preserved

The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time.A new study has cataloged human brains that have been found on the archaeological record around the world and discovered that this remarkable organ resists decomposition far more than we thought – even when the rest of the body's soft tissues have completely melted away.Led by molecular taphonomist Alexandra Morton-Hayward of the University of Oxford, a team of scientists has identified more than 4,400 preserved human brains, dating back…

An ancient egg laid by a bird roughly 1,700 years ago was discovered in England so well-preserved, its contents are still sloshing around inside of it.Archaeologists analyzing the Roman-era specimen say they were downright "blown away" by its contents.The incredible ovum may be the only discovery of its kind in the world. It's certainly the oldest whole egg ever found from Roman times.While older eggs with intact contents have been excavated in other parts of the world, including ones that were mummified in Egypt, those…

Breadcrumb Trail LinksLifeEating & DrinkingCultureBooksDarra Goldstein, Cortney Burns and Richard Martin dive deep into condiments and preserved fruit in the first two instalments of a series of six books about food preservation Get the latest from Laura Brehaut straight to your inbox Sign Up Published Jan 26, 2024  •  Last updated 14 minutes ago  •  12 minute read Clockwise from top left: pikliz on a roasted pork sub, mangoes, ginger-sesame chutney on grilled cheese sandwiches and amba. PHOTOS BY DAVID…

Phylogenetic trees of detected gut bacteria. The tree indicates phylogenetic relationships of 4,616 bacterial species. Credit: Nishimura et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DNA from ancient feces can offer archaeologists new clues about the life and health of Japanese people who lived thousands of years ago, according to a study published in PLOS ONE by Luca Nishimura and Ituro Inoue from…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Through our burning of fossil fuels and other activities, we humans have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations more than 40 percent in the last 150 years. This increase in CO₂, and in another greenhouse gas—methane—has warmed the planet more than 1°C. Present greenhouse gas concentrations and…

A Jaguar F-Type V8 Convertible. The "unmistakeable, supercharged" sound of the Jaguar F-Type V8 will be stored for posterity in Britain's national library, the luxury car manufacturer said Wednesday, as it moves towards a quieter, electric future. Recorded inside a special chamber at the carmaker's…

A beautifully preserved fossil forest uncovered on a river bank in Japan has been described in detail for the first time.The rare site takes scientists one step closer to reconstructing an entire Eurasian plant from the late Miocene epoch, and filling in one of the many gaps in the botanical tree of life.The late Miocene epoch stretched from around 10.4 to 5 million years ago, and the forest was located beneath what is now the Kiso River, north-east of Nagoya.Location of study site in Japan (Nishino et al., Scientific…

About 125 million years ago, a young mammal about the size of a possum bit down on the side of a beaked dinosaur nearly three times its size. The animals died like that, entangled and at odds with each other, a fossilized tableau of the dinosaurian-mammalian power shift that would finally come about 60 million years later.Exclusive Jurassic World Dominion Bonus Feature ClipThose are the certainties of the Cretaceous Period exchange that wereencased in time until this week, when a team of paleontologists revealed the…

Researchers poring over imagery and data from the Perseverance rover on Mars have found evidence of organic molecules in the planet’s Jezero Crater, potentially providing evidence of the planet’s carbon cycles and its ability to host life.Cecilia Rose Gooding on the Writers Strike | io9 InterviewThe discovery is by no means a confirmation that life once existed on Mars, but it is a sign that the conditions necessary for life as we know it once did. Perseverance is investigating many aspects of the fourth planet from the…

Pollen grains under a scanning electron microscope. Credit: The Holocene (2023). DOI: 10.1177/0959683623117648. Sediments at the bottom of the ocean can offer a window into the past, indicating environmental conditions not just from the sea but washed in from terrestrial runoff, as well as preserving the flora and fauna of the time. Scientists access this knowledge by taking exploration cruises to core the seabed, bringing…