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Created 4 Jan 2017

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137 Articles

Collection of articles about nature

The Mystery of Homo Erectus' Maritime Mastery

Archaeologists debate whether Homo Erectus possessed language and sailed to remote islands. New analysis calls the theory into question. Some claim evidence of maritime mastery based on tools and collaboration.

Homo Erectus

Archaeologists are currently debating whether our most enigmatic ancestors possessed language. Some believe that traces of an extinct human species on remote islands suggest the ability to build boats and sail, skills that require advanced communication. However, a new analysis has identified significant gaps in this theory, concluding that the idea doesn't hold up. Homo Erectus appeared in the archaeological record about 2 million years ago, spreading across Eurasia before disappearing just over 100,000 years ago. It has been hypothesized that this species reached islands such as Flores in the Indian Ocean and Crete in the Mediterran...

Fossil of what could be the largest marine reptile to ever exist

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a colossal marine reptile that could be the largest to ever populate Earth's oceans.

Fossil of what could be the largest marine reptile to ever exist

The newly identified species, described in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300289), is an ichthyosaur, a group of extinct marine reptiles that somewhat resemble modern dolphins. Ichthyosaurs inhabited the world's oceans between about 250 million and 90 million years ago. Although their existence coincides with the age of dinosaurs, they are not dinosaurs. Dubbed Ichthyotitan severnensis , this newly described species is estimated to have reached enormous proportions, perhaps measuring 25 meters in length, which is comparable to the size of some blue whales. However more ...

Mysterious flashes on the surface of the Moon: Transient Lunar Phenomena

Mysterious flashes on the surface of the Moon: Transient Lunar Phenomena

June 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong takes his historic step during the first human mission to the lunar surface: “It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” During the mission, Armstrong said he saw an area that was significantly brighter than the surrounding area and that area appeared to be slightly fluorescent. What did he want to say? Today, almost forty years later, no one still knows exactly what the source of that mysterious light was. Scientists often notice these luminescent phenomena that can even be observed from the ground. There is an entire class of lunar phenomena that include color changes, luminescence, and...

The discovery of the ghost ant Leptanilla voldemort

A new ant called Leptanilla voldemort has been discovered in the underground depths of the Pilbara, Australia.

Leptanilla voldemort

A strange, ghost-like ant has been discovered in the underground depths of the Pilbara in northwestern Australia and declared a new species. The new species was named Leptanilla voldemort , after the famous antagonist of the Harry Potter book series. The ant is pale, slender, and prefers life on the dark side, much like its namesake. Only two specimens of this ant have been discovered. Leptanilla voldemort has an extremely slender body, long antennae, slender legs and long, sharp mandibles. This unusual morphology has raised many questions about the new species, but one thing seems certain: Leptanilla voldemort is almost certainly a preda...

Our most ancient ancestor is a little monster

It is called Saccorhytus and represents a new piece of the puzzle of the evolution of life on Earth: one of the oldest fossils that can be linked to human descent.

Saccorhytus coronarius

Monstrous and infinitely small, with a huge mouth accompanied by several rows of small growths that resemble primordial teeth and no anus! It is not the terrifying protagonist of a science fiction film, but the Saccorhytus, probably the most ancient progenitor of man. The curious ancestor was identified in a fossil discovered by an international team of paleontologists from China, Germany and Great Britain, in Shaanxi province (central China). Paleontologists have unearthed 45 fossils smaller than a grain of rice, buried under three tons of limestone. It is a marine microorganism that lived 540 million years ago, with a rather particular ...

The moon mantle: new discovery

New evidence confirms the formation of the lunar mantle and the asymmetric distribution of ilmenite cumulates, revealing details about the geological history of the Moon.

The seas near the lunar side are titanium-rich volcanic flows (center). They are surrounded by a pat

New evidence has confirmed theories about the formation of the lunar mantle, providing more details on the timing of this crucial event for the Moon. During the moon mantle's formation process, important insights into the chemical diversity between the near and far sides of the Moon emerged, with particular attention to the presence of seas on only one of the two sides. The Moon, like the Earth, is believed to be composed of a core, a mantle, and a crust, but the lunar mantle solidified long ago, making lunar geology simpler but equally fascinating and complex to study than the Earth's geology. The standard theory of the formation...

After the extinction of the dinosaurs, an asteroid hit Greenland

The impact occurred approximately 58 million years ago and caused the destruction of the forest that covered the island in that distant past.

An asteroid hit Greenland

The dinosaurs were extinguished by an asteroid that crashed into today's American continent about 66 million years ago. A little later, in geological terms, another celestial body hit our planet 58 million years ago. This discovery was made by a team of scientists from the GLOBE Institute of the University of Copenhagen who analyzed a huge impact crater of over 31 kilometers in Greenland. Two teams of scientists analyzed the formations: a group from the Natural History Museum of Denmark with experts from the GLOBE Institute of the University of Copenhagen, and researchers from the Swedish Museum of Natural History. Both research grou...

The Classification of Dinosaurs

Pterosaurs

The intention of this article is to provide a more comprehensive overview of the familiar concept of dinosaurs, without repeating well-known notions such as "how agile and fast the Tyrannosaurus was" or "how the bony plates of the Stegosaurus worked", but rather to focus attention on scientific topics perhaps of a more general nature, but certainly indispensable for a broader understanding within the context of what is known regarding the very familiar giants of the Mesozoic. A bit of history The Dinosaur word means "terrible lizard" and dates back to the distant 1841 when Richard Owen, one of the fathers of paleontology, coined it to cla...

Homo Sapiens in Asia 100,000 Years Ago: Rethinking Prehistoric Timelines!

The discovery, in a Chinese cave, of 47 human teeth would prove the presence of Homo Sapiens in Asia as early as 100 thousand years ago, long before the time so far hypothesized for the migration from the African continent.

Homo Sapiens teeth found in a 3-kilometer tunnel system in Daoxian county (in Chinas Hunan province)

Sapiens were already present in Asia 80-120 thousand years ago: this is proven by some human teeth found in a limestone cave in southern China. It is normally believed that, at the time, our ancestors had not yet set foot outside Africa. In 2015, a study published in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15696) revealed the discovery of 47 human teeth within a 3-kilometer tunnel system in Daoxian County, located in China's Hunan province. Found alongside the remains of hyenas, giant pandas, and dozens of other animal species, this find suggests that our current understanding of Homo sapiens may need to be recon...

Top 10 scientific mysteries about the origin of the first humans

Humans are unique creatures among the life forms on this planet. Although Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, supported by the discovery of several fossils, has contributed to understanding some crucial questions about the origin of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, many aspects of its evolution still remain a mystery.

Image depicting the origin of humans, blending elements of evolution and the dawn of humanity

What were the stages of the long process that led to the appearance of Homo Sapiens on planet Earth? And what is their chronological order? Why did we evolve this way and not in another direction? Why are we the only human species left? What happened to the Neanderthals? In short, a series of questions that make the discoveries obtained so far just a drop in an ocean yet to be explored. Currently, the study of the evolution of humankind represents, in both theoretical and methodological terms, an extremely diversified and heterogeneous sector. The study of morphology and anatomy makes use of digital techniques, with applications that incl...

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