Paleo in the News

Ammolite gems’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.

The birds grunt like tennis pros when generating their rat-a-tat, a performance strategy that may help stabilize core muscles.

Jacob, an 11-year-old lion, has defied expectations by surviving for years after losing a leg – now we know his success is down to an innovative hunting strategy

Streams of liquid form drops thanks to unidentified disturbances. It could be the jiggling of individual molecules.

Many plants including cocoa, coffee and avocado cannot be gene-edited but a technique involving grafting could change that, opening the door to more productive and nutritious varieties

Lise Barnéoud's Hidden Guests shows how this fascinating new field brings with it profound implications for medicine, and even what it means to be human, finds Helen Thomson

Planetary scientist Adeene Denton runs computer simulations to investigate Pluto, the moons of Saturn and other icy bodies in the solar system.

Math and physics explain the anguish of a golf ball that zings around the rim of the hole instead of falling in.

Supernova remnants, stellar nurseries and more populate the new edge-on view of the Milky Way as seen from Earth’s southern hemisphere.

From blaming the victim to replying "I have no interest in your life" to suicidal thoughts, AI chatbots can respond unethically when used for therapy.

Researchers uncovered a 2.75–2.44 million-year-old site in Kenya showing that early humans maintained stone tool traditions for nearly 300,000 years despite extreme climate swings. The tools, remarkably consistent across generations, helped our ancestors adapt and survive. The discovery reshapes our understanding of how early technology anchored human evolution.

Mosquitoes have reached Iceland, a place once thought too harsh for them to survive. Climate change may play a role in this shift.

A safety device helped maintain a buried person’s oxygen levels for up to 35 minutes, tests show, buying crucial time for an avalanche rescue.

For the first time, video footage has captured orcas in the Gulf of California hunting young great white sharks, using a trick to flip them over, paralise them and get at their energy-rich livers

The debate over Nanotyrannus’ identity is finally over. A remarkably preserved fossil proves it was a mature species, not a teenage T. rex. This discovery rewrites how scientists understand tyrannosaur evolution and Cretaceous predator diversity. For the first time, T. rex must share its throne with a smaller, faster rival.

The debate over Nanotyrannus’ identity is finally over. A remarkably preserved fossil proves it was a mature species, not a teenage T. rex. This discovery rewrites how scientists understand tyrannosaur evolution and Cretaceous predator diversity. For the first time, T. rex must share its throne with a smaller, faster rival.

The debate over Nanotyrannus’ identity is finally over. A remarkably preserved fossil proves it was a mature species, not a teenage T. rex. This discovery rewrites how scientists understand tyrannosaur evolution and Cretaceous predator diversity. For the first time, T. rex must share its throne with a smaller, faster rival.

For decades, Paranthropus robustus has intrigued scientists as a powerful, big-jawed cousin of early humans. Now, thanks to ancient protein analysis, researchers have cracked open new secrets hidden in 2-million-year-old tooth enamel. These proteins revealed both sex and subtle genetic differences among fossils, suggesting Paranthropus might not have been one species but a more complex evolutionary mix.

For decades, Paranthropus robustus has intrigued scientists as a powerful, big-jawed cousin of early humans. Now, thanks to ancient protein analysis, researchers have cracked open new secrets hidden in 2-million-year-old tooth enamel. These proteins revealed both sex and subtle genetic differences among fossils, suggesting Paranthropus might not have been one species but a more complex evolutionary mix.

An AI tool trained on chemical signatures from corpse-eating insects may help determine time and place of death for victims of violent crimes.