News Desk

The tantalising theory that a fifth force of nature could exist has been given a boost thanks to unexpected wobbling by a subatomic particle, physicists have revealed.

A new study published in the journal Science by an international team finds that past changes in atmospheric CO₂ and corresponding shifts in climate and vegetation played a key role in determining when and where early human species interbred.

A stretch of the Albanian shore of the lake once hosted a settlement of stilt houses some 8,000 years ago, archaeologists believe, making it the oldest lakeside village in Europe discovered to date.

The Deniliquin structure, yet to be further tested by drilling, spans up to 520 kilometres in diameter. This exceeds the size of the near-300km-wide Vredefort impact structure in South Africa, which to date has been considered the world’s largest. See research here.

In the first and only clinical trial of a psychedelic for migraine, Dr. Schindler and colleagues found a roughly 50% reduction in weekly migraine days, as well as significantly reduced attack intensity, for two weeks following administration of a single, low (non-psychedelic) dose of psilocybin. No serious or adverse events were reported. See research here.

In a new paper published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science, researchers take a closer look at the minerals contained within the meteorite, its bulk elemental composition and water content.

Did an extinct ‘small-brained ape-man’ species develop a sophisticated culture millennia before we did?

A bone found in a cave by an international team of anthropologists in France may represent a previously unknown lineage of Homo sapiens. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Mars may be a dry and barren wasteland now, but new evidence has emerged that this wasn’t always the way – and, moreover, that climate conditions changed, perhaps seasonally, in a way that may have been conducive to the emergence of life. See research here.

In 1994, tektites and concentric fault lines in southern Virginia revealed an 85-kilometer-wide impact crater under Chesapeake Bay. Science News reported that “a structure this size would rank as the largest crater in the United States” and would be among the largest on Earth

Archaeologists in Germany have discovered the missing piece of an ice age carving deep in a cave. But the new addition of the ivory carving, originally thought to depict a horse, has actually complicated matters: Now, researchers aren’t sure if it portrays a cave lion or a cave bear.

It resembles neither the lineage that split to form Neanderthals, nor Denisovans, nor us, suggesting our current version of the human family tree needs another branch. The study was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

A Middle Eastern child interred in a stone-lined grave around 9,000 years ago wore an elaborate necklace that illustrates the complexity of social life in an early farming community, researchers say. See study here.

The new species, which has been named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis,resembles a large, swimming jellyfish with a saucer or bell-shaped body up to 20cm high. Its roughly 90 short tentacles would have allowed it to capture sizeable prey.

Cannabis-based medicinal products might help to improve symptom severity, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life in those with anxiety, according to new research published in the journal Psychopharmacology.