1. Vanhaeren, M. & d’Errico, F. Aurignacian ethno-linguistic geography of Europe revealed by personal ornaments. J. Archaeol. Sci. 33, 1105–1128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.11.017 (2006). Article Google Scholar 2. Henshilwood, C. S. & Derrico, F. Homo Symbolicus: The Dawn of Language, Imagination and … Read more
NP’s more challenging problems often have momentous practical applications. For these problems, an exhaustive brute-force search for a solution would likely go on for an impractically long time—geologic time—before producing an answer. If a brute-force search algorithm is the best … Read more
Concrete often begins to crack and crumble after a few decades of life — but curiously, that hasn’t been the case with many Roman structures. The structures are still standing, exhibiting remarkable durability despite conditions that would destroy modern concrete. … Read more
Researchers investigating the submerged metropolis of Thônis-Heracleion, in the Egyptian bay of Abū Qīr, have discovered wicker fruit baskets dated to the fourth century B.C.E. Incredibly, the vessels still contain doum nuts—the fruit of an African palm tree considered sacred … Read more
A microscopic worm-like creature, labelled an “evolutionary scandal” by biologists for having thrived for millions of years without having sex, has now been shown to persist for at least 24,000 years in Siberian permafrost and then reproduce, researchers have found. … Read more
NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media … Read more
A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, with archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology, have found the first evidence of a religious diet locked inside pottery fragments excavated from the early medieval Jewish community of Oxford. Keeping kosher is … Read more
Another author of the study, Prof Christopher Ramsey, director of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, said that radiocarbon dating could be used to determine the ages of other animals, but was not likely to be chosen … Read more