquities Authority. The ancient gate-shrine is about 80 x 80 feet (24.5 x 24.5 m), making …

An international team of researchers led by Lund University archaeologists has virtually reconstructed a large house of the Pompeian banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus. A research paper about the virtual reconstruction is published in the journal SCIRES-IT. Peristylium (open courtyard) of the House of Caecilius Iucundus. Image credit: Emanuel Demetrescu et …

Early humans living in southern Africa in the Middle Stone Age after 65,000 years ago used advanced heating techniques to produce silcrete blades, according to a new study. This image shows heated silcrete artifacts made by Middle Stone Age humans at Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. Image credit: Katja Douze / …

According to a new study, Stone Age humans may have hunted Eurasian cave lions (Panthera leo spelaea) for their pelts, perhaps contributing to their extinction. Cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea) by Heinrich Harder, 1920. The Eurasian cave lion is an extinct subspecies of lion that lived on the Eurasian continent …

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered a papyrus fragment that includes the earliest reference to Jerusalem in an extra-Biblical document, written in ancient Hebrew script and dating to the time of the First Temple (seventh century BC). This papyrus, found in one of the Judean Desert caves, …

Nan Madol, an ancient administrative and the former capital of the Micronesian island of Pohnpei, was the earliest among the Pacific islands to be ruled by a single chief, according to an international team of archaeologists. Nan Madol ruins on the island of Pohnpei. Image credit: C.T. Snow / CC …