A knight in “shining armor” wielding a sword or lance is an iconic medieval image, but more advanced weapons also appeared in the Middle Ages — including guns that fired bullets. This leads to an interesting question: Could the metal suits worn by knights and other warriors block a bullet? Live Science contacted experts to … 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
A structure in southwest England that’s associated with King Arthur isn’t medieval as scientists had long thought. Instead, it dates back more than 5,000 years, to the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, archaeologists say — thousands of years before the mythical king and his knights are said to have lived. The scientists who were involved … Read more
Earth’s surface is a turbulent place. Mountains rise, continents merge and split, and earthquakes shake the ground. All of these processes result from plate tectonics, the movement of enormous chunks of Earth’s crust. This movement may be why life exists here. Earth is the only known planet with plate tectonics and the only known planet … Read more
In my research focused on early farmers of Europe, I have often wondered about a curious pattern through time: Farmers lived in large dense villages, then dispersed for centuries, then later formed cities again, only to abandon those as well. Why? Archaeologists often explain what we call urban collapse in terms of climate change, overpopulation, … Read more
Popular media, such as the 2000 film “Gladiator,” often depict Roman gladiators in gory battles that don’t end until at least one of the fighters is slain. But in real life, did gladiators really fight to the death? In fact, sometimes they did, but not always, experts told Live Science. Alfonso Manas, a researcher at … Read more
Earth may have had a giant ring of space rocks surrounding it, similar to those around Saturn, which could have led to chaotic meteorite strikes on our planet’s surface, new research suggests. The hypothesized ring may have formed roughly 466 million years ago and was the remains of a gigantic asteroid tugged apart by Earth’s … Read more
Data from India’s recent Chandrayaan-3 mission supports the idea that an ocean of molten rock once covered the moon. Scientists from the mission have published their new findings in the journal Nature. On August 23 2023, a lander called Vikram successfully touched down on the lunar surface. Controllers then deployed a rover called Pragyan, which … Read more
The Antikythera mechanism — an ancient shoebox-sized device that was used to track the motions of the sun, moon and planets — followed the Greek lunar calendar, not the solar one used by the Egyptians, as was previously thought, new research reveals. The Antikythera mechanism, found by sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera … Read more
A rare sword nicknamed ”Excalibur” from the Spanish city of Valencia is 1,000 years old, meaning it was last wielded when much of Spain was controlled by Muslim rulers, new research reveals. The 18-inch-long (46 centimeters) iron sword was found in an upright position inside a grave in 1994, leading its finder to call it … Read more
