3+ day, 18+ hour ago   (791+ words) A 23-million-year fossil record shows Africa's giant mammals slowly vanished over time because evolution stopped replacing them. Ten million years ago, an African floodplain carried more kinds of giant plant-eaters than most people could name today. Early relatives of elephants,…...

4+ day, 11+ hour ago   (1182+ words) Snakes and lizards made up a surprising share of meals at a Natufian settlement, where the same butchering method persisted for millennia. The familiar picture of the Stone Age diet centers on big animals: a gazelle on a spit, a…...

6+ day, 12+ hour ago   (1006+ words) Neanderthal pelvis bones kept an older design, while the modern male pelvis became a shock absorber that returns energy at every step. Walk across a room and your body weight drops onto one hip, then the other, and the joints…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (1230+ words) A Neanderthal gene variant carried by many people in South Asia is linked to about 9.5 extra ounces of muscle in adults. How much muscle you develop from exercise depends on training, diet, and the genes you were born with. For…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (1280+ words) A mummified dog lay across two bodies in a Theban tomb where every new burial was fitted around the ones already lying there. When an Egyptian tomb turns up full of mummies stacked on each other, the usual explanation is…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (824+ words) At 207 feet (63 meters) high, Menkaure has spent centuries as the quiet third sibling of Giza, dwarfed by the massive shadows of Khufu and Khafre. But now may be its time to shine. On the eastern face of the smallest great…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago   (1227+ words) Ancient DNA suggests Jomon people evolved several genetic adaptations for surviving the extreme cold of the Ice Age. Step outside underdressed in January and your body shivers, which is muscle burning fuel to make heat. Underneath that, a second system…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago   (980+ words) A 4,000-year-old painted plaque reveals how Austronesian seafarers carried art, shared beliefs, and identities across island networks. People crossing ancient seas carried more than tools and food. They also carried symbols of belonging, belief, and community ties. Archaeologists rarely recover…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago   (995+ words) Square holes in Pompeii's northern walls may be the only battlefield evidence of the polybolos, a rapid-fire dart launcher used in 89 BC. The ash that buried Pompeii in 79 AD did more than preserve frescoes, bakeries, and the dead. It is…...

3+ week, 18+ hour ago   (1024+ words) Richard Brock arrived late to a group metal-detecting event in Shropshire, England, with equipment that was not working properly. Within about 20 minutes of searching, he uncovered a 2.3-ounce (64.8-gram) gold nugget that is believed to be the largest ever found…...