Modern hyenas are known as hunters and scavengers in Asian and African ecosystems such as the savanna. But in ancient times, these powerful carnivores also roamed a very different landscape, inhabiting the... more

Geneticists exploring the dark heart of the human genome have discovered big chunks of Neanderthal and other ancient DNA. The results open new ways to study both how chromosomes behave during cell division and... more

Bioarchaeologists report new findings from the ancient ruins of Çatalhöyük, in modern Turkey. The results paint a picture of what it was like for humans to move from a nomadic... more

Humans have been smoking pot to get high since the first millennium B.C. Archaeologists have found early evidence of cannabis use from wooden bowls... more

Paleontologists have discovered the remains of an ancient Loch Ness Monster look-alike in freezing Antarctica. And just like the legendary Nessie, it wasn't the... more

Marijuana chemical residue has been found in incense burners apparently used during funerary rites at a... more

THC levels in braziers show mourners along the ancient Silk Road inhaled more

Portus Romae was established in the middle of the first century AD and for well over 400 years was Rome's gateway to... more

Fresh evidence rewrites the understanding of the most intriguing archaeological burial site in western Finland. New DNA technology gives significant information on the bones... more

Fresh evidence rewrites the understanding of the most intriguing archaeological burial site in western Finland. New DNA technology gives significant information on the bones... more

A grape variety still used in wine production in France today can be traced back 900 years to just one ancestral plant,... more

Evidence for the ancient, 1.2 billion years old, meteorite strike, was first discovered in 2008 near Ullapool, NW Scotland by scientists from Oxford and Aberdeen Universities. The thickness... more

A previously unknown population of Ice Age people who traveled across Beringia was discovered in Russia. more

Two children's milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown... more

Two children's milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown... more

The potential for the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica to collapse is determined by a newly discovered rock boundary running right down the middle... more

A new study finds that prehistoric humans 'recycled' discarded or broken flint tools 400,000 years ago to create small, sharp utensils with specific functions. The artifacts were discovered... more

Two new species of predatory megaraptoran dinosaurs have been identified from fossils found in Thailand. The two new species, named Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi and Vayuraptor... more

Planetary researchers using data from the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have... more

Scientists have discovered an ancient geologic structure that restricts where ocean water flows, and reveals that local ocean currents may play a critical role in the ice shelf's... more

The ROSETTA-Ice project, a three-year, multi-institutional data collection survey of Antarctic ice, has assembled an unprecedented view of the Ross Ice Shelf, its structure and how it has... more

A multidisciplinary team of scientists has successfully isolated several yeast strains from ancient vessels excavated at archaeological sites in Israel. The researchers then brewed... more

Newly discovered layers of ice buried a mile beneath Mars’ north pole are the... more

Twenty thousand years ago, in the thick of an Ice Age, Earth looked very different. Because water was locked up in glaciers hundreds of feet thick, which stretched... more

Egyptian fruit bat females living in captivity will consistently take food right from the mouths of their male peers. Now, the team that made that discovery is back with new evidence to explain why... more

Because of their delicate organic and decomposing nature, fossilized fungi are extremely rare. So rare, in fact, that... more

Biologists don't call them "the hidden kingdom" for nothing. With an estimated 5 million species, only a mere 100,000 fungi are known... more

Newly discovered layers of ice buried a mile beneath Mars' north pole are the remnants of ancient polar ice sheets and could be one of the... more

Newly discovered layers of ice buried a mile beneath Mars' north pole are the remnants of ancient polar ice sheets and could be one of the... more

Archeologists once relied solely on artifacts, such as skeletal remains, fossils and pottery sherds, to learn about past species and cultures. Today's scientists can also study ancient proteins to paint a more complete picture... more

Researchers have discovered an ancient species of budding yeast that has lost dozens of DNA repair genes, without any adverse effects. more

Cell boundaries are made of lipids. When cells are severely damaged, these lipids need to be rapidly removed to avoid toxicity and facilitate tissue... more

Most living things have a suite of genes dedicated to repairing their DNA, limiting the rate at which their genomes change through time. But scientists at Vanderbilt and University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered an ancient lineage of budding... more

Cell boundaries are made of lipids. When cells are severely damaged, these lipids need to be rapidly removed to avoid toxicity and facilitate tissue healing. Researchers have discovered... more