Stonehenge, a Neolithic wonder in southern England, has vexed historians and archaeologists for centuries with its many mysteries: How was it built? What purpose did it serve? Where did its towering sandstone boulders come from?   That last question may finally have an answer after a study published Wednesday found that most of the giant

Dozens of US states have reported mysterious seeds showing up in packages from China and are warning citizens not to plant them because they could be an invasive species. The US Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that it was investigating the unsolicited packages of seeds reported by at least 27 states and urged anyone who

Scientists have developed an experimental device and protocol for manipulating the content of people’s dreams while they are sleeping, by making them recall specific cues that can trigger targeted dream themes and experiences.   While the boundless dream-building of Inception remains the stuff of science fiction for now, the new research shows that the evolving

A first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI) study of romantic relationships based on data from thousands of couples has identified the top predictors that make partners feel positively about their relationship – and the findings show romantic happiness is about a lot more than simply who you’re with.   Researchers conducted a machine-learning analysis of data collected

Living in the present can be a present in itself, but during a global pandemic, when the world is in crisis, reflecting only on the ‘now’ might not be your best tactic.  If we want to get through this tragedy stronger than ever, psychologist Jennifer Aaker and Szu-chi Huang from Stanford University argue we need

Understanding what’s going on in the mind of toddlers is helpful in improving everything from education and parenting to pre-school entertainment, and new research sheds light on how these young kids react to a feeling we’ve all had at some point: uncertainty.   In tests with a total of 160 toddlers aged between 25 and

Scattered through the genomes of humans around the world we can find remnants of a Neanderthal ancestry. In some, this bestows resilience to illness, or even a unique head shape. A rare few, it seems, have inherited the Neanderthals‘ sensitive side.   Evolutionary geneticists have taken a close look at a genetic variation in Neanderthal

A new DNA study published Thursday sheds fresh light on the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, from the legacy of rape that can be seen in today’s genetics to how disease likely decimated some groups forced to work in deadly conditions.   For example, DNA from one African region may be under-represented in the

We humans are a rowdy, disruptive bunch. Our very day-to-day living causes the planet to hum. Quite literally – driving and travelling, digging and construction, industry, and even sports events all contribute to a constant background hum of high-frequency seismic noise.   Now, thanks to global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is experiencing

As scientists scramble to figure out where exactly the coronavirus pandemic emerged, other virologists are still chasing the origins of another once-devastating disease – smallpox.    Now, they’ve found viral DNA of an ancient strain of smallpox in Viking Age archaeological remains from northern Europe. The samples, dated at the earliest to 603 CE, provide

Tools excavated from a cave in central Mexico are strong evidence that humans were living in North America at least 30,000 years ago, some 15,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday.​   Artefacts, including 1,900 stone tools, showed human occupation of the high-altitude Chiquihuite Cave over a roughly 20,000 year period, they reported

In ancient Greece, several hundred years before the common era and long before the invention of wheelchairs, some holy sanctuaries may have been specially designed with disability in mind.   While ramps were not particularly common in the fourth century BCE, ancient healing temples are often ringed by these permanent stone structures. Archaeologist Debby Sneed from

We all know what goosebumps are, but why have we evolved to hang on to this seemingly pointless physical reaction to the cold? New research suggests an answer: regulating stem cells that control hair follicles and hair growth.   In a detailed analysis of mice, scientists found that the specific muscles that contract when goosebumps

The question of when human settlers first arrived in North America is not an easy one to answer, but archaeologists now have another piece of useful evidence to work from – a new study of 14,000-year-old poop.   Found in the well-known Paisley Caves in Oregon, the faeces add to the growing consensus that human

A changing climate doesn’t just affect the weather. Entire ecosystems are forced to change, often leading to dramatic shifts in local environments, which can be challenging – even fatal – for species that depend on those ecosystems.   But the hunter-gatherer humans who lived in Patagonia between 6,500 and 2,500 years ago rolled with the

Researchers have discovered a neural overlap between human and machine that helps to explain why what we see in our mind’s eye is different to the information being processed by our actual eyes when we’re peering at something in reality.   With the help of an fMRI scanner and an artificial neural network – an

Millions of working parents have spent months largely trapped in their homes with their children. Many are trying to get their jobs done remotely in the constant presence of their kids, and they are desperate for some peace and quiet.   Many mothers and fathers have sought any available remedy that would enable them to

It’s not unusual for people to panic over their star signs. But every few years or so, poor old NASA has to explain to the internet that no, they haven’t suddenly changed your zodiac from Sagittarius to Scorpio – nor should this change who you are as a person.    Astronomers don’t even have that

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt were arguably some of the greatest leaders in human history, reigning over the river Nile for some three thousand years. But for a brief moment there, right in the middle, they lost control of their most fertile lands.    According to ancient texts, roughly 3,600 years ago, an invading force,

Overpopulation has been a staple of dystopian fiction for decades, with stories predicting an unmitigated spread of humanity pushing Earth’s resources to breaking point. A fresh look at the numbers paints a very different scenario.   A team of researchers estimate by the 2060s there’ll be maybe another two billion people on Earth. Just a

It’s human nature to test our physical limits, but some of us have taken that impulse to the extreme. Athletes spend huge chunks of their lives honing their bodies to swim the fastest or jump the furthest. And it turns out eating is no exception.   Nathan’s Famous Coney Island Hot Dog Eating contest is

Would you rather save 90 percent with a product discount, or 91.27 percent? New research suggests that our minds are wired to prefer nice, round numbers over irregular ones, even when the irregular option means a better deal overall.   This taste for numerical aesthetics was revealed in a study involving 1,552 participants across six

The birth and development of civilisation on the Polynesian islands continues to be a source of fascination for historians, and new evidence shows that Native American visitors may well have been established in the area hundreds of years before European settlers.   After a detailed DNA analysis of the genomes of more than 800 Polynesians

The underwater caves along Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula contain within them a sprawling labyrinth of archaeological relics perhaps unlike anywhere else on Earth. Preserved in a vast network of flooded caverns, these inundated cenotes hold a treasure trove of Maya secrets – but as a new discovery shows, you can also find ancient artefacts dating back to

Imagine being completely blind but still being able to see. Does that sound impossible? Well, it happens. A few years ago, a man (let’s call him Barry) suffered two strokes in quick succession. As a result, Barry was completely blind, and he walked with a stick.   One day, some psychologists placed Barry in a

If you studied algebra in high school (or you’re learning it right now), there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the quadratic formula. If not, it’s possible you repressed it.   By this point, billions of us have had to learn, memorise, and implement this unwieldy algorithm in order to solve quadratic equations, but according

Pandemic movies don’t just immerse you in a crisis, they might actually prepare you for one. New research suggests post-apocalyptic movies, or ‘prepper’ films, may give fans a practical and mental advantage in the current coronavirus pandemic.   “If it’s a good movie, it pulls you in and you take the perspective of the characters,

For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra dry land where people lived. Archaeologists could only speculate about how people used those now-submerged lands, and whether any traces remain today.   But in a study published today in PLOS ONE, we report

For over 1,000 years, the ancient Maya city of Tikal stood tall, embodying one of the largest and most important urban centres ever built by this enigmatic and enduring pre-Columbian civilisation.   By the late 9th century CE however, this Maya metropolis was unravelling. Around this time, Tikal and a number of other Maya cities were

The Ik people of Uganda are a small mountain community with a big reputation. Except there are researchers who now think that reputation is wholly undeserved. In the 1960s, a prominent anthropologist by the name of Colin Turnbull published a book that described the Ik people as extraordinarily ‘unfriendly’, ‘uncharitable’, and ‘mean’. He named them

A mysterious increase in radiation levels over northern Europe was detected this month by authorities from several countries, although no nation has yet come forward to claim responsibility for the anomaly.   The subtle radiation spike – at levels that are considered harmless to humans, but significant enough to be picked up by radiation monitoring

It was said that all he touched turned to gold. But destiny eventually caught up with the legendary King Midas, and a long-lost chronicle of his ancient downfall appears to have literally surfaced in Turkey.   Last year, archaeologists were investigating an ancient mound site in central Turkey called Türkmen-Karahöyük. The greater region, the Konya

Not everyone can see pictures in their minds when they close their eyes and summon thoughts – an ability many of us take for granted. While people have been aware of this phenomenon since the 1800s, it hasn’t been widely studied, and was only recently named ‘aphantasia’. This absence of voluntarily generated mental visual imagery

When Mary Jackson began her career as the first Black female engineer at NASA, she was relegated to a computer lab segregated from the rest. Nearly seventy years later, those visiting the United States’ space agency in Washington DC must drive up Hidden Figures Way to what is now called the Mary W. Jackson NASA

A new photo showing a mystery creature swimming in Loch Ness has sparked new interest in Nessie, the long-necked plesiosaur-like cryptid rumoured to inhabit the loch’s dark and enigmatic depths.   There’s just one big problem, and you can probably guess what it is. The image has been digitally manipulated. According to an investigation conducted

In a time of ancient gods, warriors and kings, the tale of a tribe of warrior women was established in Greek mythology. Said to be daughters of the gods, these fierce female fighters from Asia Minor have caught people’s imaginations for centuries and still permeate through popular culture today as legendary Amazon warriors.   For

Archaeologists working near Stonehenge in the UK have discovered part of a giant ring of deep shafts in the ground, thought to date back round 4,500 years. Originally, they may have been used to guide people to sacred sites… or to warn them to stay away.   Using a combination of techniques, including ground-penetrating radar

What comes first – the squiggle or the inability to see numbers? That’s what scientists have had to investigate in the unusual case of an engineering geologist who suffered a neurological injury, and suddenly couldn’t perceive the numbers 2-9.   But here’s the thing – he could still understand letters, symbols, and even the numbers

New research shows that feelings of loneliness are linked to fundamental differences in the ways our brains are wired – affecting our perspective on friends, acquaintances, and people we’ve never met.   While it’s only a small study, with much of the world currently in lockdown or practising social distancing, it’s a timely insight into the

It was time to move. Humans were heading out of Africa and journeying into Arabia, the first leg of a giant procession known as the Southern Dispersal – the most recent wave in the great ‘Out of Africa’ migration of our ancestors.   New discoveries in this context are continually charting unexpected paths that challenge

The touch paper has been lit. Black Lives Matter have taken to the streets. The revolution has started – statues have been pulled down and TV programmes have been removed from streaming services.   Apologies are also coming in thick and fast – a tearful Keith Lemon actor, a “sincerely sorry” Ant and Dec. Many

It’s a mystery that’s eluded scientists for over 100 years – why do two identically coloured shapes look different when they’re placed on a gradient background? Just take a look at the image above: the two circles are the same colour.   Our perception of shades (and colours) changes according to their visual context, a

Trees marked by Aboriginal cultural practices are a distinctive part of the Australian landscape. A recent discovery on Wiradjuri country in New South Wales shows some of these “culturally modified trees” may be much younger than anybody thought.   What are culturally modified trees? Aboriginal people have long used bark, wood, and trees for practical

For well over 100 years hospitals have been putting people under with general anaesthesia to perform routine operations and surgeries. These days, it’s used all over the world, thousands of times every day.   But although we know that it knocks us out and messes with our consciousness, the actual mechanism behind general anaesthesia was

Let us introduce you to one of the board games played by the ancient Romans some 1,700 years ago: it’s called ludus latrunculorum, and it looks like a version of it has been unearthed at a burial mound site in Norway.   The find comprises 19 playing pieces in total, including elongated dice that look

Archaeological excavations deep within the rainforests of Sri Lanka have unearthed the earliest evidence for hunting with bows and arrows outside Africa. At Fa-Hien Lena, a cave in the heart of Sri Lanka’s wet zone forests, we discovered numerous tools made of stone, bone, and tooth – including a number of small arrow points carved

Dystopian fiction has prepared us for all kinds of apocalypse. Shambling zombies, alien invasion, and, of course, deadly plagues. But not even the most twisted mind could predict the tragic depletion of the most valuable of resources – toilet paper.   Why didn’t people buy up all the toothbrushes, or socks? We don’t have all the

Sunday marked the second time Kathy Sullivan made history. Nearly 25 years after she became the first US woman to walk in space, Sullivan became the first woman to ever reach Challenger Deep, the deepest point in our planet’s oceans. She’s the only person ever to do both.   Challenger Deep lies nearly 7 miles