📰 Analysis of geometric signs engraved on 40,000-year-old bone and ivory artefacts suggests early European Homo sapiens long possessed cognitive tools for language 🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Aerosols carry significant amounts of phosphorus that can fuel massive algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet, according to new research, underscoring the importance of tracking dust emissions to understand how the ice sheet will change in the future. 🧪🧊 eos.org/articles/gre...

News piece on a very interesting new paper. www.science.org/content/arti...

Around 40,000 years ago, migrating Homo sapiens spread across Europe carrying handled objects intricately etched with geometric designs. Today, researchers find these signs might have represented an ancient form of proto-writing. #Archaeology #Aurignacian 🧪🏺 New in @science.org

Axolotls can completely rebuild their thymus, a key immune organ

Scientists just found that Axolotls—the cute and cuddly pink salamanders native to Mexico—can regrow an intricate part of their immune system from scratch. The regenerated organ functions indistinguishably from those that grew normally. #Axolotl #Regeneration 🧪🏺 New for @sciam.bsky.social

“To understand how humans are changing the planet, we first need to know how the planet changes on its own,” said Mike Weber, a geoscientist at @unibonn.bsky.social.

Microscopic marine organisms called forams began to proliferate relatively rapidly after the dino-killing asteroid struck Earth. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4rywh19

Scientists just found that a curious group of plankton began to flourish rapidly after the dino-killing asteroid—a key sign life was on the mend. They made their discovery by measuring the slow accumulation of space dust after the impact. #Paleontology #PlankticForams New for @science.org 🧪🏺

Spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet have helped researchers map out an ancient coastline that surrounded a large ocean billions of years ago

Fossil evidence reveals some of the earliest penguins brandished long, dagger-like beaks. These sharpened snouts may have helped the diving birds hunt and skewer fish. #PenguinAwarenessDay #Paleontology @newscientist.com 🏺🧪

In new research, scientists report a diminutive dino that was perfectly adapted to pilfer eggs. Its bones were excavated from the Mongolian Desert and reveal a “bizarre” claw that enabled it to quickly filch eggs before fleeing. 🧪🏺 #Paleontology #EggSnatcher New at @sciencenews.bsky.social

Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes. https://scim.ag/4qxojow

This Fossil Is Rewriting the Story of How Plants Spread across the Planet www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Sixty-six million years ago, a cataclysmic asteroid impact triggered a global mass extinction. New research suggests that, contrary to prior thinking, some members of an ancient group of mollusks managed to survive the initial carnage after it struck. https://scim.ag/4994w9k

Scientists find new Moroccan fossils might represent the oldest ancestor to Homo sapiens yet. Remarkably, they were able to date the specimens by identifying Earth’s magnetic pole reversal in the surrounding sediments. #Paleoanthropology #Archaeology 🧪🏺 New for #NationalGeographic

Scientists report that a hardy group of ammonites survived the dino-killing asteroid for over 68,000 years. Once considered a “textbook victim” of the calamity, the new research shows mass extinctions aren’t always as tidy as portrayed. #Paleontology #MassExtinctions 🧪🏺 New for @science.org

An Antarctic phytoplankton bloom that can grow the size of New Zealand is nourished by a surprising source—underwater earthquakes. Researchers find the seismic activity triggers deep-sea vents to burp up vital nutrients like iron that then fuel giant blooms at the surface. 🧪🏺 New at @science.org

Small samples of fossilized materials contain molecular signatures that correspond with those animals’ diets and habitats. A new study uses those biomarkers to reconstruct the environments where ancient hominins lived in Africa more than 1 million years ago. https://scim.ag/3N6W2Xv

In new research, scientists find fossilized bones and teeth can contain metabolites—tiny byproducts of internal chemical processes. These metabolites can reveal unprecedented insights into an ancient animal’s age, diet, and environment. #Paleometabolomics #Paleontology 🏺🧪 New for @science.org

Scientists find fossil-loving lichen might act as a beacon for new dino discoveries. The new research used drones to detect light reflected by colorful lichen species that prefer to inhabit dinosaur bones in the Canadian badlands. #Paleontology #Lichenology 🏺🧪 New at @sciencenews.bsky.social

An enigmatic group of fossil organisms has finally been identified—and is changing the story of how plants took root on land

A new analysis suggests lichen evolved millions of years earlier than previously believed. The discovery shows that fungi-algae symbiotes might have helped pave the way for early land-dwelling plants to successfully colonize Earth. 🏺🧪 #Paleontology #Lichenology New at @sciam.bsky.social

McGraths Flat is an incredible fossil site in New South Wales that reveals Australia’s rich tropical past. In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed. #Paleontology #Lagerstatte 🧪🏺 New for @science.org

Scientists are turning to tree rings from ancient coffins to glean novel insights into our past. Beyond withered corpses and grave goods, the buried woods reveal unparalleled details about historic temperatures, droughts, and floods. #Dendrochronology #Paleoclimatology New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Science Bluesky has the juice. 🧃🧪

Mushrooms from the genus Psilocybe can provoke psychedelic experiences thanks to compounds including psilocybin. A new study finds that within another genus of “magic” mushrooms, psilocybin is synthesized using a completely different chemical pathway. https://scim.ag/47hEBv1

An analysis of over 5,000 fossils found dung beetles developed a taste for fetid meat significantly earlier than previously believed. The 37-million-year-old discovery suggests fierce fecal competition drove some species to start eating flesh. #Paleontology #FossilFriday 🧪🏺 New for @science.org

Scientists just found several fossil bumblebees covered in pollen that directly matches fossil flowers nearby. The 24-million-year-old discovery reveals the oldest known evidence connecting pollinators to the pollinated. #Paleontology #NationalFossilDay 🧪🏺 New at @sciencenews.bsky.social

About 120 million years ago, a pterosaur fell from the sky and died in a pond. A layer of sediment washed over it, preserving not only its skeleton, but also its stomach. The resulting fossil is the first pterosaur ever found with a belly full of plants. #NationalFossilDay https://scim.ag/4hbaedc

ok this is fucking awesome

Scientists recently found two evolutionarily distinct mushrooms converged to produce the same psychedelic molecule—psilocybin. The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose. #Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Hunter-gatherers may have used engravings to find water in the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula 12,000 years ago. https://scim.ag/4nql413

Large stone fragment of a monumental building at Eleusis, Greece. The Ancient Greeks hosted a festival here every September to celebrate the return of Persephone to her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture. 🧪🏺 The festival lasted until 395 CE. 📷: me #AncientGreece #EleusinianMysteries

New research finds that 12,000-year-old camel art in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert once marked ancient water sources. Hunter-gatherers may have used the ephemeral water bodies to penetrate deeper into the barren landscape. #RockArt #Archaeology New for @science.org 🧪🏺

An exquisite fossil of a 240-million-year-old marine reptile reveals it had partially webbed fingers and toes. The exceptional preservation also hinted at underlying limb muscles that suggest it swam like seal. #Paleontology #MonteSanGiorgio 🧪🏺 New for @sciencenews.bsky.social

A carved figure found in northern France, dated to 27,000 years ago, may reflect how hair was styled in a culture that disappeared during the last glacial maximum

Four new fossil species from New Zealand illustrate the striking diversity of the earliest penguins, which possessed long dagger-like beaks they may have used to skewer prey.

Scientists uncovered several extreme droughts that helped undermine the authority of “divine kings” and trigger widespread collapse across the Maya world. One 13-year drought is the longest recorded in Yucatán history over the past 2,000 years. #Archaeology #Paleoclimatology New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Move over Tiktaalik, a new semi-terrestrial fish just dropped. #Devonian #TraceFossils #Paleontology New at @science.org 🏺🧪

“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX

Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland. scim.ag/3TRZRQG

Ancient Romans had a strong fascination with fossils, often viewing them as protective talismans. Archaeologists just unearthed the first trilobite fossil linked to the Roman world—and it was likely worn as jewelry. #Archaeology #AncientHistory #RomanHistory New at @science.org 🧪🏺

A new species of Velociraptor-like dinosaur from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia had giant claws and exceptionally thickset hands, which may have enabled it to take down larger prey.

A Roman mosaic panel stolen from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain during the second world war has been returned to the site of the ancient Roman ruins.

New research uncovered the first human and other vertebrate remains from the now-sunken Sundaland. The 140,000-year-old fossils reveal a late-surviving group of Homo erectus that ate fat-rich cow tongue and cracked open bones for marrow. #archaeology #paleontology New at @science.org 🏺🧪

Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass | Science www.science.org/content/arti...

“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX

A 140,000-year-old hominin skull from Israel probably belonged to a hybrid child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens parents, according to an analysis of its anatomy.

Do you ever stop and think about how there used to be pterosaurs? A fun new study shows that pterosaurs used to eat plants (they'd been expected to be carnivores) & like modern birds, they had stones in their gullets called gastroliths that help break down plants 🧪 @science.org