CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — An extremely rare astronomical object from the 11th century is turning heads. In the Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo in Verona, Italy, an Islamic astrolabe, etched with both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions, stands as a testament to the rich, intertwined histories of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars across Spain, North Africa, and Italy.…

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The depravity of the Holocaust is still shocking to this day. During World War II, Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany tried to exterminate the Jewish population, killing six million Jews across Europe between 1941-1945. Jewish families tried to flee during Hitler’s rise to power, but many countries, including the United States, wouldn’t take them in.…

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NEW YORK — Scientists have made a genetic breakthrough that sheds light on why humans, unlike many other primates, do not have tails. A team from NYU Grossman School of Medicine say their discovery could help unravel one of the long-standing mysteries of human evolution. At the heart of the study is a comparison between…

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PADUA, Italy — Red lipstick may have been the world’s first fashion statement nearly 4,000 years ago. In the heart of southeastern Iran, within the Jiroft region of Kerman province, archaeologists have unearthed a small, cylindrical vial made of chlorite-schist, a type of stone, that contained a substance strikingly similar to modern lipstick. This deep…

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Have you ever wondered why the extra day of the leap year falls on February 29, an odd date in the middle of the year, and not at the end of the year on December 32? There is a simple answer, and a slightly more complex one. Let’s start with the simple answer. Several ancient…

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CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — This won’t be music to Pythagoras’ ears. A new study is turning the tables on an ancient music theory as researchers have unveiled findings that could reshape our understanding of universal harmony. The study, a collaborative effort by academics from Cambridge University, Princeton, and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics,…

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LEICESTER, United Kingdom — It’s difficult to fathom just how minuscule an amount of time humans have inhabited the Earth. The planet was revolving around the Sun for billions of years before we showed up. Now, researchers from the University of Leicester have discovered of a new type of microfossil that’s providing a peek into the…

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In 2024, salt has a pretty bad reputation when it comes to your health. However, 100 years ago, salt changed the world forever. Goiter, a condition which sees the thyroid gland grow, is a serious health issue. Prior to and during the 1920s, the condition was extremely prevalent across the United States. Due to its…

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VILLENA, Spain — In 1963, an astonishing trove of Late Bronze Age goldwork was discovered near the town of Villena in eastern Spain. Nicknamed “The Villena Treasure,” this cache dates back 3,500 years and contained elaborately decorated crowns, figurines, and jewelry rivaling those buried with famous pharaohs like King Tutankhamun. Now, scientists have made an…

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Why does a leap year have 366 days? Does the Earth move slower every four years? You may be used to hearing that it takes the Earth 365 days to make a full lap, but that journey actually lasts about 365 and a quarter days. Leap years help to keep the 12-month calendar matched up…

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CORK, Ireland — The curious case of a 280-million-year-old fossil has finally been solved. Researchers say the famous prehistoric remains that scientists once thought showed the earliest evidence of soft tissue in reptiles is nothing more than paint! Tridentinosaurus antiquus was first discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931 in a layer of fine volcanic…

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SINGAPORE — The complete library of Charles Darwin, which encompasses 13,000 books, pamphlets, and journals, is being revealed for the world to see for the first time. Darwin, arguably the most influential scientist in history, amassed a vast personal collection of books throughout his career. However, until now, 85 percent of its contents remained either…

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A 65-million-year-old fossil of a previously unknown species of shark has been found in Alabama. A team of researchers from Alabama and South Carolina made the groundbreaking finding, revealing a new chapter to the state’s rich paleontological history and also providing significant insights into marine life following the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.…

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More than 380 million years ago, a sleek, air-breathing predatory fish patrolled the rivers of central Australia. Today, the sediments of those rivers are outcrops of red sandstone in the remote outback. Our new paper, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, describes the fossils of this fish, which we have named Harajicadectes zhumini. Known…

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LUND, Sweden — It turns out that the “peaceful transition” from hunter-gatherer societies to farming communities in Europe was a lot bloodier than anyone ever thought! Researchers from Lund University in Sweden have uncovered dramatic shifts in Scandinavia’s ancient population dynamics, discovering that farmers actually “slaughtered” hunter-gatherers. Utilizing advanced DNA analysis of ancient skeletons and…

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America is filled with historic cities, monuments, and sites that connect us with our past. Whether you’re touring the nation’s capitol or visiting the plethora of historic battlefields and sites across the country, planning trips to the most historical places in the U.S. is well worth your time and effort. Compared to some of the…

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NOUVELLE AQUITAINE, France — Humans may have started wearing leather nearly 40,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, a recent discovery reveals. Scientists have uncovered a 39,600-year-old bone with unique indentations, suggesting that early humans used it to punch holes in durable animal skins. The hip bone, believed to be from a bison, was…

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FALKOPING, Sweden — A head-scratching discovery at a Stone Age burial chamber in Sweden is leaving archaeologists stumped. When researchers from the University of Gothenburg excavated the ancient site at Tiarp, they found that the skeletal remains of a dozen people were all missing their skulls. “It’s an early grave which dates to the Early…

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Exquisitely preserved 350-million-year-old trees recently unearthed in Canada boast a shockingly familiar form.

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LOS ANGELES — Damocles may have had a sword hanging over his head, but did he have dementia to worry about as well? The evidence suggests that the answer is no, according to fascinating new research assessing medical records from 2,500 years ago. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of medicine, so what better place to…

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NEW YORK — A six-million-year-old ape’s ear is offering clues about how humans learned to walk. Unraveling the evolutionary steps that led to human bipedalism has been a subject of great interest but has remained somewhat elusive due to the limitations of past studies and the fossil record. However, a groundbreaking study by a team at…

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BEIJING, China — Early humans in East Asia were developing advanced tools tens of thousands of years ago. The findings come from a detailed examination of artifacts from the Shiyu site in Shanxi Province, China. Specifically, the new discovery from roughly 45,000 years ago marks the earliest evidence of modern human activity in this part…

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The journey of a woolly mammoth that roamed the Earth 14,000 years ago is helping scientists piece together the history of ancient human settlements in Alaska. Researchers from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) and McMaster University in Canada are providing new insights into the migration patterns of these early humans who crossed…

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BRISTOL, United Kingdom — It’s not everyday a college student comes across a 200 million-year-old flying reptile, but that’s exactly what happened in the United Kingdom. Researchers at the University of Bristol made the astonishing discovery in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, revealing that ancient, winged reptiles, known as Kuehneosaurs, once inhabited this area. These…

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A recent study from University of California-Riverside (UCR) scientists has transformed the scientific understanding of the megalodon, a colossal shark that roamed the oceans until 3.6 million years ago.

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BOULDER, Colo. — A unique ecosystem has been discovered in one of the harshest places in the world — and it’s offering up a glimpse into the earliest stages of life on Earth and possibly on ancient Mars. The previously unknown environment in Argentina’s Puna de Atacama, a high plateau desert more than 3,500 meters…

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Around 10,000 years ago, a group of early humans were camping at a site called Huseby-Klev in present-day Sweden, just north of what is the country’s second largest city today. They chewed on resin which turned into a glue — sound familiar? Now, researchers have been able to use the DNA still…

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PERTH, Australia — A key chapter in Earth’s evolution is finally taking shape after Australian researchers successfully dated some of the world’s oldest fossils of complex, multicellular life. This discovery reveals a period when the seas, previously home to only single-celled microbes for four billion years, began to flourish with diverse life forms. “Located in the…

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NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom — In a paradigm-shifting discovery, researchers from the United Kingdom have found that evolution may not be as unpredictable as once believed. The study suggests that the future path of evolution could be influenced by a species’ genetic history, challenging the long-held view that evolution is shaped by a myriad of factors…

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BRISTOL, United Kingdom — Jaws has some creepy, prehistoric competition. Scientists have discovered a new group of animal predators in North Greenland’s Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil site — giant worms which dominated the world’s oceans a half-billion years ago. Named Timorebestia, these “terror beasts” suggest the existence of an ancient dynasty of predators over…

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a groundbreaking discovery, paleontologists have identified a new species of tyrannosaur, which they believe could be the closest known relative to the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex. The new species, named Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis, was uncovered by Sebastian Dalman and his team. The discovery was made in the Hall Lake Formation in New Mexico,…

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TORONTO, Ontario — Researchers have unearthed the oldest known 3D fragment of fossilized skin, which is at least 21 million years older than any previously discovered samples. Collected from a cave system in Oklahoma, this skin fossil belonged to an early species of Paleozoic reptile which shared characteristics with both ancient and present-day animals. Its…

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SALT LAKE CITY — “Magic mushrooms” have long shown promise in treating mental health conditions, but now, the largest genomic diversity study of these fungi is offering new insights into its evolution and potential therapeutic uses. Researchers from the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) delved into the Psilocybe genus, which…

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CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — A collection of “bone biographies” is shedding light on the lives of medieval residents of present-day Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Through their skeletons, scientists are piecing together detailed accounts of everyday life during the era of the Black Death and its aftermath. The research, led by University of Cambridge archaeologists,…

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KIEL, Germany — Being a vegetarian was in vogue thousands of years ago in Europe. Researchers from Kiel University in Germany are revealing that settlers in European cities 6,000 years ago were mainly vegetarians, despite keeping plenty of livestock around. It turns out those animals had one primary job — fertilize crops. Located in what…

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TEL-AVIV, Israel — A team of researchers has scientifically confirmed an event written about in the Second Book of Kings – the conquest of the Philistine city of Gath by Hazael King of Aram. Israeli scientists made the historic discovery by measuring the magnetic field recorded in burnt bricks. “Our findings are important for determining…

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ST. LOUIS — Beneath the modern-day streets of Italy, hidden under a parking lot, lies a discovery that challenges our understanding of one of history’s pivotal transitions: the Roman Empire’s shift from paganism to Christianity. This revelation, made by American researchers, uncovers an ancient temple dating back to the era of Constantine the Great, Rome’s…

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VIENNA, Austria — Flowers were more diverse 100 million years ago than they are today, research reveals. Scientists in Austria have found that shortly after their emergence in the Cretaceous period, flowering plants had already produced a wide array of different flower types. In fact, during this “blooming” period, floral diversity surpassed that of present-day…

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AARHUS, Denmark — Humans, not climate change, were responsible for the extinction of giant mammals approximately 50,000 years ago, a new study suggests. This research indicates that the advanced hunting techniques developed by early humans played a pivotal role in the extinction and decline of these large species. About 100,000 years ago, the first modern…

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After 50 years, scientists have made a biblical discovery, tying an ancient fruit fossil to the frankincense and myrrh family. In the early 1970s, a paleontologist first discovered the mysterious artifact near an Indian village. Amidst the gray chert fields, there were small bead-like fossils, initially believed to be part of the enigmatic…

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CINCINNATI — Godzilla isn’t the only monster that terrorized Japanese waters. University of Cincinnati scientists have uncovered a mosasaur, a massive marine reptile, that lived 72 million years ago, resembling the size of a great white shark. According to researchers, this prehistoric creature roamed the Pacific seas, inspiring awe and fear with its formidable size and…

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AMSTERDAM — A fascinating new study is shedding light on Rembrandt’s iconic painting “The Night Watch,” revealing hidden layers and techniques previously unknown in the art world. This breakthrough, part of the ambitious “Operation Night Watch” project, combines cutting-edge technology with historical art analysis, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the artist’s methods and the painting’s…

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MAINZ, Germany — Neanderthals hunted and feasted on an extinct species of elephant so large that a single animal could feed approximately 2,500 people. Talk about your all-you-can-eat buffet! This study, which analyzed 125,000-year-old bones found in present-day Germany, reveals that the hunting of straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) was a common practice among Neanderthals. The…

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BONN, Germany —  It’s the oldest marine DNA ever found in deep-sea sediments. Scientists from the University of Tasmania, along with researchers from the University of Bonn, made the discovery in the frigid waters of the Scotia Sea, located north of the Antarctic continent. The sample is estimated to be around one million years old…

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Schindler’s List, released 30 years ago, remains Steven Spielberg’s most highly acclaimed and emotionally sapping film. Winning seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, it was widely praised for its portrayal of the horrors of the Holocaust. Schindler’s List marked a turning point in Spielberg’s career. The director later said making the film…

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GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Did Vikings solve their dental issues with their own two hands? A new study suggests that these fierce warriors experienced painful toothaches and attempted to remedy them on their own! Overall, a team in Sweden believes their data provides insights into the lives of Vikings and their early attempts at dentistry. The…

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Black Death, also known as the Second Plague Pandemic, eradicated up to 60 percent of Europe’s population in the mid-14th century. Now, researchers say this plague might be responsible for our love of junk food today. Their study finds this devastating event not only altered history’s course but may also…

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LOS ANGELES — Is Earth undergoing a mass extinction event right now? Researchers from the University of Southern California believe so, as their new study reveals stunning information about what caused a similar catastrophic event on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. Approximately 200 million years ago, Earth faced its fourth major mass extinction,…

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PARIS, France — The earliest known fossil of a mosquito, dating back over 100 million years, suggests that male mosquitoes were also bloodsuckers. An international team discovered this fossil in Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon. Researchers identified two well-preserved male mosquitoes of the same species, equipped with piercing mouthparts, indicating a likelihood of feeding on…

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MAINZ, Germany — Scientists have unearthed evidence that challenges our understanding of ancient human diets. It turns out early humans hunted and consumed beavers as part of their regular meals. Previously, the narrative around our ancestors, especially those from the Middle Pleistocene era (about 400,000 years ago), focused heavily on their consumption of larger mammals.…

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