There’s a Mental Trick to Make Your Holiday Feel Longer, Scientists Reveal
For many people, summer vacation can’t come soon enough – especially for the half of Americans who canceled their summer plans last year due to the pandemic. But when a…
Twin Viking Babies Found in a Surprisingly Christian-Looking Burial in Sweden
Seven Viking tombs holding well-preserved skeletons, including possible twin infants, have been discovered in the Swedish town of Sigtuna. The archaeologists discovered the 1,000-year-old remains of eight people – four…
Beautiful Bone Carving From 51,000 Years Ago Is Changing Our View of Neanderthals
As humans, we like to think we have some pretty unique traits in the animal kingdom. Language enables us to communicate efficiently with one another. Culture preserves and accumulates knowledge…
How Do Kids Figure Out What Words Mean? New Computer Model Has Answers
Scientists are continually discovering more about how we pick up language from the earliest ages, and a new study looks specifically at how very young children integrate different sources of…
‘Time Cells’ Identified in Our Brains Encode The Flow of Time, Scientists Say
How does the human brain keep track of the order of events in a sequence? New research suggests that ‘time cells’ – neurons in the hippocampus thought to represent temporal…
Near-Death Experiences Might Be an Unlikely Survival Strategy, Study Claims
To go to the edge of death and back again is a journey few people take so much remains a mystery about near-death experiences. Now new research suggests that some…
Going ‘Blank’ Looks a Lot Like Parts of The Brain Falling Asleep, Neuroscientists Find
It’s easy to get distracted – whether you’re daydreaming about a special someone while you should be working, or completely going blank and just taking a brain break. Now, scientists…
This Cool 4,400-Year-Old Snake Stick From Finland May Have Belonged to a Shaman
A wooden stick carved into the shape of a snake dating back about 4,400 years has been discovered by a lake in southwest Finland. The stick may have been used…
A Never-Before-Seen Type of Signal Has Been Detected in The Human Brain
Scientists have discovered a unique form of cell messaging occurring in the human brain that’s not been seen before. Excitingly, the discovery hints that our brains might be even more…
Move Over, Neanderthals. This Could Actually Be Our Closest Human Relative
In 1933 a mysterious fossil skull was discovered near Harbin City in the Heilongjiang province of north-eastern China. Despite being nearly perfectly preserved – with square eye sockets, thick brow…
For a Surprisingly Long Time, Humans Have Kept Mementos of Dead Loved Ones
Many of us hang on to keepsakes from loved ones who have died, and new research suggests that this habit is deeply human – and thousands of years old. The…
First Evidence in Humans Shows Stress May Turn Hair Gray, And It Could Be Reversed
For most of us, hair naturally loses pigment as we get older. We often think that stress may also play a role, but until now, that hasn’t actually been demonstrated…
A Previously Unknown Type of Ancient Human Has Been Discovered in The Levant
More than 120,000 years ago in the Levant, Homo sapiens lived side-by-side with a type of ancient human we didn’t know about – until now. That’s according to new fossil…
More Than Half of All Buildings in The US Are at Risk of Natural Disasters
More than half of all buildings in the United States are situated in hazardous hotspots, prone to wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, according to new research. Areas vulnerable to…
3,000-Year-Old Bones Reveal The Oldest Shark Encounter Victim Ever Discovered
The risk of death from an encounter with a shark may be grossly exaggerated in popular culture, but that’s likely small consolation to a man who lived and died 3,000…
This Simple Test Reveals if Your Mental Images Are More Vivid Than Other People’s
Consider the statements below. What do they describe? A trip on psychedelics? A dream? I felt I could reach through the screen to get to another place. Lasers became entire…
A Disaster Expert Says These 6 Steps Could Help The World Recover From The Pandemic
Over 3.5 million dead and counting. Long-term health problems, livelihoods destroyed and a long way yet to go. This is the age of COVID-19. Was it simply a natural disaster,…
Clever Experiment Reveals How Our Ancestors Used Lighting Sources in Caves
Tens of thousands of years ago, humans lived in and explored caves in very different ways to how we do it today. They may not have owned modern flashlights, but…
We Can’t Escape Aging Even With Greater Life Expectancy, Scientists Warn
They say death and taxes are the only sure things in life, but is the former really so absolute and inescapable? After all, with considerable gains in human life expectancy,…
Afraid of The Dark? Blame Your Brain, Not Monsters Under The Bed
Fear is a common response to darkness, especially in children, and now scientists think they might have figured out the brain mechanisms behind it, mechanisms that work in a couple…
Plague Victims Weren’t Always Dumped Into Mass Graves, DNA Evidence Reveals
When the Black Death ravaged Europe midway through the 14th century, it wiped out around half of the population with deaths so swift, people had to bury countless victims in…
This Weird Straw Claims to Cure Hiccups Better Than Any Remedy You Know
Getting rid of hiccups is no easy feat. Once your diaphragm starts involuntarily spasming, there’s little you can do to stop the ensuing “hupps” and “hics” other than wait it…
Two Previously Unknown Brain Cell Types Have Been Discovered in Mouse Study
Despite us having mapped and categorized so much of mammal biology already, there are still new surprises lying in wait. Now, scientists have found two new types of glia –…
We Just Got More Evidence COVID-19 May Have Spread in The US in December 2019
The novel coronavirus may have already arrived in the US by late December 2019, adding to the evidence that the virus was already lurking here at least a month before…
Reports Are Emerging of ‘COVID Nails’. Here’s What You Need to Know
The main signs of COVID-19 are fever, a cough, fatigue and a loss of your sense of taste and smell. Signs of COVID-19 in the skin have been noted too.…
Earworms Don’t Just Haunt You When You’re Awake, Sleep Study Reveals
We’re all familiar with songs getting stuck in our head while we’re awake, but it turns out this can happen during sleep as well. A new study investigating the phenomenon…
Humans Are Evolving Faster Than Ever. The Reason Is Not Genetic, Study Claims
At the mercy of natural selection since the dawn of life, our ancestors adapted, mated and died, passing on tiny genetic mutations that eventually made humans what we are today.…
Unique Gut Bug Study Untangles Early Human Migration From Siberia Into The Americas
New insights into the peopling of Siberia and human migration into the Americas have been found in what might seem like an unlikely place: gut bugs. Helicobacter pylori is a…
There’s More to Height Than Just Our Genes, According to Experts
Height varies dramatically between individuals. The tallest person ever measured was 2.72 meters (6.9 feet) tall, whilst the shortest person stood at just 67 centimeters (26 inches). We often consider…
The Global Extinction of Languages Is Threatening a Vital Type of Human Knowledge
As human languages are driven to extinction around the world, a verbal encyclopedia of medical knowledge is on the brink of being forgotten. Among 12,495 medicinal uses for plants in…
Some People Can See Through Camouflage, And It’s Not as Hard as You Think
Camouflage techniques can usually be relied upon to conceal humans and animals alike, but expertly trained individuals can see through these visual tricks – and scientists have now learned more…
The Math Says Your Friends (Probably) Aren’t More Popular Than You
Your friends are on average more popular than you are, according to a phenomenon known as the “friendship paradox.” Now, a group of mathematicians has come up with a new…
Two Closely Related Vikings Died a World Apart. Now Their Bones Have Been Reunited
A thousand years ago, two Vikings died violently. One, on the Danish island of Funen, died in his 50s, likely from a stab wound to his hip. The other died…
'My life flashed before my eyes': A psychologist tackles the near-death mystery
People have reported these experiences for years. Source link
Deadly Crashes in The US Surged During The Pandemic. This Could Be The Explanation
COVID-19 put a spotlight on personal health and safety like perhaps only a pandemic can, but there was one place at least where people didn’t get the memo: American roads.…
Memories Are Played Back at Super High-Speed When We’re Learning New Skills
Our incredible powers of learning are such a defining part of being human, yet we still don’t fully understand how our brains absorb new skills. Powerful modern imaging techniques, allowing…
Is ‘Emotional Intelligence’ Even a Thing? Here’s The Science
Emotional intelligence, the ability to regulate and perceive emotions, is the subject of much debate amongst scientists and the public alike. Whilst most people agree that being able to read…
17 Decapitated Ancient Roman Remains Found, And Nobody Knows Why They Were Killed
Seventeen decapitated skeletons dating back about 1,700 years have been discovered in three Roman cemeteries at Knobb’s Farm in Cambridgeshire, in the UK. Archaeologists who excavated the site think that…
New Research Shows Māori Traveled to Antarctica at Least 1,000 Years Before Europeans
When we think of Antarctic exploration, the narrative is overwhelmingly white. The first confirmed sighting of mainland Antarctica was attributed to a Russian expedition in 1820, while the first landing…
Humans Can Learn How to ‘Echolocate’ in Just 10 Weeks, Experiment Shows
With enough training, most humans can learn how to echolocate, using their tongue to make clicking sounds, and interpreting the sounds of the echoes that come back, reflected from the…
‘Climate Seesaw’ Spurred Human Evolution in Africa For Millennia, Scientists Say
Ancient, oscillating weather patterns similar to El Niño are chiefly responsible for environmental shifts in sub-Saharan Africa over the last 620,000 years, new research reveals – and they’re also likely…
Shock Discovery Suggests Humans Were in The Americas 20,000 Years Earlier Than Thought
Coxcatlan Cave in Mexico’s Tehuacan Valley is a time capsule like no other. Its dusty floor is a history book, its pages detailing thousands of years of food and technology…
Most Americans Overestimate Their Ability to Spot Fake News, Study Shows
Most people aren’t trying to share fake news, but that’s part of the problem: Nobody thinks it’s their fault. In a recent survey of 8,285 Americans, 90 percent of respondents…
Our Brains Have More in Common With Testicles Than You Ever Wanted to Know
That delightful saying about men thinking with their nether regions has gained a new meaning. A new study has found an unnerving lot of similarities between men’s brains and the…
Innocent-Looking Jar From 2,300 Years Ago Holds ‘Curse’ Against 55 People in Athens
A 2,300-year-old ceramic jar filled with the bones of a dismembered chicken was likely part of an ancient curse to paralyze and kill 55 people in ancient Athens, archaeologists say.…
Climate Change Likely Contributed to One of The Oldest Examples of Human Warfare
One of the oldest known war cemeteries, discovered in the Nile River Valley, did not necessarily originate from a single epic battle like we once thought. According to a full…
Made From Bird Bones, These Could Be The Oldest Known Tattooing Tools
A set of cut and sharpened turkey bones excavated decades ago from an ancient Native American grave seem to be the oldest tattooing tools we’ve found to date. A new,…
Scientists Trace The Intricate Oscillations Our Brains Use to ‘Save’ Memories in Sleep
There’s already a strong link between sleep and memory, and scientists have just found out more about how that relationship works: there are specific patterns of brain activity that open…