Category Science

A towering, trunk-like organism that sprouted from the ground 400 million years ago has turned into quite the prehistoric mystery. These organisms — known by the genus name Prototaxites —…

When people imagine the future, negative outcomes tend to provoke far stronger emotions than positive ones. A new study finds that anticipating a potential loss carries more than six times…

While dinosaurs stood no chance when a massive asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, microscopic plankton bounced back surprisingly fast. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event devastated ecosystems, wiping out…

The outline is faint and faded. It’s a human hand, though it’s a little claw-like, too. Found in a cave on a satellite island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, this stencil…

Every breath carries a mix of chemicals shaped by the body’s metabolism. A new study suggests that some of those molecules may come from an unexpected source: the microbes living…

Syphilis is often framed as a relatively modern disease, one linked to dense cities, global trade, and the upheavals of European contact. New genetic evidence from ancient human remains in…

Children of older fathers are at increased risk of health complications, including higher rates of stillbirth and obesity. Most research aimed at understanding this link focuses on the DNA in…

Our ancient ancestors crafted ingenious tools made not just from stone, but from animal bones too. One such tool, a nearly 500,000-year-old primitive hammer formed out of elephant bone, was…

One branch of the human family tree had never shown up in one of its most studied landscapes. Despite abundant hominin fossils in Ethiopia’s Afar region, Paranthropus was missing. A…

Novo Nordisk has announced the launch of a daily oral pill version of its weight-loss injection, Wegovy, just two weeks after the new formulation was approved by regulators. GLP-1 medications…