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Frontal view of the portrait of Homo heidelbergensis from Petralona, Greece, with hair and skin pigmentation. Image credit: Aidonis et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104206.

Anthropologists Reconstruct Face of Homo heidelbergensis

Oct 13, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Anthropologists in Greece have used facial reconstruction techniques to show how Homo heidelbergensis, a poorly understood relative of Neanderthals that...

Reconstruction of Anachlysictis gracilis stalking some rodents (Neoreomys huilensis) in the La Venta area during Middle Miocene. Image credit: Juan Giraldo.

Exceptional Fossil of Saber-Toothed Marsupial Relative Unearthed in Colombia

Oct 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new fossil material belonging to Anachlysictis gracilis, including an almost complete specimen consisting of a nicely preserved skull and postcranial...

Neanderthals butchering the freshly killed cave lion from Siegsdorf, Germany. Image credit: Julio Lacerda / NLD.

Neanderthals Were Hunting Cave Lions 48,000 Years Ago

Oct 12, 2023 by News Staff

During the Upper Paleolithic, lions become an important theme in Paleolithic art and are more frequent in anthropogenic faunal assemblages. However, the...

Analyzing high-density genotype data from 7,594 Latin Americans, Faux et al. characterized Neanderthal introgression in the SCN9A gene. Image credit: Holger Neumann / Neanderthal Museum.

Study: Neanderthals May Have Been More Sensitive to Mechanical Pain than Most Humans

Oct 12, 2023 by News Staff

People carrying three Neanderthal variants — known as M932L, V991L, and D1908G — in the gene SCN9A are more sensitive to pain from skin pricking...

A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Sample material from asteroid Bennu can be seen on the middle right. Image credit: NASA / Erika Blumenfeld / Joseph Aebersold.

Sample Material from Asteroid Bennu Contains Carbon and Water, NASA Scientists Say

Oct 11, 2023 by News Staff

The sample was collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft...

Space weather from the Sun, such as coronal mass ejections, disturbs Earth’s magnetic field, causing the aurorae and potentially decreasing the magnetic field’s reliability for migrating birds. Image credit: John Megahan.

Severe Space Weather Events Disrupt Nocturnal Bird Migrations, Researchers Find

Oct 11, 2023 by News Staff

Earth’s magnetic field is occasionally but regularly impacted by bursts of energy from the Sun (space weather), such as coronal mass ejections. Birds...

Tomiyamichthys elliotensis, underwater photograph, approx. 5 cm in length, Lady Elliot Island, Queensland, Australia. Image credit: M.V. Erdmann.

New Species of Shrimpgoby Discovered at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Oct 10, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered species of gobiid fish, Tomiyamichthys elliotensis (common name is the Lady Elliot shrimp goby), is currently known only from Lady...

Monumental round-oval buildings with their characteristic T-shaped monolithic pillars at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. Image credit: Nico Becker, Göbekli Tepe Archive, German Archaeological Institute.

11,000-Year-Old Painted Statue of Wild Boar Unearthed at Gobekli Tepe

Oct 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in Türkiye (Turkey) have unearthed several ancient statues, including a life-size statue of a wild boar, at Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic...

An artist’s illustration of a solar storm. Image credit: NASA.

Extreme Solar Storm Hit Our Planet 14,300 Years Ago, Subfossil Tree-Rings Show

Oct 9, 2023 by News Staff

In new research, scientists from the University of Leeds and elsewhere measured radiocarbon levels in ancient trees preserved within the eroded banks of...

Feather-tailed possums (Distoechurus pennatus).

Paleontologists Describe Four New Fossil Species of Feathertail Possums

Oct 9, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have identified four new fossil feathertail possum species (family Acrobatidae) from the fossilized specimens found in the Late Oligocene...

Rionegrina pozosaladensis. Image credit: Melchor et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43771-x.

First-Ever Terror Bird Footprints Discovered

Oct 5, 2023 by Natali Anderson

For the first time, footprints made by an extinct terror bird (family Phorusrhacidae) have been identified by paleontologists. Holotype trackway of Rionegrina...

The Asian mysterious pangolin (Manis mysteria) separated from the Philippine pangolin (shown here) and Malayan pangolin over 5 million years ago. Image credit: Gregg Yan / CC BY-SA 4.0.

DNA Study Reveals Cryptic New Species of Pangolin

Oct 2, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-identified species, Manis mysteria, is the ninth known pangolin species or the fifth Asian one. The Asian mysterious pangolin (Manis mysteria)...

Bohemolichas incola. Image credit: Jiri Svoboda.

465-Million-Year-Old Trilobite Found with Gut Contents Preserved

Oct 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-discovered fossilized specimen of Bohemolichas incola, a species of trilobite that lived during the Ordovician period, provides by far the most...

Reconstruction of Acheronauta stimulapis. Image credit: Sci.News / Qohelet12 / Bing Image Creator.

Wonderful Early Silurian Life

Sep 29, 2023 by Simon Braddy

The Waukesha Biota, a 437-million-year-old fossil assemblage from Wisconsin, USA, provides a rare glimpse into life in an ancient lagoon. In his book Wonderful...

Anderson et al. show that antihydrogen atoms, released from magnetic confinement in the ALPHA-g apparatus, behave in a way consistent with gravitational attraction to the Earth. Image credit: Keyi ‘Onyx’ Li / U.S. National Science Foundation.

CERN Physicists Observe Influence of Gravity on Antimatter

Sep 29, 2023 by News Staff

Physicists from the ALPHA Collaboration at CERN’s Antimatter Factory have demonstrated the existence of gravity between antimatter and Earth, reaffirming...

Life reconstruction of Baru iylwenpeny. Image credit: Adam Yates / Sci.News.

Fearsome Cleaver-Headed Crocodiles Once Inhabited Central Australia

Sep 28, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of a new species of the mekosuchine crocodilian genus Baru in the Alcoota Scientific Reserve, about...

MilliMobile is able to move across a variety of surfaces, including concrete and packed soil. Image credit: Mark Stone / University of Washington.

Researchers Create Autonomous Battery-Free Wireless Microrobot: MilliMobile

Sep 27, 2023 by News Staff

MilliMobile is a first of its kind battery-free autonomous robot capable of operating on harvested solar and radio frequency power. The MilliMobile prototype...

Qiongqi crinalis. Image credit: Yuan et al., doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5330.1.9.

New Species of Cricket Found Preserved in 99-Million-Year-Old Amber

Sep 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of cricket found in a piece of Cretaceous-period amber from northern Myanmar. Qiongqi crinalis: (A) habitus...

Reconstruction of Lusognathus almadrava and its paleoenvironment. Image credit: Jason Brougham.

Paleontologists Unearth New Species of Pterosaur in Portugal

Sep 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of gnathosaurine pterosaur that lived during the Jurassic period has been identified from fossils found in Portugal. Reconstruction...