Researchers and artists have created a striking facial reconstruction of a Stone Age woman who lived roughly 10,500 years ago in what is now Belgium. The detailed depiction of the prehistoric hunter-gatherer, known as the “Margaux woman,” is based on various scientific data, including the remains of her skeleton and ancient DNA, according to a … Read more
After decades of preparation, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory released its first images to the world in a live stream on Monday (June 23). The photos, taken by the world’s largest digital camera, are highly-detailed and show relatively large areas of the sky. In a televised news conference, scientists from the observatory revealed new details … Read more
Nearly two millennia after the height of the Roman Empire, some of its structures are still standing. These marvels have stood the test of time, including the Pantheon in Rome; the Roman aqueducts in Segovia, Spain; and the Roman baths in England. The longevity of these structures can be attributed largely to Roman concrete. But … Read more
Modern humans now permanently live on every continent except Antarctica, but it wasn’t always this way. After our species, Homo sapiens, emerged in Africa at least 300,000 years ago, some eventually ventured out, trekking and voyaging across the world. So when did the first modern humans reach each of the seven continents? The accepted ideas … Read more
Considered one of the most famous Neolithic monuments in England, this table-shaped dolmen consists of nine upright large stones that are topped by one massive capstone weighing approximately 28 tons (25 metric tons), according to English Heritage, a charity organization that oversees hundreds of historic sites in England. As early as the 13th century, people … Read more
Scholars have finally deciphered 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets found more than 100 years ago in what is now Iraq. The tablets describe how some lunar eclipses are omens of death, destruction and pestilence. The four clay tablets “represent the oldest examples of compendia of lunar-eclipse omens yet discovered” Andrew George, an emeritus professor of Babylonian at … Read more
Early hominins known colloquially as “hobbits” may have been shorter than scientists thought, a new analysis of teeth and bones has revealed. The 700,000-year-old fossilized remains belonged to Homo floresiensis, an extinct species of exceedingly small humans that once inhabited Flores, an island south of mainland Indonesia, according to a study published Tuesday (Aug. 6) … Read more
Humans have shared stories about giants for thousands of years, from the cyclopes of Greek mythology to the biblical Goliath. But are these just tall tales, or have giant humans really walked this Earth? If you consider a nearly 9-foot-tall human a giant, then yes. Robert Wadlow, the tallest person on record, grew to 8 … Read more
Approximately 25 million years ago, an ancestor of both humans and apes genetically diverged from monkeys and lost its tail. No one had identified the genetic mutation responsible for this dramatic change in our physiology — until now. In a new study published Wednesday (Feb. 28) in the journal Nature, researchers identified a unique DNA … Read more
Tens of thousands of years ago, prehistoric humans in Europe adorned themselves with such a wide variety of beads that researchers have classified nine distinct cultural groups across the continent based on their location and distinctive styles. The researchers focused on the Gravettian period, which stretched between 34,000 and 24,000 years ago and was defined … Read more
