The identification of a new hominin group called Denisovans was one of the most exciting discoveries in human evolution in the last decade. Unlike Neanderthal remains, the Denisovan fossil record consists of only several skeletal fragments. According to new research, several Denisovan populations, who likely had an extensive geographical range, were adapted to distinct environments
A team of scientists from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, TU Delft, and Caltech has developed a new method to compute how tides affect the interiors of planets and moons in the Solar System. Importantly, they’ve looked at the effects of body tides on objects that don’t have a perfectly
Sedimentary mineral deposits found on the surface of Mars may have been left by an ancient sea 3.5 billion years ago. New results from China’s Tianwen-1/Zhurong mission suggest the presence of features consistent with a coastline in the southern Utopia Planitia and provide further evidence for the existence of a short-lived ocean early in the
Using a laser-based detection system, archaeologists have discovered over 6,500 pre-Hispanic structures — including a previously unknown Maya city named Valeriana — in Campeche, Mexico. Detail of the major site of Valeriana in Campeche, Mexico. Image credit: Auld-Thomas et al., doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.148. “Our analysis not only revealed a picture of a region that was dense
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration events detected from beyond our Milky Way Galaxy. FRB emission characteristics favor magnetars as their sources, as evidenced by FRB-like bursts from a magnetar in the Milky Way, and the star-forming nature of FRB host galaxies. However, the processes that produce FRB sources remain unknown. According to new research
DNA methylation is one of several epigenetic mechanisms crucial for regulating gene expression in eukaryotic organisms. Arabidopsis thaliana. Image credit: Carl Davies, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0. DNA methylation is a normal biological process in living cells wherein small chemical groups called methyl groups are added to DNA. This activity controls which genes are turned
A new genus and species of early-diverging oviraptorosaurian dinosaur has been identified from two specimens found in Inner Mongolia, China. Life reconstruction of Yuanyanglong bainian. Image credit: Sci.News / Ddinodan. “Oviraptorosauria is a group of specialized pennaraptoran theropods known primarily from an abundant Asian and North American Cretaceous fossil record,” said Dr. Xing Xu, a
Administrative innovations in south-west Asia during the 4th millennium BCE, including the cylinder seals that were rolled on the earliest clay tablets, laid the foundations for proto-cuneiform script, one of the first writing systems. Seals were rich in iconography, but little research had focused on the potential influence of specific motifs on the development of
