Humans news stories

There may be a ‘dark mirror’ universe within ours where atoms failed to form, new study suggests
19th February 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

The invisible substance called dark matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology. Perhaps, a new study suggests, this strange substance arises from a ‘dark mirror universe’ that’s been linked to ours since the dawn of time.

Stone Age ‘megastructure’ under Baltic Sea sheds light on strategy used by Paleolithic hunters over 10,000 years ago
19th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

The evidence suggests it was constructed by Paleolithic people between 11,700 and 9,900 years ago, probably as an aid for hunting reindeer…The archaeologists investigating the Bay of Mecklenburg used a range of submarine equipment, sampling methods and modeling techniques to reconstruct the ancient lake bed and its surrounding landscape.

An ancient life revealed: Forager-turned-farmer crossed seas
18th February 2024 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Humans

A Stone Age skeleton found in a peat bog in northwest Denmark has been analysed to flesh out in stunning detail the ancient person’s life and death. New analysis of the remains is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Cave art in Patagonia found to be oldest pigment-based cave art in South America
18th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

An international team of scientists reports that cave art at a site in Patagonia is the oldest of its type ever found in South America. In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group conducted radiocarbon dating of the material used to create the art thousands of years ago.

Stunning rock art site reveals that humans settled the Colombian Amazon 13,000 years ago
18th February 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

After coming to what is now Serranía de la Lindosa, an archaeological site on the northern edge of the Colombian Amazon, these early Americans lived in rock shelters, fashioned stone tools, hunted and gathered and created massive displays of rock art, according to a new study, published in the March issue of the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

New evidence of independent written language on Easter Island before arrival of Europeans
14th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A team of philologists, chemists, environmental physicists and engineers affiliated with several institutions across Europe has found evidence of an undeciphered script on wooden tablets created on Easter Island that represents an independent writing system. Their paper is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Cannabis Extract Triggers Death of Deadly Skin Cancer Cells
14th February 2024 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Misc.

A concentrated cannabis extract has shown “remarkable” potential to kill off the most dangerous type of skin cancer. The study was published in Cells.

Scandinavia’s first farmers slaughtered the hunter-gatherer population, DNA analysis suggests
13th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a few generations, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden, among others

Archaeologists discover oldest known bead in the Americas
13th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

University of Wyoming archaeology Professor Todd Surovell and his team of collaborators have discovered a tube-shaped bead made of bone that is about 12,940 years old. See the study here.

11,000-year-old submerged stone wall discovered off Germany was once used to trap reindeer
13th February 2024 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

The wall may be among the oldest hunting structures on Earth and one of the largest Stone Age structures ever found in Europe. The study about the discovery was published Monday (Feb. 12) in the journal PNAS.

Bone Stuffed With Henbane First Solid Evidence of The Plant’s Use as a Drug
13th February 2024 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

An ancient bone dating back thousands of years is the first solid evidence that humans in Europe were collecting and storing a powerful and dangerous drug. The research has been published in Antiquity.

A Prehistoric Tool Discovery May Have Just Rewritten Human History
9th February 2024 | vice.com | Ancient, Humans

A study published in Nature Communications has challenged this narrative, that a dramatic and sudden “revolution” called the Middle-Upper Paleolithic cultural transition occurred instead implying that this “revolution” was more of a gradual and complex process.

As A Scientist, I Didn’t Believe In Psychic Powers. Then I Experienced Something That Changed My Life.
7th February 2024 | huffpost.com | Humans, Misc.

I wasn’t open to experiences and possibilities outside the realm of what was considered “normal,” but that was all about to change.

Ancient DNA helps researchers elucidate the structure of a prehistoric community from Southeast Asia
7th February 2024 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

“Our research examines the relationship between humans and their environments in the seasonal tropics. One crucial aspect is the exploration of the social structure of these prehistoric communities, as well as explaining their connections with other pre-Neolithic, Neolithic and post-Neolithic groups in this region”.

How long did Neanderthals and modern humans co-exist in Europe? Evidence is growing it may have been at least 10,000 years
7th February 2024 theconversation.com | Ancient, Humans

The idea that two different human species, Homo sapiens (us) and Neanderthals, co-existed in western Eurasia 50–40,000 years ago has long captured the imagination of academics and the public alike.

David Nutt explains how psychedelics can revolutionise mental-health treatment | Brave New World
6th February 2024 youtu.be | Humans, Misc.

Could LSD, Ketamine and ayahuasca revolutionise mental health treatment? The Brave New World podcast speaks to experts David Nutt and Amanda Feilding about the psychedelic renaissance. (10 min clip).

Image from: Justin Cooke (Wiki Commons)

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