Humans news stories

Researchers in partnership with the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) unearthed evidence of rituals dating back 12,000 years ago in caves in southeastern Australia. The archaeological find, published on July 1st in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, is from when the last Ice Age ended.

An archeological team in Venezuela has discovered 20 rock art sites that date back thousands of years in Canaima National Park, in the southeastern part of the country.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow in the UK have now used statistical modeling techniques borrowed from the study of gravitational waves to extrapolate missing details of a critical dial on Antikythera mechanism.The research has been published in The Horological Journal.

Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The idea proposes that a fragmented comet smashed into the Earth’s atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a widespread climatic shift that, among other things, led to the abrupt reversal of the Earth’s warming trend and into an anomalous near-glacial period called the Younger Dryas. See the study here.

Scientists hope wealth of prehistoric material in Wogan Cavern in Wales is well preserved enough to reveal what really happened to our most ancient ancestors

A new study challenges the theory that dinosaur fossils inspired the legend of the mythological creature, the gryphon.

A new study challenges this narrative of ecocide, saying that Rapa Nui’s population never spiraled to unsustainable levels. Instead, the settlers found ways to cope with the island’s severe limits, and maintained a small, stable population for centuries.

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) can leave a significant and lasting impression on those who go through them, and can also boost feelings of empathy towards others, according to a new survey.

A modest, open-air pit in central France tells a story of family: a grandmother, her son, and her grandson, as well as four other people, all buried together in the same grave over the course of decades, about 4500 years ago.

A recent study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience provides new insights into how 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy or molly, affects the brain’s processing of emotional stimuli.

The Acropolis of Athens, the rocky hill in the Greek capital that is home to the iconic Parthenon temple, is one of the world’s most visited and well-known archaeological sites—but new insights about it are still emerging. A new publication in the American Journal of Archaeology…tells a historical detective story of a lost temple on the site of the Parthenon. It all began with the discovery of ancient graffiti.

A recent study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging has revealed that psilocybin can induce a state of hyperconnectivity in the brain. This heightened brain connectivity is linked to profound changes in perception and a sense of unity with the universe, which many users describe as mystical experiences.

This phenomenon happens roughly every 11 years and marks an important stage in the solar cycle. The shift in polarity indicates the halfway point of solar maximum, the height of solar activity, and the beginning of the shift toward solar minimum.

Older individuals who have used psychedelics tend to exhibit better cognitive functioning and fewer depressive symptoms compared to those who have not, according to new research published in Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine. However, psychedelic usage was not linked to improvements in episodic memory.

Charles Darwin enjoys a near god-like status among scientists for his theory of evolution. But his ideas that animals are conscious in the same way humans are have long been shunned. Until now.

A joint study…yields the first direct proof of the consumption and processing of dairy products in the Pyrenees already at the start of the Neolithic period, approximately 7,500 years ago, as well as the consumption of pig. The results lead to doubts about the belief that these products were first used much later in the Pyrenean mountain range.