Spencer Wells
@spwells.bsky.social
📤 571
📥 333
📝 387
scientist • author • explorer Lombok, Indonesia 🇮🇩 lombokdiaries.substack.com
Typhoon Kalmaegi exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port ⛏️⚓️🇻🇳
www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/typhoon...
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Typhoon Kalmaegi exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port
HOI AN: Severe coastal erosion caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi exposed a centuries-old shipwreck in Vietnam, providing a narrow window to salvage what experts say could be a historically significant find.I...
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/typhoon-kalmaegi-exposes-centuries-old-shipwreck-vietnam-port-hoi-5457501
about 12 hours ago
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Iconic Andean monument may have been used for Indigenous accounting ⛏️🧮🇵🇪
phys.org/news/2025-11...
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Iconic Andean monument may have been used for Indigenous accounting
Sediment analysis and drone photography of the iconic South American monument of Monte Sierpe (aka "Band of Holes") support a new interpretation of this mysterious landscape feature as part of an Indi...
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-iconic-andean-monument-indigenous-accounting.html
about 16 hours ago
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reposted by
Spencer Wells
BiRdMaNsf67 🌈
2 days ago
The story, carried in our blood, really is true. You and I, in fact everyone all over the world, we're all literally African, under the skin. Old fashioned concepts of race are not only socially divisive, but scientifically wrong. 🧬
@spwells.bsky.social
youtu.be/P6nEGfcwMNA?...
add a skeleton here at some point
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James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97 🧬 R.I.P.
apnews.com/article/jame...
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James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at age 97
Scientist James Watson, who shared a Nobel prize for helping discover the double-helix shape of the DNA molecule, has died. He was 97.
https://apnews.com/article/james-watson-obituary-dna-double-helix-nobel-c1f6d589f2d0d4751859168f9fae295c
3 days ago
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Tree rings from ancient coffins offer clues to Earth’s past ⛏️⚰️🌏
www.science.org/content/arti...
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Tree rings from ancient coffins offer clues to Earth’s past
Wood from gravesites can help reconstruct historic temperatures, floods, and droughts
https://www.science.org/content/article/tree-rings-ancient-coffins-offer-clues-earth-s-past
4 days ago
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Archaeologists discover how oldest American civilisation survived a climate catastrophe ⛏️🇵🇪
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
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Archaeologists discover how oldest American civilisation survived a climate catastrophe
Experts find artefacts left behind in Caral showing how population survived drought without resorting to violence
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/nov/05/archaeologists-discover-how-oldest-american-civilisation-survived-a-climate-catastrophe
5 days ago
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How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread 🦠📜
phys.org/news/2025-11...
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How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread
Myths about how the Black Death traveled quickly across Asia, ravaging Silk Route communities, date back to a single fourteenth-century source, experts have found.
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-misread-arabic-tale-misled-generations.html
7 days ago
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Billion-dollar Grand Egyptian Museum innaugurated with lavish ceremony 🇪🇬
www.france24.com/en/culture/2...
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Billion-dollar Grand Egyptian Museum innaugurated with lavish ceremony
Egypt opened the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on Saturday in a lavish, spectacle laden ceremony, which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said was "a new chapter in the history of the…
https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20251101-watch-live-egypt-unveils-grand-egyptian-museum-dedicated-to-its-ancient-civilization
8 days ago
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DNA study reveals origins, migrations and genetic legacy of 'forgotten' Sarmatians ⛏️🇭🇺🇷🇴
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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DNA study reveals origins, migrations and genetic legacy of 'forgotten' Sarmatians
In a recent study, Dr. Oszkár Schütz and his colleagues analyzed 156 ancient genomes from the Sarmatian period, spanning the 1st to 5th centuries CE. The aim of the study was to clarify the origins an...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dna-reveals-migrations-genetic-legacy.html
12 days ago
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The long, deep dig: Collaboration unearths ancient city of Sardis ⛏️🇹🇷
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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The long, deep dig: Collaboration unearths ancient city of Sardis
From the Greeks and the Romans to the Ottoman empire, the history of Sardis, Turkey, is one of persistent turnover. But its archaeological investigation has been remarkably consistent. Since 1958, the...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-deep-collaboration-unearths-ancient-city.html
13 days ago
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New DNA evidence from Crimea sheds light on Neanderthal migration into Asia 🧬💀🌏
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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New DNA evidence from Crimea sheds light on Neanderthal migration into Asia
Researchers have long been attempting to piece together the trek of Neanderthals from Europe into Asia around the Middle and Upper Paleolithic time periods. This time marks the eventual disappearance ...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dna-evidence-crimea-neanderthal-migration.html
13 days ago
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‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head 🌎🌡️
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/change-course-now-humanity-has-missed-15c-climate-target-says-un-head
14 days ago
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NUS emeritus professor and renowned archaeologist John Miksic dies at 79 ⛏️🇸🇬 R.I.P.
www.straitstimes.com/singapore/re...
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NUS emeritus professor and renowned archaeologist John Miksic dies at 79
He was emeritus professor of South-east Asian studies at the National University of Singapore. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/renowned-archaeologist-john-miksic-dies-at-79
16 days ago
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Ancient Scythian animal-style art began with functional objects ⛏️🇷🇺
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Ancient Scythian animal-style art began with functional objects, study finds
In a recent study, Dr. Timur Sadykov and his colleagues analyzed the Scythian animal-style artifacts recovered from one of the few securely dated early Scythian sites, Tunnug 1. The research is publis...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-scythian-animal-style-art.html
17 days ago
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Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration into North America ⛏️🌎
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration into North America
A new analysis of stone tools offers strong evidence for the theory that ancient people from the Pacific Rim traveled a coastal route from East Asia during the last ice age to become North America's F...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-stone-tools-paleolithic-pacific-migration.html
18 days ago
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Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito 🦟
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
18 days ago
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US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold 🧑🔬🇺🇸
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03417-6
19 days ago
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Antarctic ice reveals two volcanoes erupting simultaneously may have caused 15th-century cooling 🌋🌋
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Antarctic ice reveals two volcanoes erupting simultaneously may have caused 15th-century cooling
Nearly 600 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption sent clouds of sulfurous gas and ash high into the atmosphere. The blast known as the 1458/59 CE event was so huge that it triggered decades of coolin...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-antarctic-ice-reveals-volcanoes-erupting.html
19 days ago
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The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages 🗣️🌍
www.harvardmagazine.com/research/har...
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The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages | Harvard Magazine
A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/research/harvard-european-language-origins
20 days ago
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What is AI poisoning? A computer scientist explains 🤖
theconversation.com/what-is-ai-p...
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What is AI poisoning? A computer scientist explains
Despite the hype surrounding AI, the technology is far more fragile than it might appear.
https://theconversation.com/what-is-ai-poisoning-a-computer-scientist-explains-267728
21 days ago
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Ultra-endurance athletes test the metabolic limits of the human body 🏃♂️
medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10...
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Ultra-endurance athletes test the metabolic limits of the human body
When ultra-runners lace up for races that stretch hundreds of miles and days, they're not merely testing their mental grit and muscle strength—they're probing the limits of human biology. Reporting in...
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-ultra-athletes-metabolic-limits-human.html
21 days ago
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Should humans colonise space? 🚀🧑🚀🪐
theconversation.com/should-human...
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Should humans colonise space? We asked 5 experts
Earth is the only home humans have ever known. But that might not be the case for much longer.
https://theconversation.com/should-humans-colonise-space-we-asked-5-experts-267436
22 days ago
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A wartime famine in the Netherlands showed starvation raises disease risk for generations. In Gaza, science suggests the toll won’t end when the food returns. 😔🇵🇸
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
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How Extreme Hunger in the Womb Fuels a Lifelong Risk of Disease
A wartime famine in the Netherlands showed starvation raises disease risk for generations. In Gaza, science suggests the toll won’t end when the food returns.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-17/how-famine-in-gaza-sudan-triggers-chronic-disease-risk-for-generations?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MDg0NDQ4NSwiZXhwIjoxNzYxNDQ5Mjg1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNDlJMDdHUFFRUjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCRjY3ODZEOEJFMzA0MjU2OUE0RUNFRkRBQTdBRTY0MyJ9.eee6GQ7_b-6ojuIZbVq1UUmX2KVMsP9TBN7u_BnP0wo
23 days ago
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Ancient preserved heads give up their secrets as Māori tattoos see resurgence ✍️🇳🇿
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
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Ancient preserved heads give up their secrets as Māori tattoos see resurgence
New research examines how traditional artists worked as revitalisation efforts see tā moko – Māori tattooing – become more visible in New Zealand
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/18/maori-tattoos-ta-moko-traditional-artists-new-zealand
23 days ago
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New study suggests the ancient Egyptian plague of Akhetaten may not have happened ⛏️🦠🇪🇬
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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New study suggests the ancient Egyptian plague of Akhetaten may not have happened
The plague of Akhetaten has long been cited as a possible explanation for the mysterious abandonment of ancient Egypt's short-lived capital city. However, a comprehensive new archaeological analysis b...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-egyptian-plague-akhetaten.html
24 days ago
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Stinkbug's 'ears on legs' are really symbiotic organs that nurture fungi for guarding eggs against enemies 🪲🍄
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Stinkbug's 'ears on legs' are really symbiotic organs that nurture fungi for guarding eggs against enemies, study finds
Like humans, insects possess sensory organs responsible for vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. For vision, insects primarily rely on compound eyes. But what about hearing? For example, crickets...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-stinkbug-ears-legs-symbiotic-nurture.html
25 days ago
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Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb 🌳🇦🇺
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
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Australian rainforests no longer a carbon sink: study
Australia's tropical rainforests are among the first in the world to start emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb, scientists said Thursday, linking the "very concerning" trend to climate chang...
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251016-australian-rainforests-no-longer-a-carbon-sink-study
25 days ago
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Human ancestors were exposed to lead millions of years ago, and it shaped our evolution 🧬🧠💀 Fascinating.
theconversation.com/human-ancest...
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Human ancestors were exposed to lead millions of years ago, and it shaped our evolution
Long before industry, our ancestors faced toxic metals, including lead. This exposure may have shaped the evolution of human intelligence.
https://theconversation.com/human-ancestors-were-exposed-to-lead-millions-of-years-ago-and-it-shaped-our-evolution-267318
26 days ago
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Discovery of four stone megastructures could change our view of prehistoric societies ⛏️🚁🌍
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Discovery of four stone megastructures could change our view of prehistoric societies
Scientists have discovered evidence of stone megastructures on the Karst Plateau on the border of Slovenia and Italy that were most likely built before the Late Bronze Age. These enormous structures h...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-discovery-stone-megastructures-view-prehistoric.html
26 days ago
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Innovation in stone tool manufacture occurred independently in Europe and the Near East ⛏️🌍
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Innovation in stone tool manufacture occurred independently in Europe and the Near East, says study
An analysis of stone tools found in Italy and Lebanon indicates that around 42,000 years ago, modern humans in Europe and the Near East took different approaches to toolmaking.
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-stone-tool-independently-europe-east.html
26 days ago
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Ancient teeth reveal mammalian responses to climate change in Southeast Asia 🦷🌏
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Ancient teeth reveal mammalian responses to climate change in Southeast Asia
A study published in Science Advances and led by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, uncovers how flexibility made the difference between survival and extinction. By analyzing fossil teeth fr...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-teeth-reveal-mammalian-responses.html
26 days ago
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Ancient shipwrecks rewrite the story of Iron Age trade ⛏️🤿
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Ancient shipwrecks rewrite the story of Iron Age trade
New research out of the University of California San Diego and the University of Haifa is reshaping what we know about ancient seaborne trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Published recently in Antiqu...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-shipwrecks-rewrite-story-iron.html
27 days ago
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Papua New Guinea’s rainforest under major threat, says new report 🌳🇵🇬
www.straitstimes.com/asia/austral...
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Papua New Guinea’s rainforest under major threat says new report
At least 1.68 million hectares have been potentially earmarked for deforestation: Report Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/papua-new-guineas-rainforest-under-major-threat-says-new-report
28 days ago
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Another great talk in the
@heasvienna.bsky.social
seminar series:
@rokofler.bsky.social
on anthropogenically-triggered genome invasions…🧬🪰🪳🌎
29 days ago
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Nobel-winning economists Duflo and Banerjee will leave US for Switzerland 🧠🛫
www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/a...
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Nobel-winning economists Duflo and Banerjee will leave US for Switzerland
The University of Zurich said that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, known for their work in development economics, will move from the US to Switzerland, amid Donald Trump's attacks o...
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/10/10/nobel-winning-economists-duflo-and-banerjee-will-leave-the-us-for-switzerland_6746307_19.html
about 1 month ago
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Learn to work with Singapore’s archaeological finds at new heritage centre in Jalan Sultan ⛏️🇸🇬 Very cool.
www.straitstimes.com/singapore/le...
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Singapore's new archaeology & heritage centre
Discover ArCH Square, Singapore's new heritage centre, offering public access to archaeological finds and intangible cultural heritage practices. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstim...
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/learn-to-work-with-singapores-archaeological-finds-at-new-heritage-centre-in-jalan-sultan
about 1 month ago
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Chinese scientists discover the DNA secret behind the naked mole-rat’s astonishing longevity 🧬🐀
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
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Chinese scientists discover the DNA secret behind the naked mole-rat’s astonishing longevity
A study reveals the secrets behind the rodent’s remarkable ability to live 10 times longer than expected, without cancer or age-related degenerative diseases. When applied to fruit flies, researchers ...
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2025-10-09/chinese-scientists-discover-the-dna-secret-behind-the-naked-mole-rats-astonishing-longevity.html
about 1 month ago
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Microbiome characterization of a pre-Hispanic man from Zimapán, Mexico: Insights into ancient gut microbial communities 🦠🧬⛏️
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
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Microbiome characterization of a pre-Hispanic man from Zimapán, Mexico: Insights into ancient gut microbial communities
The research of microbiome derived from mummified human remains, coprolites and paleofeces has gained significant interest over several decades, aiming to elucidate the evolution of microbial interact...
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0331137
about 1 month ago
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The world's snow leopards are very similar genetically—findings suggest that doesn't bode well for their future 🧬🐆
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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The world's snow leopards are very similar genetically—findings suggest that doesn't bode well for their future
There are relatively few snow leopards in the world, and it has likely been that way for a long time, a new study indicates. This situation increases their risk of extinction in a changing environment...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-world-leopards-similar-genetically-doesnt.html
about 1 month ago
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Absolutely fascinating talk - thank you
@benceviola.bsky.social
&
@heasvienna.bsky.social
! 💀
about 1 month ago
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Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats 🐦
theconversation.com/birds-all-ov...
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Birds all over the world use the same sound to warn of threats
The findings of a new study about communication between birds also offer key insights into the origins of language.
https://theconversation.com/birds-all-over-the-world-use-the-same-sound-to-warn-of-threats-266618
about 1 month ago
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Making yogurt with ants revives a creative fermentation process 🐜🥛
phys.org/news/2025-10...
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Making yogurt with ants revives a creative fermentation process
Researchers recreated a nearly forgotten yogurt recipe that once was common across the Balkans and Turkey—using ants. Reporting in iScience on October 3, the team shows that bacteria, acids, and enzym...
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-yogurt-ants-revives-creative-fermentation.html
about 1 month ago
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‘Thrilled’ Indonesian scientists celebrate return of fossil trove from the Netherlands 💀🇮🇩
www.science.org/content/arti...
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‘Thrilled’ Indonesian scientists celebrate return of fossil trove from the Netherlands
The items to be returned, which include Java Man, were collected during the colonial era
https://www.science.org/content/article/thrilled-indonesian-scientists-celebrate-return-fossil-trove-netherlands
about 1 month ago
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Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal rights campaigner, dies age 91 🙊
www.bbc.com/news/live/c9...
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Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal rights campaigner, dies age 91 - follow live
The primatologist was a
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c9qyw2ewl2nt
about 1 month ago
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12,000-year-old monumental camel rock art acted as ancient 'road signs' to desert water sources 🐪
phys.org/news/2025-09...
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12,000-year-old monumental camel rock art acted as ancient 'road signs' to desert water sources, study suggests
New findings highlight the pioneering role of human groups who lived in the interior of northern Arabia shortly after the hyper-arid conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), guided by the return ...
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-year-monumental-camel-art-ancient.html
about 1 month ago
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Air temperatures over Antarctica have soared 35ºC above average. What does this unusual event mean for Australia? 🌡️🇦🇶
theconversation.com/air-temperat...
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Air temperatures over Antarctica have soared 35ºC above average. What does this unusual event mean for Australia?
The stratospheric polar vortex high above Antarctica has rapidly heated up. These sudden bursts of heat can bring rapid weather changes in Australia
https://theconversation.com/air-temperatures-over-antarctica-have-soared-35-c-above-average-what-does-this-unusual-event-mean-for-australia-265079
about 1 month ago
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A 3000-year-old copper smelting site could be key to understanding the origins of iron ⛏️🇬🇪
phys.org/news/2025-09...
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A 3000-year-old copper smelting site could be key to understanding the origins of iron
Research from Cranfield University sheds new light onto the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, showing how experimentation with iron-rich rocks by copper smelters may have sparked the inv...
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-year-copper-smelting-site-key.html
about 1 month ago
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Dutch to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia 💀🇮🇩
www.nst.com.my/world/world/...
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Dutch to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia |
THE HAGUE: The Netherlands pledged today to return to Indonesia the remains of "Java Man", the first-ever "Homo Erectus" unearthed by modern scientists in a landmark discovery for human evolution.
https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2025/09/1282063/dutch-return-java-man-fossils-indonesia
about 2 months ago
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The world's most mysterious and elusive orchid lives underground in Australia. Scientists are trying to rescue this botanic marvel from going completely extinct. 🌸🇦🇺
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
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'It lives underground and is fabulous': The race to save the world's rarest orchid
The world's most mysterious and elusive orchid lives underground in Australia. Scientists are trying to rescue this botanic marvel from going completely extinct.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250925-the-race-to-save-the-worlds-rarest-orchid
about 2 months ago
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A million-year-old human skull suggests that the origins of modern humans may reach back far deeper in time than previously thought and raises the possibility that Homo sapiens first emerged outside of Africa 💀🇨🇳
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
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Study of 1m-year-old skull points to earlier origins of modern humans
Skull found in China may be Homo longi, potentially revising understanding of human evolution
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/25/study-of-1m-year-old-skull-points-to-earlier-origins-of-modern-humans
about 2 months ago
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