Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Scientists find perfect fossils in rust beneath Australian farmland

Beneath the dry farmland of New South Wales lies a hidden window into a lost rainforest teeming with life from 11-16 million years ago. At McGraths Flat, scientists have uncovered fossils preserved in astonishing detail—not in typical rock like shale or sandstone, but in iron-rich sediment once thought incapable of such preservation. Tiny iron particles…

2,000-Year-Old Remains of Domestic Chickens Identified in South Korea

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—A team of researchers led by Kyungcheol Choy of Hanyang University found evidence of chicken-keeping some 2,000 years ago with the Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) technique, according to a statement released by Hanyang University. This technique allows scientists to analyze collagen peptides and amino acid sequences obtained from small samples of bone,…

Statue of Athena Found in Turkey
Ancient Engineering

Statue of Athena Found in Turkey

Marble statue of Athena, Laodicea, Turkey DENIZLI, TURKEY—A six-foot statue of the goddess Athena has been discovered at the West Theater in Laodicea, an ancient city in southwestern Turkey, according to a Türkiye Today report. The white marble sculpture, which has an unfinished back, was found lying face down in rubble near the outer wall…

How Has Malaria Shaped Human Populations?
Ancient Engineering

How Has Malaria Shaped Human Populations?

Pools like this in sub-Saharan Zimbabwe are ideal breeding locations for mosquito vectors. JENA, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, an international team of researchers compared models for the distribution of three major mosquito complexes, paleoclimate models, and places where early humans lived in sub-Saharan Africa between 5,000 and…

This Roboticist-Turned-Teacher Built a Life-Size Replica of ENIAC

Tom Burick has always considered himself a builder. Over the years he’s designed robots, constructed a vintage teardrop trailer, and most recently, led a group of students in building a full-scale replica of a pivotal 1940s computer. Burick is a technology instructor at PS Academy in Gilbert, Ariz., a middle and high school for students…

What Anthropic’s Mythos Means for the Future of Cybersecurity

Two weeks ago, Anthropic announced that its new model, Claude Mythos Preview, can autonomously find and weaponize software vulnerabilities, turning them into working exploits without expert guidance. These were vulnerabilities in key software like operating systems and internet infrastructure that thousands of software developers working on those systems failed to find. This capability will have…

Mitochondrial DNA Links Neanderthals in Poland’s Stajnia Cave
Ancient Engineering

Mitochondrial DNA Links Neanderthals in Poland’s Stajnia Cave

Neanderthal teeth BOLOGNA, ITALY—According to a statement released by the University of Bologna, a team of researchers led by Andrea Picin of the University of Bologna extracted mitochondrial DNA from eight Neanderthal teeth recovered from Poland’s Stajnia Cave. Mitochondrial DNA is passed solely along the maternal line. “This is an extraordinary result because, for the…