The Ushikawa man fossils found in the late 1950s turns out not to be bona fide.After the bones were discovered in a Toyohashi quarry in 1957 and 1959, they were reported to represent rare examples of Late Pleistocene human remains. However, doubts about the accuracy of that identification started bubbling up soon after the finding. Those concerns increased in the ‘90s, with some suggesting that the fossils might be animal, not human remains. But without any formal research, that hunch couldn� ...read more

Greek mythology often reads like a soap opera for deities. One moment Zeus condemns a traitor to have his liver pecked apart by vultures for eternity, the next he disguises himself as a swan so he can seduce women without drawing his wife’s attention.It takes a special cast of characters to drive such a narrative, and the Olympian gods were the perfect fit. Many modern Americans met them in Disney form through 1997’s Hercules. But for sheer darkness and palace intrigue, the 2024 series Kaos ...read more

Throughout the course of our lives, many of us will have some concern about our health. Whether that’s diet related, lifestyle, or something else entirely. But for many people, this can become more than just a transitory concern and become an all-consuming worry and source of anxiety.Health anxiety has become somewhat of a catchall phrase and exists on a broad spectrum, explains Timothy Scarella, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard University.The range starts with a healthy level of concern ...read more

Social media is brimming with different skincare trends. These social media posts promote different types of cleansers, balms, and serums, all with the promise that they will make your skin better. However, that’s not always true. Some products may make certain skin conditions — such as acne — worse, and some may do absolutely nothing for your skin. The latest of these trends circulating social media is beef tallow, or rendered fat, from a cow. Some people use this product as a moisturize ...read more

At the start of the year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a Florida woman had been convicted for her part in swindling victims in an online romance scheme. When she pled guilty, she admitted to laundering more than $2.7 million to her co-conspirators abroad.Although this crime ring was busted, the DOJ reports there are many others, and such scams are increasing each year. Gone are the days of getting a misspelled email from a dethroned “Nigerian prince” asking for money. Socia ...read more

Before the ash of Mount Vesuvius buried the city of Pompeii in 79 C.E., some of the city’s elites would host parties in their own private bathhouse.Researchers from the Archeological Park of Pompeii — Parco Archeologico di Pompei — announced the discovery of an elaborate bathhouse inside a private home (domus). According to the Archeological Park of Pompeii, this may be the largest bathhouse ever found at the site. The new finding sheds more light on the lives of Pompeii’s citizens up un ...read more

Long before humans acquired an appetite for meat, one of our earliest hominin ancestors — Australopithecus — stuck to a vegetarian diet. The ancient hominin, living in eastern and southern Africa around 3.5 million years ago, ate primarily plant-based foods, according to a new study that analyzed their fossilized teeth. The study, published in the journal Science, marks the latest chapter in the hunt to unearth the foundation of humans’ carnivorous tendencies. Scientists have regularly sp ...read more

Astrophysicists have taken images of a large sample of exocomet belts for the first time, imaging the bands along with the tiny pebbles that orbit within. The images were published in a study in Astronomy and Astrophysics, showing bands of a variety of structures. “The images reveal a remarkable diversity in the structure of belts,” said Sebastián Marino, a study author and an astronomer at the University of Exeter, according to a press release. “Some are narrow rings […] but a larger n ...read more

Using the Body Mass Index (BMI) to diagnose obesity should go the way of blood-letting, an international panel of 58 scientists argued in the British medical journal The Lancet. Doctors should instead measure how excess body fat affects the body — a measurement called adiposity. Physicians have used BMI in part because it’s a simple calculation that compares weight relative to health.The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission argues that BMI is more simplistic than simple, because it ...read more

The fictional Magic School Bus enables its passengers to explore scientific phenomena, such as dinosaurs. Now, a non-fictional Space Bus named Pandora is ready to investigate celestial mysteries, like exoplanets that orbit small stars.The team that conceived of and built Pandora — consisting of scientists from institutions including NASA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the University of Arizona — announced its completion at an American Astronomical Society press briefing in Mary ...read more