A groundbreaking study published by an international team, including faculty from Binghamton University, State University of New York, has documented the first known case of Down syndrome in Neanderthals. This discovery sheds new light on the social behaviors of our ancient relatives, revealing their capacity for altruistic care and support for vulnerable members within their … Read more
A joint study by researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the University of Zaragoza, and the University of Strasbourg has provided groundbreaking insights into early Neolithic dietary practices in the Pyrenees. This research, conducted on archaeological materials from the Chaves and Puyascada caves in Huesca, Spain, has revealed the earliest direct evidence of dairy … Read more
Curtin University-led research has unveiled a groundbreaking discovery in paleontology: fossilized bones unearthed in western Queensland, Australia, have been identified as belonging to a newly recognized species of pterosaur, a formidable flying reptile that coexisted with dinosaurs. The detailed study, titled “Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia,” has … Read more
Xylella fastidiosa, the deadly disease-causing bacterium that has already wiped out millions of plants of emblematic Mediterranean crops, like grapevines, olive-trees and almond-trees, by clogging their ducts and plant tissues, will get a boost from climate change in relevant wine-producing regions where the risk is low at present. Researchers at the Institute of Cross-disciplinary Physics … Read more
Quantum physics requires high-precision sensing techniques to delve deeper into the microscopic properties of materials. From the analog quantum processors that have emerged recently, quantum-gas microscopes have proven to be powerful tools for understanding quantum systems at the atomic level. These devices produce images of quantum gases with very high resolution: They allow individual atoms … Read more
A groundbreaking study published report in the journal Science Advances has shed new light on the prevalence of ritualized human sacrifice during the Neolithic period across Europe. Led by a team of archaeologists from esteemed institutions in France and Germany, the research delves into the grisly findings of a tomb in France and compares them … Read more
An international group of scientists, co-led by researcher Ariadna Mechó of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center—Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), observed 160 species on seamounts off the coast of Chile that had not yet been known to live in the region and suspect that at least 50 of these species are new to science. The recent … Read more
The transition from the fifth to the fourth century BCE (Before the Common Era) seems to have been a critical period for the Central Andes, a region now part of Peru. Researchers have found evidence of turbulence during the passage from the Middle Formative period (1200–400 BCE) to the Late Formative period (400–1 BCE). Political … Read more
The recent archaeological examination of a remarkable animal cemetery unearthed in London nearly three decades ago offers a fascinating glimpse into the extensive horse trading network that flourished among the elites of late medieval and Tudor England. Unlike typical equine burial sites, this discovery sheds light on the international dimensions of horse procurement during the … Read more
Researchers have examined one of the smallest parts of the fossil record—theropod teeth—to shed light on the evolution of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous. Findings published in the prestigious journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica have effectively quadrupled the dinosaur diversity in the area of study, eight localities from Treviño County, Huesca and Lerida—including the … Read more
Ancient flying reptiles known as pterosaurs were much more diverse than originally thought, according to a new study by an international group of paleontologists. The research—conducted by scientists at the University of Alberta and the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—reveals an ancient and extremely well-preserved pterosaur specimen originally discovered in a private limestone … Read more
A dinosaur specimen from Castellón, Spain represents a new proposed species of spinosaurid, reports a paper published in Scientific Reports. The identification of a potential new species suggests that the Iberian peninsula may have been a diverse area for medium-to-large bodied spinosaurid dinosaurs and sheds light on the origin and evolution of spinosaurids. Spinosaurids comprise … Read more
The first dinosaur to be described in La Rioja, Spain, is a spinosaurid about 7–8 meters long with an estimated body mass of 1.5 metric tons. It is bipedal and had mainly piscivorous habits, although, as a good predator, it would also have been capable of chasing and feeding on terrestrial prey. Named Riojavenatrix, the … Read more
Although a relatively large number of late Middle Pleistocene hominins have been found in East Asia, these fossils have not been consistently included in current debates about the origin of anatomically modern humans (AMHS), and little is known about their phylogenetic place in relation to contemporary hominins from Africa and Europe as well as to … Read more
Ancient stone tools unearthed in western Ukraine have unveiled a fascinating narrative of early human presence in Europe, shedding light on our ancestors’ remarkable adaptability and ingenuity. Recently published in the prestigious journal Nature, the findings indicate that these chipped stones, meticulously crafted from volcanic rock, could be the oldest known evidence of human activity … Read more
The identification of an eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. The astronomical instrument was adapted, translated, and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish, and Christian users in Spain, North Africa, and Italy. Dr. … Read more
An international team, including Western astrophysicists Els Peeters and Jan Cami, has found the destruction and re-formation of a large quantity of water in a planet-forming disk located at the heart of the Orion Nebula. This discovery was made possible by an original multidisciplinary approach combining observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and … Read more
A team of archaeologists from the Aranzadi Science Society recently made a captivating discovery during their excavation at the Irulegi Iron Age site in northern Spain. Unearthed amidst the remnants of ancient civilization was a remarkable artifact—a bronze hand adorned with enigmatic inscriptions resembling a form of Vasconic language, including Basque and its extinct counterparts. … Read more
Fish was not on the menu of the hunter-gatherers of southern Europe 27,000 years ago. Surprisingly, people on the Iberian Peninsula in the Late Gravettian period mostly ate plants and land animals such as rabbits, deer and horses. An international team of researchers has been able to determine this for the first time on the … Read more
The recent revelation regarding two Bronze Age artifacts from the Treasure of Villena in Spain, containing iron from a meteor that struck Earth approximately a million years ago, has captivated both archaeologists and scientists. Unearthed in the 1960s, the treasure trove in Villena has long fascinated experts with its breathtaking array of gold and silver … Read more