Vikings have a reputation as hardy, healthy folk. But scanning 15 of their skulls with modern imaging revealed they likely lived with a host of maladies.CT skull scans revealed that 15 individuals — whose ages ranged between 20 and 60 years — suffered from a broad range of diseases. The scans showed pathological bone growths in the cranium and jawbone. Such growths point to oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, and osteoarthritis, among others, the researchers reported in ...read more
What do horses, armadillos, sloths, and tapirs all have in common? They’re all animals, sure. They’re all mammals, too. But there’s something more striking, more special, about them: Around 500,000 years ago, they all fell into the same sinkhole along Florida’s Steinhatchee River. Sediments filled their sinkhole thereafter, trapping them there until they were found, fossilized, in 2022. Today, these animals provide insights into Florida’s Middle Irvingtonian Period, a forgotten age fro ...read more
Ears are incredible things. They help us process sound and play a significant role in our balance. They may have also just helped researchers gain a better understanding of Neanderthal evolution. Neanderthals emerged around 250,000 years ago from pre-Neanderthals populations (500,000 years to 250,000 years ago). These populations roamed Eurasia. For years, researchers believed that as pre-Neanderthals evolved into early Neanderthals and then into classic Neanderthals, there was little evolution ...read more
From time to time, our conscious mind is invaded by unpleasant memories, often triggered by small occurrences in our surroundings. Typically, we can push these memories aside quickly, reducing the likelihood of future intrusions. However, individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often spend more time trapped in cycles of intrusive thinking, reinforcing negative rumination. Given that people with mental health issues frequently experience sleep dist ...read more
Even walls can evolve. A survey of the oldest section of the Great Wall of China not only bumps back its age by 300 years but shows waves of architectural innovations. The oldest section is in the Changqing District, Jinan, Shandong Province and is sometimes called the Great Wall of Qi.Revisiting the Great WallThe survey, conducted last year by the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, employed a host of tools to investigate the wall’s origins. They sampled soil fro ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine