Earth news stories

‘We are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age’: Humans have plunged Earth into the ‘Pyrocene’
27th January 2025 | livescience.com | Earth, Humans

I’m a historian of fire, and my reply is that we have both a narrative and an analog. The narrative is the unbroken saga of humanity and fire, a companionship that extends through all our existence as a species. The analog is that humanity’s fire practices have become so vast, especially in recent centuries, that we are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age.

Earliest evidence of hominins in Europe predates other finds by half a million years
22nd January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

The bones are at least 1.95 million years old but could be up to 2.2 million years old. They may help build a picture of when early human ancestors left Africa and reached Europe and Asia, and the route they took. This has been an area of debate for decades. The paper was published in Nature Communications.

We finally know what 1,400-year-old ‘mystery rings’ in Australia are
20th January 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Our new study, published in Australian Archaeology, presents the results of the only known archaeological excavation of one of these rings combined with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung understanding of these enigmatic places.

Enormous skull of 200-million-year-old giant dinosaur discovered in China
14th January 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

An enormous, extremely well preserved dinosaur skull unearthed in China belongs to a never-before-seen species, researchers say.

How the first animals changed the face of Earth forever
13th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The first animals with mineral skeletons changed the way sediments develop on Earth forever, according to new research.

New excavation of ‘rings of mystery’ in Victoria reveals rich Aboriginal history
8th January 2025 theconversation.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Our new study, published today in Australian Archaeology, presents the results of the only known archaeological excavation of one of these rings combined with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung understanding of these enigmatic places.

Evidence of a 517-million-year-old “arms race” in the ocean
7th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

The oldest-known fossil evidence of a predator-prey arms race has been discovered in shells dating back to the early Cambrian. A new study was published in the journal Current Biology

The Genetic Book of the Dead
5th January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Richard Dawkin’s new book is woven with beautiful metaphors and rich descriptive language. Not so much conversational as poetic, settle in for an elaborate exploration of evolution. It raises some new and curious questions, including whether it’s worth thinking of our ‘own’ genes as a gigantic colony of cooperating viruses.

Rock art acoustics: South African study suggests that a distinct echo attracted ancient artists back to one site
3rd January 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Petroglyphs, engraved on rocks, have an obvious visual attraction. What is important and exciting about this study is the discovery that these images have an acoustic aspect as well.

Newly named psychedelic fungus points to African origins of world’s most popular ‘magic mushroom’
16th December 2024 | abc.net.au | Ancient, Earth

A new study, not yet peer reviewed but published on the biological sciences repository bioRxiv, suggests an ancestor of P. cubensis could have come from Africa before spreading far and wide.

Ancient ‘land bridge’ that connected Siberia to US wasn’t what it seems, scientists find
12th December 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

The Bering land bridge that spanned between Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Age was more of a Bering land bog, new research finds.

Huge asteroid collisions that didn’t change Earth’s climate forever
4th December 2024 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Earth, Space

The Earth was struck by 2 huge asteroids 35 million years ago – but it managed to shrug off the impacts, according to a new study. The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment finds that – other than 2 massive craters – there’s little evidence of long-term effects caused by the asteroids.

Acoustic properties of rock sites may have inspired prehistoric art
26th November 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Researchers at the University of Helsinki performed acoustic impulse response measurements in front of 37 rock painting sites and found that the same vertical rock surfaces that have the painted elks, humans and boats, are also effective sound reflectors. Their study is published in the journal Sound Studies.

A Mysterious Explosion of Color in Animals Has Lasted 100 Million Years
25th November 2024 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth

In a new study, US researchers shed light on what they call an “explosion” of animal color signals over the past 100 million years – with novel insights about the timing and possible triggers of this evolutionary innovation.

Ancient human ancestor Lucy was not alone — she lived alongside at least 4 other proto-human species, emerging research suggests
21st November 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Lucy lived in a wide range of habitats from northern Ethiopia to northern Kenya. Researchers now believe she wasn’t the only australopithecine species there.

Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring over 400 million years ago, scientists say
18th November 2024 edition.cnn.com | Ancient, Earth

Famously known for its extensive ring system, Saturn is one of four planets in our solar system that have the distinctive feature. And now, scientists hypothesize that Earth may have sported its own ring some 466 million years ago.

News stories covering the environment, plant life, and the Earth itself.