Paleo in the News

A newly identified tiny dinosaur, Foskeia pelendonum, is shaking up long-held ideas about how plant-eating dinosaurs evolved. Though fully grown adults were remarkably small and lightweight, their anatomy was anything but simple—featuring a bizarre, highly specialized skull and unexpected evolutionary traits. Detailed bone studies show these dinosaurs matured quickly with bird- or mammal-like metabolism, while their teeth and posture hint at fast, agile lives in dense forests.

Procrastination in young adulthood is not set in stone, though change is difficult, a long-term study shows.

A modeling study of Norway, which has high HPV vaccination coverage and uniform cervical cancer screening, suggests fewer screens could be needed.

Ants rely on scent to recognise their comrades, and when they are exposed to common air pollutants, other members of their colony react as if they are enemies

Researchers estimate that roughly 12 percent of U.S. dementia cases could be tied to insomnia.

The chemicals are widely used for crowd control, but their long-term health risks are poorly understood.

Despite growing into the largest animals ever to walk on land, sauropods began life small, exposed, and alone. Fossil evidence suggests their babies were frequently eaten by multiple predators, making them a key part of the Jurassic food chain. This steady supply of easy prey may explain why early predators thrived without needing extreme hunting adaptations. The findings offer a rare glimpse into how dinosaur ecosystems truly worked.

Despite growing into the largest animals ever to walk on land, sauropods began life small, exposed, and alone. Fossil evidence suggests their babies were frequently eaten by multiple predators, making them a key part of the Jurassic food chain. This steady supply of easy prey may explain why early predators thrived without needing extreme hunting adaptations. The findings offer a rare glimpse into how dinosaur ecosystems truly worked.

Despite growing into the largest animals ever to walk on land, sauropods began life small, exposed, and alone. Fossil evidence suggests their babies were frequently eaten by multiple predators, making them a key part of the Jurassic food chain. This steady supply of easy prey may explain why early predators thrived without needing extreme hunting adaptations. The findings offer a rare glimpse into how dinosaur ecosystems truly worked.

Dinosaur footprints have always been mysterious, but a new AI app is cracking their secrets. DinoTracker analyzes photos of fossil tracks and predicts which dinosaur made them, with accuracy rivaling human experts. Along the way, it uncovered footprints that look strikingly bird-like—dating back more than 200 million years. That discovery could push the origin of birds much deeper into prehistory.

Dinosaur footprints have always been mysterious, but a new AI app is cracking their secrets. DinoTracker analyzes photos of fossil tracks and predicts which dinosaur made them, with accuracy rivaling human experts. Along the way, it uncovered footprints that look strikingly bird-like—dating back more than 200 million years. That discovery could push the origin of birds much deeper into prehistory.

Dinosaur footprints have always been mysterious, but a new AI app is cracking their secrets. DinoTracker analyzes photos of fossil tracks and predicts which dinosaur made them, with accuracy rivaling human experts. Along the way, it uncovered footprints that look strikingly bird-like—dating back more than 200 million years. That discovery could push the origin of birds much deeper into prehistory.

Archaeologists in central China have uncovered evidence that early humans were far more inventive than long assumed. Excavations at the Xigou site reveal advanced stone tools, including the earliest known examples of tools fitted with handles in East Asia, dating back as far as 160,000 years. These discoveries show that ancient populations in the region carefully planned, crafted, and adapted their tools to meet changing environments.

Researchers are using X-rays to discover invisible markings left on ancient parchment containing information from the Greek astronomer Hipparchus.

Columnist Michael Le Page delves into a catalogue of hundreds of potentially beneficial gene mutations and variants that is popular with transhumanists

Thinking positive increased a specific brain region's activity and might have heightened immune response after a shot.

Humpback whales are teaching each other a feeding technique called bubble netting, and it's helping a Canadian population recover from whaling.

New research challenges the view that human life span depends mostly on lifestyle. Genes may account for half the factors that determine longevity.

Shrinking sea ice has made life harder for polar bears in many parts of the Arctic, but the population in Svalbard seems to be thriving

A new artificial lung system might keep people without lungs alive for weeks. Like real lungs, tubes and pumps oxygenate blood and maintain blood flow.