Humans

The birth and development of civilisation on the Polynesian islands continues to be a source of fascination for historians, and new evidence shows that Native American visitors may well have been established in the area hundreds of years before European settlers. After a detailed DNA analysis of the genomes of more than 800 Polynesians and

The underwater caves along Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula contain within them a sprawling labyrinth of archaeological relics perhaps unlike anywhere else on Earth. Preserved in a vast network of flooded caverns, these inundated cenotes hold a treasure trove of Maya secrets – but as a new discovery shows, you can also find ancient artefacts dating back to

Imagine being completely blind but still being able to see. Does that sound impossible? Well, it happens. A few years ago, a man (let’s call him Barry) suffered two strokes in quick succession. As a result, Barry was completely blind, and he walked with a stick. One day, some psychologists placed Barry in a corridor

If you studied algebra in high school (or you’re learning it right now), there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the quadratic formula. If not, it’s possible you repressed it. By this point, billions of us have had to learn, memorise, and implement this unwieldy algorithm in order to solve quadratic equations, but according to

Pandemic movies don’t just immerse you in a crisis, they might actually prepare you for one. New research suggests post-apocalyptic movies, or ‘prepper’ films, may give fans a practical and mental advantage in the current coronavirus pandemic. “If it’s a good movie, it pulls you in and you take the perspective of the characters, so

For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra dry land where people lived. Archaeologists could only speculate about how people used those now-submerged lands, and whether any traces remain today. But in a study published today in PLOS ONE, we report the

For over 1,000 years, the ancient Maya city of Tikal stood tall, embodying one of the largest and most important urban centres ever built by this enigmatic and enduring pre-Columbian civilisation. By the late 9th century CE however, this Maya metropolis was unravelling. Around this time, Tikal and a number of other Maya cities were abandoned,

The Ik people of Uganda are a small mountain community with a big reputation. Except there are researchers who now think that reputation is wholly undeserved. In the 1960s, a prominent anthropologist by the name of Colin Turnbull published a book that described the Ik people as extraordinarily ‘unfriendly’, ‘uncharitable’, and ‘mean’. He named them

A mysterious increase in radiation levels over northern Europe was detected this month by authorities from several countries, although no nation has yet come forward to claim responsibility for the anomaly. The subtle radiation spike – at levels that are considered harmless to humans, but significant enough to be picked up by radiation monitoring stations

It was said that all he touched turned to gold. But destiny eventually caught up with the legendary King Midas, and a long-lost chronicle of his ancient downfall appears to have literally surfaced in Turkey. Last year, archaeologists were investigating an ancient mound site in central Turkey called Türkmen-Karahöyük. The greater region, the Konya Plain,

Not everyone can see pictures in their minds when they close their eyes and summon thoughts – an ability many of us take for granted. While people have been aware of this phenomenon since the 1800s, it hasn’t been widely studied, and was only recently named ‘aphantasia’. This absence of voluntarily generated mental visual imagery

When Mary Jackson began her career as the first Black female engineer at NASA, she was relegated to a computer lab segregated from the rest. Nearly seventy years later, those visiting the United States’ space agency in Washington DC must drive up Hidden Figures Way to what is now called the Mary W. Jackson NASA

A new photo showing a mystery creature swimming in Loch Ness has sparked new interest in Nessie, the long-necked plesiosaur-like cryptid rumoured to inhabit the loch’s dark and enigmatic depths. There’s just one big problem, and you can probably guess what it is. The image has been digitally manipulated. According to an investigation conducted by

In a time of ancient gods, warriors and kings, the tale of a tribe of warrior women was established in Greek mythology. Said to be daughters of the gods, these fierce female fighters from Asia Minor have caught people’s imaginations for centuries and still permeate through popular culture today as legendary Amazon warriors. For a

Archaeologists working near Stonehenge in the UK have discovered part of a giant ring of deep shafts in the ground, thought to date back round 4,500 years. Originally, they may have been used to guide people to sacred sites… or to warn them to stay away. Using a combination of techniques, including ground-penetrating radar and

What comes first – the squiggle or the inability to see numbers? That’s what scientists have had to investigate in the unusual case of an engineering geologist who suffered a neurological injury, and suddenly couldn’t perceive the numbers 2-9. But here’s the thing – he could still understand letters, symbols, and even the numbers 0

New research shows that feelings of loneliness are linked to fundamental differences in the ways our brains are wired – affecting our perspective on friends, acquaintances, and people we’ve never met. While it’s only a small study, with much of the world currently in lockdown or practising social distancing, it’s a timely insight into the impacts

It was time to move. Humans were heading out of Africa and journeying into Arabia, the first leg of a giant procession known as the Southern Dispersal – the most recent wave in the great ‘Out of Africa’ migration of our ancestors. New discoveries in this context are continually charting unexpected paths that challenge our

The touch paper has been lit. Black Lives Matter have taken to the streets. The revolution has started – statues have been pulled down and TV programmes have been removed from streaming services. Apologies are also coming in thick and fast – a tearful Keith Lemon actor, a “sincerely sorry” Ant and Dec. Many white

It’s a mystery that’s eluded scientists for over 100 years – why do two identically coloured shapes look different when they’re placed on a gradient background? Just take a look at the image above: the two circles are the same colour. Our perception of shades (and colours) changes according to their visual context, a process

Trees marked by Aboriginal cultural practices are a distinctive part of the Australian landscape. A recent discovery on Wiradjuri country in New South Wales shows some of these “culturally modified trees” may be much younger than anybody thought. What are culturally modified trees? Aboriginal people have long used bark, wood, and trees for practical and

For well over 100 years hospitals have been putting people under with general anaesthesia to perform routine operations and surgeries. These days, it’s used all over the world, thousands of times every day. But although we know that it knocks us out and messes with our consciousness, the actual mechanism behind general anaesthesia was unknown

Let us introduce you to one of the board games played by the ancient Romans some 1,700 years ago: it’s called ludus latrunculorum, and it looks like a version of it has been unearthed at a burial mound site in Norway. The find comprises 19 playing pieces in total, including elongated dice that look more

Archaeological excavations deep within the rainforests of Sri Lanka have unearthed the earliest evidence for hunting with bows and arrows outside Africa. At Fa-Hien Lena, a cave in the heart of Sri Lanka’s wet zone forests, we discovered numerous tools made of stone, bone, and tooth – including a number of small arrow points carved

Dystopian fiction has prepared us for all kinds of apocalypse. Shambling zombies, alien invasion, and, of course, deadly plagues. But not even the most twisted mind could predict the tragic depletion of the most valuable of resources – toilet paper. Why didn’t people buy up all the toothbrushes, or socks? We don’t have all the answers

Once upon a time, Falerii Novi was a thriving community. For hundreds of years, generations of people strode its streets, lived out their lives under its roofs, shopped in its markets, and worshipped in its temples – from its founding in 241 BCE up until the Early Middle Ages. When Falerii Novi was abandoned in

Sunday marked the second time Kathy Sullivan made history. Nearly 25 years after she became the first US woman to walk in space, Sullivan became the first woman to ever reach Challenger Deep, the deepest point in our planet’s oceans. She’s the only person ever to do both. Challenger Deep lies nearly 7 miles (11

With the Black Lives Matter movement dominating headlines in the last week, systemic racial inequality in academia has also been brought to the forefront, with the hashtag #BlackintheIvory. Across social media, Black academics and educators are sharing countless stories on how they have been subjected to systemic racism, and blatant discrimination from White colleagues. #BlackintheIvory

A tiny carving of a bird, found in a discarded pile of soil, has now been declared the oldest work of art ever found in China. The figure is at least 13,000 years old, and hints at an original artistic tradition in the region. Roughly 12 millimetres tall (half an inch), this dainty figurine pushes

The northern segment of the Great Wall of China was built not to block invading armies but rather to monitor civilian movement, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday. When researchers fully mapped the Great Wall’s 740-kilometre (460-mile) Northern Line for the first time, their findings challenged previous assumptions. “Prior to our research, most people thought the

A tiny, 2,100-year-old mummy from ancient Egypt had long been thought to contain the remains of a treasured bird – which would make sense, considering the hawk-themed decorations and small size. But researchers conducting a CT scan back in 2018 found something else entirely – the remains of a severely malformed human foetus, stillborn at

If one word sums up 2020 so far, it’s division. A recent study could give us some much-needed optimism. Results from an experiment conducted by sociologists from The Ohio State University and the University of South Carolina in the US suggest most of us choose generosity even when multiple interests are at stake. Contrary to

A giant, sprawling structure almost a mile long has been discovered at the southern tip of Mexico, with researchers saying it may represent the oldest and largest monument of the ancient Maya civilisation ever found. The site, called Aguada Fénix, is located in the state of Tabasco, at the base of the Gulf of Mexico.

DNA research on the Dead Sea Scrolls has revealed that not all of the ancient manuscripts came from the desert landscape where they were discovered, according to a study published Tuesday. Numbering around 900, the manuscripts were found between 1947 – first by Bedouin shepherds – and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead

The United States Pentagon is a secretive place by nature, but every once in a while, the public gets a little peek behind closed doors. After years of speculation, defence officials have now declassified and released three grainy videos from the Navy that have been circulating online for a while now, causing all sorts of

As the Roman Empire drew to a dramatic collapse towards the end of the 5th century, ripples were felt across its former territories. Balances shifted as new powers rushed to fill the vacuums Rome’s retreats left behind. The changes to the everyday lives of the people are far less well documented, but a cemetery in

Bronze swords made from copper and tin aren’t the most robust of weapons, which has led to some uncertainty about whether they were originally used for battle or just for show. Now, a group of archaeologists has tried to settle the debate by quite literally coming to blows with each other. Researchers commissioned the creation

It’s not unusual for parents to worry about the next generation and the future planet they’ll inherit, but new research suggests having children doesn’t necessarily make you any ‘greener’ as a person – quite the opposite, in fact. A new study in Sweden has found that even those who really care about the environment often

At an average altitude of around 1,800 metres (1.1 miles), high in the Jotunheim Mountains of Norway, a patch of ice is melting. It’s called the Lendbreen ice patch, and for millennia, it has been frozen year-round, accumulating a new layer every year. But in the past two decades, the ice has been slowly melting

Ancient archaeological sites across the Northern Hemisphere have been littered with a mystery. Where there were hominins, there too could often be found roughly rounded spheres of stone. Some have been dated back to over 2 million years ago, with marks suggesting that the balls had been deliberately shaped. New research has discovered a plausible purpose

A sunken ship found in the Nile river may have lain undisturbed for over 2,500 years, but it is finally ponying up its secrets. Scientists think that this ship has revealed a structure whose existence has been debated for centuries. In fragment 2.96 of Herodotus’ Histories, published around 450 BCE, the Ancient Greek historian – who

The amount of close and comforting contact that young infants get doesn’t just keep them warm, snug, and loved. A 2017 study says it can actually affect babies at the molecular level, and the effects can last for years. Based on the study, babies who get less physical contact and are more distressed at a

Unlike some creatures, humans can’t regenerate their limbs – but a new study suggests we do have a hidden ‘salamander-like’ ability to regrow cartilage in the body, a finding which could help treatment for joint injuries and even arthritis. Using mass spectrometry techniques on 18 specimens, researchers were able to identify a mechanism by which

The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries. “We have gained access to a technical revolution,” said Sara Snogerup Linse, a chemistry professor and member of the award committee, sweeping her finger at the reporters gathered at the Royal

Blind people who use echoes to map their surroundings, akin to how bats or dolphins navigate, have an adapted brain region that allows them to ‘see’ with sound, a new study suggests. The primary visual cortex is where the human brain normally interprets signals from the eyes, but that doesn’t mean it can only process

Research suggests there could be a good scientific reason why some of us struggle to look someone in the eye and hold a conversation with them. It turns out we’re not just awkward, our brains actually can’t handle the tasks of thinking of the right words and focussing on a face at the same time.

Twinship has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States over the past three decades, with a higher proportion of twins living among us than at any other time in known history. There are twin conventions, twin parenting books, twin Halloween costumes, and debates on local school boards over whether to separate — or keep

A new study comparing human skulls with those of other animals claims that the dimensions of our heads appear to follow the golden ratio – that special number with a controversial reputation for being the “formula for beauty”. Usually symbolised by the irrational number phi, or roughly 1.618, the golden ratio is amongst the most