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A team of researchers has found evidence that daily consumption of olive oil may reduce the chances of developing dementia. In their study, the group analyzed data for thousands of people included in two separate health databases and found that those people who consumed at least 7 g of olive oil daily were less likely to die from dementia-related ailments. Prior research has suggested that following the Mediterranean diet can lead to healthier outcomes for most people. The diet tends to stress consuming legumes, vegetables, nuts, fish, dairy and olive oil. In this new study, the research team found evidence...

USS Carney (DDG-64) and USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) shot down between four and six Iranian-launched ballistic missiles, a senior military official told reporters Sunday.Both ships were in the Mediterranean. Carney most recently made a port visit to Palermo, Sicily, Italy, on April 10. Arleigh Burke is forward deployed to Rota, Spain.A senior military official said that land- and sea-based aircraft were also involved in the U.S. response. USNI News understands that the aircraft did not come from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). The aircraft carrier is in the Red Sea as part of the country’s Operation Prosperity Guardian, which aims...

Archaeological excavations off the coast of Rome in the Mediterranean Sea reveal that Stone Age people living over 7,000 years ago utilized sophisticated manufacturing techniques and advanced nautical technology in the construction and operation of their seafaring vessels.According to an analysis published in the journal PLOS ONE, the ancient seafaring vessels discovered at the site are the oldest ever found in the Mediterranean, which may offer "invaluable insights" into the technological sophistication employed by Neolithic navigators...According to the researchers, they found five dugout canoes in the ancient lakeshore village of La Marmotta near the coast of Rome, Italy, dating from...

The Mediterranean diet garners praise once again. In addition to preventing cardiovascular accidents, this diet can also help slow the deterioration of the kidneys. It is a benefit that, for the first time, has been demonstrated in patients suffering from type 2 diabetes. The key lies in compounds called advanced glycation end products, better known as AGEs. These are molecules with an inflammatory and oxidizing capacity. The study analyzed the levels of these harmful compounds in more than 500 diabetics, comparing, over a period of five years, how two types of healthy diets affect the body: the Mediterranean diet and...

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group will leave the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it was sent just after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, in the "coming days," two U.S. officials tell ABC News. The Ford is the U.S. Navy's newest and largest aircraft carrier and was nearing the end of its first operational deployment when it was redirected to the eastern Mediterranean the day after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Five U.S. service members were killed Friday evening after their aircraft suffered a mishap and crashed into the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Pentagon revealed Sunday. The mishap took place “during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said in a brief statement... that the aircraft crash “was purely related to training and there are no indications of hostile activity.” The command gave no further details on the type of aircraft involved in the crash, the military service it belonged to, or the exact location or timing of the accident.

Archaeologists have discovered the wreck of a Roman-era ship off the east coast of Cyprus. In a statement, Cyprus’ Department of Antiquities explained that the wreck is the first undisturbed Roman shipwreck found in the Mediterranean island nation’s waters. The ship is loaded with amphorae, or large ancient jars, which are likely from Syria and ancient Cilicia on modern-day Turkey's southeastern coast. Analysis of the shipwreck will shed new light on seaborne trade between Cyprus and the rest of the Roman provinces of the eastern Mediterranean, officials explained in the statement. The wreck was found near the resort town of...

Researchers exploring the waters off the Greek Island of Kefallinia have unearthed one of the largest Roman-era shipwrecks ever found.As Julia Buckley reports for CNN, a team from Greece's University of Patras located the remains of the ship, as well as its cargo of 6,000 amphorae—ceramic jugs used for shipping—while conducting a sonar scan of the area. The 110-foot-long vessel, newly detailed in the Journal of Archaeological Science, was situated at a depth of 197 feet.According to the paper, the "Fiscardo" wreck (named after a nearby fishing port) was one of several identified during cultural heritage surveys undertaken in the...

NORFOLK — “I see him!” exclaimed 8-year-old Penelope Holbert, vigorously waving. Her father, Petty Officer 1st Class Drew Holbert waved back from a platform at the stern of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Holbert, an aviation structural mechanic, was one of 5,000 sailors who deployed Saturday aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — the flagship of the Ike carrier strike group. It has long been scheduled to deploy this week to the Mediterranean. [Snip] The Eisenhower is expected to be deployed for about six months. [Snip] The Virginia Beach strike fighter squadrons known as Gunslingers, Fighting Swordsmen, Rampagers and Wildcats...

An engineer was conducting a regular survey of the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt's coast when he noticed something in the water.It turned out to be a 2,300-year-old shipwreck, according to an Aug. 5 news release from Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.The ancient ship was discovered less than a half-mile off the coast of El-Alamein — which was an important commercial region during the third century BC, Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the release. The find gives more insight into Egypt's role as a center for trade, economy and tourism in ancient times.Archaeologists...

The "miracle" plant Silphium consumed by Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, which was thought to have become extinct two thousand years ago, has recently been rediscovered in Turkey by a professor, who thinks he's found a botanical survivor.The plant, which the Ancient Greeks called silphion (silphium), was a golden-flowered plant. It was once the most sought-after product in the Mediterranean even before the rise of Athens and the Roman Empire.It is believed that the plant with yellow flowers attached to a thick stalk was crushed, roasted, sauteed, and boiled for medicinal purposes, food, and even contraception. During the reign of...

Greece and Türkiye agreed on Wednesday (Jul 12) to resume talks and confidence-building measures as they hailed a new "positive climate" in ties after more than a year of tensions between the historic foes. The two North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have been at odds for decades over a range of issues including where their continental shelves start and end, energy resources, overflights of the Aegean Sea, and ethnically split Cyprus. Last year, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan halted bilateral talks in a dispute over airspace violations and after accusing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of pressuring the United States...

The Phoenicians were, for a long time, significant rivals to the Greeks in dominating Mediterranean trade. Interestingly, they shared quite a few similarities to the ancient Greeks. But what do we actually know about them? Did a place called Phoenicia even really exist? Where Did The Phoenicians Live? The homeland of the Phoenicians was in the Levant. Originally, they lived in the entire region where Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon now are. Their northern border was marked by ancient Syria. Their homeland was called Phoenicia. Some of the major Phoenician cities in this area were Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and Arwad. However,...

Marine archaeologists began studying the 39-foot-long vessel—nicknamed the "Zambratija boat" because of its location in the Bay of Zambratija—after hearing reports from local fishermen in 2008. Researchers were surprised to learn the vessel dated to between the 12th and 10th centuries B.C.E, which they say makes it the oldest entirely hand-sewn boat in the Mediterranean.Workers painstakingly constructed the vessel by using flexible fibers to stitch together pieces of wood. While that technique was popular around the world both before and after the introduction of metal components, researchers say the Zambratija boat is unique because it's a rare surviving example of...

Two of the shipwrecks were likely from the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th century, including a "large motorized metal wreck" with no traces of cargo. In that wreck, researchers noted that the davits, which would have been used to lower lifeboats, were facing outward, which means any crew may have been able to leave the ship. The second ship was likely a wooden fishing boat.A third shipwreck was likely a merchant vessel that sailed between the first century BC and the second century. The ROV spotted artifacts that appeared to be amphoras, or tall, two-handled...

Nothing lasts forever. Just ask Ozymandias, or Nate Fisher. Only the wind inhabits the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado, birds and vines the pyramids of the Maya. Sand and silence have swallowed the clamors of frankincense traders and camels in the old desert center of Ubar. Troy was buried for centuries before it was uncovered. Parts of the Great Library of Alexandria, center of learning in the ancient world, might be sleeping with the fishes, off Egypt's coast in the Mediterranean. "Cities rise and fall depending on what made them go in the first place," said Peirce Lewis,...

The team is aided in its tasks by remarkable "Rosetta stones" in the form of wooden labels attached to Roman-era mummies. Before sending their deceased loved one to the embalmer, families would attach a label bearing the dead person's name, the names of their parents and sometimes a short religious message to the body. The labels were a way of identifying the deceased, who would no longer be recognizable once wrapped in their bandages, and ensuring that embalmers did not mix bodies up.The wooden labels provide more information than just the identity of Pkyris, the defunct son of Besis and...

The elusive striped "cat-fox" familiar mostly to Corsican shepherds and as a source of intrigue to scientists, is indeed its own species specific to the French Mediterranean island, the French office for Biodiversity (OFB) announced Thursday. New genetic analysis has "revealed a unique genetic strain to the wild cats" found in the remote forest undergrowth of northern Corsica, it confirmed. Genetic sampling clearly distinguishes the ring-tailed Corsican cat-foxes from mainland forest felines and domestic cats, said the OFB in a statement. While resembling house cats in some ways, the cat-fox earned its name from its length—measuring 90 centimeters (35 inches)...

Dozens of migrants are feared to have drowned after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean sea en route from Libya to Italy with the Coast Guard allegedly not turning up. According to the NGO Alarm Phone, dozens of migrants are feared to have drowned today, Sunday, March 12, after their boat went adrift in the Mediterranean sea. “We are shocked. According to various sources, dozens of people from this ship have drowned,”, the organisation wrote on its Twitter account. “As of 2:28 a.m. on March 11, the authorities were informed of the urgency and danger of the situation. The Italian...

Ezekiel is a key figure in the Bible and in his end-of-days prophecy, he foresees the Dead Sea flourishing into life – something that is considered to be impossible due to its high salt content. Israeli photojournalist Noam Bedein has reported sightings of marine life in small sinkholes around the Dead Sea, as well as vegetation growing. Photos released by the Dead Sea Revival Project show tiny fish swimming in water that is reportedly from the highly-salinated body of water. Mr Bedein, who works on the Dead Sea Revival Project, which works to preserve the Sea and other Israeli “water...