Decades after its initial discovery, the skeleton of a prehistoric child who possessed both human and Neanderthal attributes has now been directly dated. Archaeologists have confirmed that the skeleton of the Lapedo child, named after its place of origin in Lapedo Valley, Portugal, is somewhere between 27,780 to 28,550 years old, according to new research. Details surrounding the Lapedo child are presented in a study that was recently published in Science Advances. The updated date range of the ...read more

Hantavirus is not exactly a household word — or a disease that many people think much about. That changed when complications caused by the rare virus killed Betsy Arakawa, wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman.Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death. Some forms do more damage to the lungs. Other strains can destroy the kidneys.Whatever the strain, the infectious diseases are most often spread by rodents. In much of the world, there has been no record ...read more

The highly infectious disease measles has recently hit at least 200 people in Texas and New Mexico and has resulted in at least one death. During this time, medical suggestions for measles treatment and prevention are going public — some information is accurate, and some is not.So, what does the research literature say? There has been work investigating how Vitamin A can impact measles for a few decades. However, interpreting the results requires both subtly and nuance.Vitamin A Supplements an ...read more

We all depend on oxygen to survive, but about 3 billion years ago, there was barely any oxygen at all. When was the last time you thought about where all the oxygen on Earth came from?A research team from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science thinks about this question all of the time. In a newly published study in Communications Earth & Environment, the team reveals that we may have volcanoes to thank for the abundance of air that we breathe. A Volcanic Disc ...read more

There’s nothing like a well-timed joke to set the mood. Jokes can help ease tension in a conversation, make people feel more comfortable and engaged, and can even make you seem more trustworthy. Humor is something comedians and politicians alike have been using to connect with and captivate their audiences.However, this technique has not often been used by scientists and science communicators for fear that the audience will not take the scientific information seriously, leading some to have a ...read more

Obesity rates have more than doubled in adults and quadrupled in adolescents since 1990, making it a leading cause of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory diseases, and digestive disorders. This growing global health crisis calls for effective obesity treatments to reduce the burden on healthcare systems.Semaglutide, the weekly injectable drug better known by its brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, was initially ...read more

Both the deep sea and space are difficult to reach and even more difficult to explore. You can’t breathe the air, temperatures are extreme, gravity varies, and atmospheric pressure makes survival impossible without protective vehicles. It’s part of the reason that these remote terrains are largely left unexplored. Only around 5 percent of the universe and 26 percent of the ocean floor have been visited.  Both deep sea travel and deep space travel come with a lot of risks and a lot of prepa ...read more

We’re gonna need a bigger shark size estimate. Researchers had based some informed guesses about just how massive the megalodon — a prehistoric giant fish that hunted the oceans 13 million years to 15 million years ago — was by comparing existing fossils of the extinct species to bones of the present-day great white shark.Formally called Otodus megalodon, the prehistoric predator is known not just for its size but for its distinctive serrated teeth. Because the much smaller modern-day grea ...read more

Across the South Pole’s frozen expanse, there lives only one purely terrestrial animal: a tiny insect called the Antarctic midge. This flightless creature, just 0.2 inches long, has eked out an existence in one of the world’s most unforgiving climates for some 30 million years, since its home continent split off from South America.Researchers have studied these midges for decades, documenting their impressive resistance to extreme conditions. But it was never clear how they endured the frigi ...read more

Stonehenge sits near the top of Britain’s most iconic landmarks, but a lesser-known precursor to this ancient site may be responsible for its lasting impact as an archaeological titan. The Flagstones site, a circular enclosure in Dorset, England, now predates Stonehenge according to new research, suggesting that it could possibly be the oldest structure of its kind in the country. The study, recently published in Antiquity, has established that the circular enclosure of Flagstones was constru ...read more