A giant, sprawling structure almost a mile long has been discovered at the southern tip of Mexico, with researchers saying it may represent the oldest and largest monument of the ancient Maya civilisation ever found.   The site, called Aguada Fénix, is located in the state of Tabasco, at the base of the Gulf of

An interesting side effect of the coronavirus pandemic is the number of people who say they are having vivid dreams. Many are turning to blogs and social media to describe their experiences.   While such dreams can be confusing or distressing, dreaming is normal and considered helpful in processing our waking situation, which for many

DNA research on the Dead Sea Scrolls has revealed that not all of the ancient manuscripts came from the desert landscape where they were discovered, according to a study published Tuesday.   Numbering around 900, the manuscripts were found between 1947 – first by Bedouin shepherds – and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the

Life during a global pandemic takes on a surreal quality. The ubiquitous presence of social media and a constant fire hose of depressing news can make it particularly hard if you’re already feeling anxious.   So, we’ve put together a little round-up of recent science news that we find inspiring, encouraging, and worthy of note

Humans are social animals and that’s usually a good thing. But while there might be safety in numbers under some circumstances, new psychological research suggests human connection isn’t always a good thing.   As social groups grow larger, in fact, humans may actually respond slower to an emerging crisis. A new psychological experiment reveals people

Three boys from Bolivia let a black widow spider bite them in the hopes of gaining Spider-Man’s powers, but they ended up in hospital instead. The brothers, aged 12, 10, and 8, were herding goats in Chayanta when they found a spider, Telemundo first reported after a Ministry of Health official revealed the details at a coronavirus

Human pregnancy is downright curious. Today, we still don’t know why women go into labour for so long or why they face so much risk when they give birth. Progesterone is a hormone crucial to reproduction in many mammals, but for some unknown reason, it seems to act differently in humans.   Research shows our

Everyone is responsible for slowing the spread of the disease. Every action counts. This is also the case in the fight against misinformation, which intrudes on the overabundance of news, mixing facts, rumours and fake news. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described this phenomenon as an infodemic.   Our research on social media propaganda

Swearing is good for you. Well, kind of. A growing body of research suggests that, under the right circumstances, simply saying taboo words out loud seems to make people feel less pain – but not just any swear words will suffice, new findings reveal.   Exactly how and why the act of swearing manages to

We thought we had it all figured out. For maximum flavour, tomatoes should not go in the fridge with other fruit. It’s what the science seemed to show. Except now, it seems there’s a juicy alternative.   A contentious new study suggests it might not matter where we put this fruit so long as it’s picked when

Masks have become a defining icon of the COVID-19 pandemic, in spite of some confusing advice about what people should and shouldn’t be wearing. While face coverings may offer minimal protection to the individuals wearing them (with some doctors saying they aren’t nearly as effective as we might think), other experts recommend their use, suggesting that if enough people

It’s one of the most fascinating fields in anthropology: how and when did human beings first make it over to the Americas? Thanks to material scraped from a 14,000-year-old tooth found near Lake Baikal in Siberia, we now have more clues.   The tooth has actually been sitting in a museum drawer for decades, but

Researchers say they’ve created a proof-of-concept bionic eye that could surpass the sensitivity of a human one. “In the future, we can use this for better vision prostheses and humanoid robotics,” researcher Zhiyong Fan, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told Science News.   The eye, as detailed in a paper published

Unique among the great apes, human males are able to grow impressive lengths of wiry hair from their jaw, cheeks, and upper lip. Sure, it attracts parasites. Traps food. Interferes with communication, sensation, and perspiration. But they look great… right?   As a hirsute male with a lazy relationship with a razor, I can tell

Fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls long believed to be entirely blank have now been shown to contain hidden text that hasn’t been read for several decades, if not much, much longer.   The Dead Sea Scrolls, a set of ancient religious manuscripts dating back to the third century BCE, were discovered in caves in

Unless you’re super into typography or have a hand-lettering hobby, you will likely struggle to tell which of the above shapes of the lowercase ‘G’ is correct (if you’re looking at this text, you’re cheating).   That’s okay. As it turns out, most people are in the same boat, despite having seen this letter millions

Avi Schiffmann has been procrastinating on his school work, but he has a good excuse. The 17-year-old high schooler is the creator of one of the most visited coronavirus trackers in the world, which he says now takes up “100 percent” of his free time.   The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t look like it will be

A team of scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has developed a brain implant that allows both blind and sighted participants “see” the shape of letters. As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Cell, the device works by skipping the eye and relaying visual information from a camera straight to

A sprawling structure regarded as the world’s oldest known temple was designed with an understanding of geometric principles somewhat unusual for the hunter-gatherer cultures thought to have built it, researchers say.   Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, widely viewed as the earliest place of worship ever discovered, is a vast Neolithic complex dated to over 11,000

Thousands of years ago, Ol Doinyo Lengai let forth. This unique Tanzanian volcano – ‘Mountain of God’, in the tongue of the local Masaii people – erupted on an unknown day in prehistory, sending a deluge of ash and lava down its sacred slopes.   The molten mass, carrying soil and mixing with floodwater from

Many new phrases have entered our vocabulary as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. “Zoom fatigue” refers to the mental exhaustion associated with online video conferencing.   We can change how we interact on video calls with adapted social behaviours such as scheduling shorter meetings. But theories from audio and sound research tell

When a mother gives birth to twins, the offspring are not always identical or even the same gender. Known as fraternal twins, they represent a longstanding evolutionary puzzle.   Identical twins arise from a single fertilised egg that accidentally splits in two, but fraternal twins arise when two eggs are released and fertilised. Why this

The oldest bones of Homo sapiens ever found in Europe have been discovered in a Bulgarian cave, providing the earliest known evidence of our species’ emergence in the European continent, according to new research.   The appearance and spread of modern humans in Europe is a difficult timeline for researchers to reconstruct, owing to a

The Food and Drug Administration has issued recommendations for pet owners during the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging social distancing practices for cats and dogs. An FDA fact sheet from April 30 indicates that pets should not interact with people or other animals outside the immediate household. Cats should be kept indoors when possible, and dogs should

Of all the volcanic eruptions to shake our planet in the last 2 million years, the Toba super-eruption in Sumatra, Indonesia, was one of the most colossal. But it may not have been the global catastrophe we once thought it was.   The massive eruption happened roughly 74,000 years ago, spewing roughly 1,000 times as much rock

Scientists have discovered that eyes and brains in rodents seem to have uncannily similar drainage systems used for self cleaning, and there’s reason to think this might apply to us, too.   This sort of maintenance is necessary to wash away waste cells and fluids, and we know that brains make use of a tiny

Some professional authors can become so immersed in their own writings, they say they can actually ‘hear’ their characters’ voices in their head, new research shows. Famous novelists like Alice Walker, David Nicholls, and Enid Blyton are known to have admitted to watching, listening, and chatting with their imaginary creations, and now, a comprehensive survey

When you’re living in a city, green spaces can make a huge difference – not only to your mental health, but also your physical health. In fact, a new study suggests more access to nature could even prevent premature deaths.   In the US city of Philadelphia, new research has found planting more trees could actually

While you’re reading this, your heart is beating. It’s pumping blood through your body, carrying vital oxygen and nutrients to help keep you alive. We are hardly aware of this relentless, life-affirming pounding underneath our skin, even though it happens over 100,000 times every single day.   While our heartbeat escapes our notice most of

Our short-term memory is wired to deceive us on purpose, scientists have found – a trick that enables us to better recognise what we’re seeing in the world around us. The deception kicks in when we take a second glance at something: our brains partly falsify that second glance, so it matches up with the

The United States Pentagon is a secretive place by nature, but every once in a while, the public gets a little peek behind closed doors. After years of speculation, defence officials have now declassified and released three grainy videos from the Navy that have been circulating online for a while now, causing all sorts of

As the Roman Empire drew to a dramatic collapse towards the end of the 5th century, ripples were felt across its former territories. Balances shifted as new powers rushed to fill the vacuums Rome’s retreats left behind.   The changes to the everyday lives of the people are far less well documented, but a cemetery

Bronze swords made from copper and tin aren’t the most robust of weapons, which has led to some uncertainty about whether they were originally used for battle or just for show.   Now, a group of archaeologists has tried to settle the debate by quite literally coming to blows with each other. Researchers commissioned the

It’s not unusual for parents to worry about the next generation and the future planet they’ll inherit, but new research suggests having children doesn’t necessarily make you any ‘greener’ as a person – quite the opposite, in fact.   A new study in Sweden has found that even those who really care about the environment

Human pregnancy is no easy feat. Unlike other mammals, the process is unusually long and dangerous, and that might have something to do with a key reproductive gene. The hormone progesterone plays a crucial role in mammal biology. It helps regulate nearly every aspect of female reproduction, from menstruation, to implantation, to pregnancy, and in

Four months in, this year has already been a remarkable showcase for existential and catastrophic risk. A severe drought, devastating bushfires, hazardous smoke, towns running dry – these events all demonstrate the consequences of human-induced climate change.   While the above may seem like isolated threats, they are parts of a larger puzzle of which

A structure critical to our brain’s core language pathway, found only in humans and apes, has now also been identified in monkeys, according to a controversial new study – suggesting the origins of language may have appeared 20 to 25 million years earlier than previously thought.   Compared to other animals, the human brain is

Thanks to advances in DNA technology, we now know we’re all a little bit Neanderthal. Just how their genes continue to affect us has become a topic of wild speculation, with anything from red hair to sleeping habits a potential legacy left by our extinct cousins.   With more research, many of these claims have

In the midst of a global pandemic, conspiracy theorists have found yet another way to spread dangerous disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19, sowing seeds of doubts about its severity and denying the very existence of the pandemic.   Since March 28, conspiracy theorists — “coronavirus deniers” — have been using the hashtag #FilmYourHospital to encourage

Across the Mediterranean region, in fields and on roadsides, thrives a small plant with silvery leaves. It doesn’t look like much, and in many cases it’s an annoying weed. But in the Middle Ages, Chrozophora tinctoria was highly prized.   There’s a clue in the name – tinctoria means to dye, and common names of

At an average altitude of around 1,800 metres (1.1 miles), high in the Jotunheim Mountains of Norway, a patch of ice is melting. It’s called the Lendbreen ice patch, and for millennia, it has been frozen year-round, accumulating a new layer every year.   But in the past two decades, the ice has been slowly

Ancient archaeological sites across the Northern Hemisphere have been littered with a mystery. Where there were hominins, there too could often be found roughly rounded spheres of stone. Some have been dated back to over 2 million years ago, with marks suggesting that the balls had been deliberately shaped.   New research has discovered a plausible

On the frigid landscape of Antarctica’s Ingrid Christensen Coast sits Davis Station, where 24 people are hunkered down for a long and dark winter. Although this happens every year, with the winter crew taking atmospheric observations, fixing seabird cameras, and looking after the station while the Sun slowly sets, this year things feel different.   “It’s

A sunken ship found in the Nile river may have lain undisturbed for over 2,500 years, but it is finally ponying up its secrets. Scientists think that this ship has revealed a structure whose existence has been debated for centuries.   In fragment 2.96 of Herodotus’ Histories, published around 450 BCE, the Ancient Greek historian –

Neanderthals were making string and cords from fibres long before early humans cottoned on to the technique, according to a new archaeological discovery. Researchers have found a 6.2 millimetre (0.24 inch) fibre fragment which they date to around 41,000–52,000 years ago – so quite a bit older than the previous record holder, a 19,000-year-old fragment

There’s a small and exclusive list of places where crop cultivation first got started in the ancient world – and it looks as though that list might have another entry, according to new research of curious ‘islands’ in the Amazon basin.   The savannah of the Llanos de Moxos in northern Bolivia is littered with

The sound of people chewing, slurping, tapping, or humming can drive some people into a rage, and scientists have actually discovered the neurological wiring responsible for this strange condition.   Called misophonia, it describes the unreasonable emotions that well up in some of us when we hear certain repetitive noises being produced by other humans.

A lifetime ago, a Jewish girl confided in her diary as she spent two years in isolation from the outside world in a doomed attempt to escape mortal danger. Anne Frank, a teenager from Amsterdam, wrote of her hopes, fears and dreams as she and her family hid from the Nazis in a secret annexe