The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released 20 pages of training materials concerning the collection, processing, and analysis of biological evidence following fatal aviation accidents. The…
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Larry W. Bryant was a UFO researcher, writer, and government transparency advocate who pursued federal records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). His work…
Read MoreA tiny set of ancient genetic “switches” may have played a surprisingly large role in making human language possible. Researchers found that these DNA regions, which act like volume controls for genes involved in brain development, have an outsized influence on language ability despite making up less than 0.1% of the genome.
Artwork panel in Sala Keimada of Cueva Palomera, Burgos, Spain BURGOS, SPAIN—According to a SciNews report, Ana Isabel Ortega Martínez of the Royal Burgos Academy of History and Fine Arts and her colleagues have obtained new radiocarbon dates for the occupation of Sala Keimada, a hard-to-reach chamber in Cueva Palomera, which is the main entrance…
Gold rings BAD CAMBERG, GERMANY—EuroNews reports that a Celtic wagon burial has been discovered in central Germany. Hesse state archaeologist Udo Recker said that the tomb, which was found during work to build a solar park, is more than 2,000 years old and belongs to the Hunsrück-Eifel culture. It contained several gold rings of varying…
ESKISEHIR, TURKEY—Four headless terracotta figurines have been unearthed at Kanlitaş Höyük, a Neolithic mound in northeastern Turkey, Türkiye Today reports. Ali Umut Türkcan of Anadolu University said that the artifacts, made in the Porsuk cultural tradition, were discovered in lower layers of fill in rectangular buildings at the site. He suggests that the heads may…
BUFFALO, NEW YORK—A new study suggests that Indigenous Andeans in Peru have more copies of the gene for amylase, a saliva-based digestive enzyme, than any other population in the world, according to a Live Science report. Amylase breaks down complex starches into simple sugars, making starches easier to digest. Omer Gokcumen of the University of…
Fibula EMMEN, THE NETHERLANDS—According to a report in the NL Times, more than 3,000 artifacts were recovered during environmental work in the Nieuwe Drostendiep stream valley in the northeastern section of the Netherlands. The objects include tools from the Paleolithic period and the Bronze Age; medieval jewelry and jewelry dated to the second century B.C.;…
Black Polished ware hemispherical bowl with incised decoration NICOSIA, CYPRUS—The Cyprus Mail reports that an ancient ceramic vessel has been reclaimed from an online auction and returned to Cyprus after a year-long investigation. Cypriot officials who monitor online activity determined that the vase was in the hands of a collector in Canada, who eventually agreed…
Researchers observed lesions and fractures on the woman's cranium. YORK, ENGLAND—Cuts found on the inside of an Iron Age woman’s skull suggest that her brain may have been cut out before burial, according to a CNN report. The woman’s remains were discovered with those of a teenaged boy in 2000 under a cairn in northern…
Earth’s earliest animals may have held evolution back because they reproduced asexually, creating low-competition communities that changed very little over time. When environmental pressures pushed them toward sexual reproduction, biodiversity exploded and evolution accelerated dramatically.
ANTALYA, TURKEY—Hürriyet Daily News reports that five additional letters in the Sidetic alphabet have been identified, bringing the total to 31. The letters belong to the lost language once spoken in Side, an ancient port city in Anatolia. Sidetic is related to Anatolia’s Lycian and Carian languages. Feriştah Alanyalı of Anadolu University and her colleagues…
