ScienceAlert


Evidence continues to mount against the interpretation of a cave filled with ancient hominid bones as a sacred burial ground, one used long before modern humans were burying their own dead.



					
			

The Rising Star Cave system in South Africa contains the remains of an unusually high number of individuals of the hominid species Homo naledi that lived around 300,000 years ago, and their peculiar deposition has continued to puzzle scientists.
Then, last year, a bombshell dropped. A team led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand published a preprint making the jaw-dropping claim that the burials were deliberate, a...

Did This Ancient Species Really Bury Its Dead Before Modern Humans?

Homo floresiensis holds the record for the smallest human species to have ever graced our planet, but some of them might have been even smaller than we first imagined.
A 700,000-year-old fragment of an adult humerus uncovered in 2013 has recently been classified as belonging to an early representative of a species once colorfully described as 'hobbits'.



					
			

Smaller than any in the fossil record – from this ancient cousin or any other hominin for that matter – the piece of upper arm bone expands the picture we have of an unusual relative that walked on Earth alongside us until as recently as...

Smallest Known Species of Human May Have Had an Even Smaller Ancestor


A rock that smashed violently into our planet some 66 million years ago changed the course of life on Earth.
The chain reaction of changes across the globe marked the end of days for the giants that roamed. Non-avian  dinosaurs disappeared into the fossil record – but their demise opened the way for other forms of life to rise and thrive.



					
			

Not long after the impact, the earliest ancestors of today's birds emerged. And now, scientists have found traces of the catastrophe in birds' genomes – dramatic changes wrought by the mass extinction event that allowed birds to diversify, becoming the...

Traces of Dinosaur Catastrophe Found in Genes of Today's Birds


Like a mosquito tunneling into the skin to get at the rich feast within, geologists poked a long, narrow drill into Earth's crust last year, pulling out a treasury of geological goodness.



					
			

The result is a long cylinder of rock, known as a core sample, measuring a record-shattering 1,268 meters (4,160 feet) in length. Made up of igneous rock that has been chemically altered by seawater in a process known as serpentinization, the cylinder has now been analyzed and its secrets revealed.
This thread of Earth-skin, extracted from the ocean depths, is a repository of information that can be used to plumb...

Geologists' Record-Breaking Drill Into Earth's Crust Reveals Mantle Secrets


Modern forensic techniques have put an end to a nearly 200-year-old conspiracy theory regarding a lost European prince, according to a new preprint paper.
In 1828, a "half-wild" 16-year-old boy took the continent by storm when he appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the German city of Nuremberg. The disheveled adolescent carried two letters on his person that claimed he had grown up in a dark and cold dungeon, held captive by a 'mystery man'.



					
			

The "feral child" couldn't speak well, but he wrote his name as Kaspar Hauser. Soon enough, rumors began to swirl as to where he came from.
Within a...

DNA From 'Lost European Prince' Solves a 200-Year-Old Conspiracy

Community Voices represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program but not yet verified their accounts. Community Voices are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

community_voice

Herbie J Pilato

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes and commentary from Donna Douglas are from an interview with her conducted by the author.]. Donna Douglas, who died of pancreative cancer at 82 in 2015, was an honest-to-goodness Southern Belle who displayed a natural beauty and talent in her portrayal of the hollering, rope-wearing, whistle-happy, and critter-cuddling Elly May Clampett on the 1960s classic TV hit, The Beverly Hillbillies.

TV's Beloved 'Beverly Hillbillies' Actress Donna Douglas: Nine Years After Her Death

Lafayette County, MS

Contributors represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. They have also demonstrated their experience writing hard news for other outlets. Contributors are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

contributor

Mississippi News Group

Written with artificial intelligence assistance. Deputies from the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of possible animal cruelty on County Road 418 on August 4, according to Dark Horse Press. Upon arrival, officers encountered a distressing scene: several malnourished dogs and multiple deceased dogs still attached to their collars and chains.

Man Arrested for Animal Cruelty After Disturbing Discover

New Hampshire State

In late July, a young fisherman by the name of Joseph Kramer was hauling up his lobster traps off the coast of New Hampshire when he found himself looking at a crustacean positively too beautiful to eat.



					
			

The lobster's shell was a swirling mass of blue, purple, and pink pigments, which looked like glazed, opalescent pottery when wet.

Kramer had once reeled in a bright blue lobster, but he had never before seen one with such a multitude of colors.
The lucky lobster avoided the dinner plate and was taken straight to the Seacoast Science Center, where it is now on display.
There, the...

Gorgeous 'Cotton Candy' Lobster Just Found Is So Rare It's 1-in-100 Million

Kate Jackson began her acting career as a silent ghost on TV's classic 1960s gothic daytime drama Dark Shadows but remains alive and well years after two horrific battles with breast cancer. Jackson went on to small screen prime-time stardom on police/detective/crime drama/comedies like The Rookies, Charlie's Angels, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and more. This is her triumphant story.

'Charlie's Angels' Star Kate Jackson Has Courageously Battled and Conquered Cancer Several Times


There are literal oceans' worth of liquid water hiding out on Mars. There's just one big problem. That water is actually in Mars, at depths that are too far below the surface for us to access.



					
			

That's according to new analysis of seismic data collected by the  Mars InSight lander, for which huge reservoirs of liquid water are the best explanation. And, although that water is out of reach, it is an important piece of the strange puzzle of the aquatic history of our dry, desiccated, dusty neighbor.
"Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the...

Scientists Just Found Oceans of Liquid Water on Mars – But There's a Catch


If you've got a high school yearbook you can flick through, you might find that the least attractive people run a slightly higher risk of living a comparatively shorter life, according to a new study.



					
			

Researchers in the US analyzed the fates of thousands of teenagers who graduated high school in the US in the late 1950s, to take a closer look at how looks might be linked to mortality risk.
It's not implausible that features we find attractive might convey information about our state of health. Past research has identified links between our immune systems and ratings of beauty.
Yet there is...

Your High School Yearbook Photo Could Predict How Long You'll Live

South Carolina State

Explore Beaufort SC

The mantis shrimp is one tough customer. Beautiful and deadly are two words you don’t typically use to describe shrimp, but the mantis shrimp is definitely in a class of its own; earning a reputation as the ‘savage boxer of the sea’ and one of the most fearsome creatures in the ocean. And, they're right at home here in South Carolina.

Savage Boxer of the Sea: The Deadly Beauty of Mantis Shrimp

Chicago, IL

Writers represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. Writers are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

writer

Foodie in Chicago

Shortly before 3 AM, people in the Chicago area may have felt their houses shake as a 3.4-magnitude earthquake occurred about 60 miles west of the city. (CHICAGO) The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 3.4-magnitude earthquake around Somonauk, IL. Somonauk is in DeKalb and LaSalle Counties, 64 miles west of Chicago.

Did You Feel the Earthquake?


Tiny fragments of microplastics are making their way deep inside our bodies in concerning quantities, significantly through our food and drink.
Scientists have recently found a simple and effective means of removing them from water.



					
			

A team from Guangzhou Medical University and Jinan University in China ran tests on both soft water and hard tap water (which is richer in minerals), adding in nanoplastics and microplastics (NMPs) before boiling the liquid and then filtering out any precipitates.
In some cases, up to 90 percent of the NMPs were removed by the boiling and filtering process, though the effectiveness varied based on the type...

There's a Surprisingly Easy Way to Remove Microplastics From Your Drinking Water


Something is making the fabric of our Universe grow at an ever-accelerating rate, and scientists are truly stumped on what it could be.
Maybe gravity starts to misbehave over cosmic scales, or perhaps the roiling of pure emptiness creates some kind of negative pressure we're yet to explain.



					
			

For now,  dark energy acts as a placeholder for descriptions of the mysterious tide of expansion, inviting all manner of speculation on what the poltergeist in the intergalactic shadows may actually look like.
Naman Kumar, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology, has a few thoughts, which he outlined recently in a...

An Evil Twin Universe Could Be Behind Our Universe's Rapid Expansion


The ancient monument of Göbekli Tepe in Türkiye is truly one of the most magnificent ancient marvels on our planet.
The temple complex that thrived as a cultural epicenter more than 10,000 years ago is the oldest monument of its kind, handing down mysteries from a people long, long past.



					
			

And now, a carving on a wall in the complex could be the earliest evidence of a calendar, used to track the passage of time and the turning of the seasons.
We don't know exactly how the Neolithic people of Türkiye used Göbekli Tepe, but recent findings suggest that it was occupied at...

Carvings in Ancient Temple of Göbekli Tepe Could Be Earth's Oldest Calendar


The  virus responsible for  COVID-19 is now widespread in wildlife. A new study in the US identified exposure rates of up to 60 percent in some species.
"I think the big take-home message is the virus is pretty ubiquitous," says Virginia Tech conservation biologist Amanda Goldberg. "We found positives in a large suite of common backyard animals."



					
			

Testing almost 800 nasal and oral swabs from animals in rehabilitation centers or that were trapped and released in the wild, the researchers identified six different species with  antibodies indicating they'd been infected with  SARS-CoV-2 at some point.
Most of the infected...

Virus Behind COVID-19 Now Rampant in Wild Animals, Study Finds

Massachusetts State

Camilo Díaz

(MA) Meet Cooper Cutie, an 8-and-a-half-month-old puppy who is part Shepherd, part Hound, part Treeing Walker Coonhound, and a few other parts thrown in. Whatever the combination, the result was an adorable and unique-looking puppy with ears to melt your heart. Cooper was found with his brother as a stray trying to find enough food to get by. While his brother has since been adopted, Cooper has been waiting in rescue now for over 6 months! Are YOU just who he has been waiting for?

Cooper Cutie Is A Unique Looking Pup Still Searching For Love After Brother Adopted Without Him


 The Moon, for most intents and purposes, is naked, bare, and exposed to the vacuum of space.
But Earth's satellite does indeed have a blanket of gasses; thin and tenuous, but persistent enough to be considered a kind of atmosphere called an exosphere.



					
			

Exactly how the Moon sustains that diffuse shell of gasses has been something of a puzzle. Earth's magnetic field acts as a confining influence on its atmosphere, but the Moon has nothing of the sort, so its exosphere should have been stripped away by solar activity long ago.
It's clear the Moon's deplenishing gasses are constantly being topped up,...

The Moon Has a Mysterious Atmosphere, And We Finally Know Its Source

Los Angeles, CA

Adam Rich was born on October 12, 1968, lived a troubled life, and died on January 7, 2023, at only 54 years old. This is his story. He lived in the Granada Hills area of Los Angeles with his parents and younger brother. The Rich family resided for a time in Florida where Adam studied acting at the local gym.

A Look Back at the Tragic Life and Death of Former Child Star Adam Rich (TV's 'Eight is Enough')

NewsBreak

520-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Larva Found With Preserved Brain And Guts


Every now and again, our planet ponies up a fossil so spectacular that almost all you can do is gape in wonder.
Sometimes those fossils are the...

520-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Larva Found With Preserved Brain And Guts

Comments / 0