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Science (General/Chat)

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  • Human DNA can survive on cave walls for thousands of years, opening new window into prehistory

    06/25/2026 5:49:00 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 18 replies
    Phys dot org ^ | June 24, 2026 | Max Planck Society, edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan
    ...Although the researchers found traces of ancient human DNA in one pigmented calcite crust sampled in Escoural Cave (Portugal), to their surprise they also found ancient human DNA in several nonpigmented parts of the cave wall in Escoural as well as in Covarón Cave (northern Spain), which had initially been sampled as negative controls.The study shows that human DNA can be preserved on cave walls long after the populations that visited the cave have disappeared...Of the 54 samples collected, only five yielded authentic ancient human mitochondrial DNA...two of these samples showed no detectable faunal mitochondrial DNA, a rare finding that...
  • Ancient hilltop structure in Albania may be linked to lost city

    06/25/2026 5:08:15 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    Yahoo! ^ | June 24, 2026 | Cam Deal
    At a hilltop site in northern Albania, archaeologists have uncovered remains of what researchers believe is the region's first identified Illyrian temple, a find that may help resolve the mystery of the lost city of Bassania.According to Arkeonews, researchers from the University of Warsaw and the University of Tirana made the discovery at Bushat, roughly 10 kilometers south of Shkodra. There, on the acropolis of a settlement rediscovered in 2018, they exposed the full stone foundations of a large rectangular building at a site that may be the long-sought Bassania.Measuring 13.6 meters by 9.6 meters, the building has proportions similar...
  • Trump to ask Congress to make 15% ethanol-gas blend permanent

    06/25/2026 4:41:19 AM PDT · by Libloather · 78 replies
    CBS News ^ | 6/24/26 | Jennifer Jacobs
    The Trump administration intends to ask Congress to allow E15, an ethanol-gas blend, to be sold at the pumps year-round, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told CBS News. The 15% ethanol blend is usually only available part of the year under a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency as temperatures rise to help ease high gas prices. The administration plans to make the request when it submits a supplemental funding request to lawmakers, the official said. Several requests on budget matters and non-budgetary matters were scheduled to be sent to the Hill on Wednesday. A lower 10% ethanol...
  • Lions’ Terrion Arnold arrested, faces possibility of life in prison in armed robbery case

    06/25/2026 4:02:03 AM PDT · by Libloather · 10 replies
    NY Post ^ | 6/25/26 | Christian Arnold
    Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold was arrested and booked on four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery on Wednesday, and is now facing up to life in prison if convicted. Arnold, 23, turned himself in to authorities on a warrant at the Orient Road jail in Tampa, Fla., the Detroit Free Press reported. He remained in custody as of 10:46 p.m. In a statement released through Arnold’s representative, Arnold “categorically denies any involvement in the matters underlying the allegations made against him and maintains his innocence.” The Lions released a statement that said they are aware of the...
  • Ancient curse tablet bears rare Greek inscription with binding spell intended to harm enemies

    06/24/2026 11:25:49 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 9 replies
    Phys.org ^ | June 17, 2026 | Katrina Jordan, edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Robert Egan
    Heidelberg University researchers have deciphered the inscription on an ancient curse tablet, which was once used to invoke deities and demons in order to harm an enemy. The "magical" artifact from the Roman province of Lower Germania was discovered during excavations carried out in the Dutch municipality of Heerlen. The lead tablet, which dates to the 2nd century A.D., is distinctive...Heerlen, the site of the former Roman military settlement of Coriovallum... artifact, which measures 9.3 by 4.8 centimeters (3.7 by 1.9 inches), contains three distinct groups of characters, as revealed by an analysis conducted at the Institute for Papyrology using...
  • More Than 60 Million Stars Glimmer In The Largest Visible Light Photo Ever Taken Of The Milky Way's Beating Heart

    06/24/2026 8:04:59 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 28 replies
    IFL Science ^ | June 24, 2026 | Dr. Alfredo Carpineti
    This image will help us discover countless new exoplanets. The full Euclid image. Image credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay) Pointing the telescope to look at the central region of the galaxy wasn't just because it’s pretty or because Euclid can. The research team will use this incredible image and the data behind it to discover and characterize planets. This is possible thanks to a technique known as microlensing. Any object with mass warps spacetime. Galaxies, clusters, and black holes can create a strong gravitational lensing effect: space-time warps so much that...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection

    06/24/2026 7:18:17 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 6 replies
    NASA ^ | 24 Jun, 2026 | Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA; Processing: Richard Petarius III (MTU) Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA
    Explanation: Why does the Sun throw stuff at us? The Sun’s surface is a churning soup of energetic electrons and ions called plasma. The motion of those charged particles creates magnetic field loops that are larger than the Earth. These loops twist, turn, and trap plasma. The featured time-lapse, taken over 2 hours on April 24th, 2026 by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows what happens when those magnetic fields become too stressed: they snap and expel billions of tons (trillions of kilograms) of plasma into space at millions of miles (or kilometers) per hour in what is called a coronal...
  • Researchers identify 31 letters in ancient Sidetic language

    06/24/2026 9:59:53 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 21 replies
    Hürriyet Daily News ^ | June 06 2026 | editors / unattributed
    The language is being studied through bilingual inscriptions unearthed during excavations. Research led by Feriştah Alanyalı, together with linguists Michaela Zinko and Alfredo Rizza, has expanded the known Sidetic alphabet from 26 to 31 letters...According to Alanyalı, the discovery of both bilingual inscriptions and longer texts containing between 30 and 40 lines has provided fresh opportunities for linguistic analysis.Researchers increasingly agree that the words "Siruawn" and "Siruawan," which appear in Sidetic inscriptions, refer to Side itself...Alanyalı said Sidetic belonged to the Luwian branch of Anatolian languages, alongside languages such as Lycian and Carian...Alanyalı also pointed to archaeological evidence indicating close...
  • Pristine medieval gold ring discovered in Tønsberg

    06/24/2026 9:32:29 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 20 replies
    Heritage Daily ^ | January 3, 2026 | Mark Milligan
    The oval-set stone, deep blue in colour, was framed by exquisite filigree: thin gold wires twisted and soldered into spirals, accented with tiny granulated beads.Although the blue "stone" is likely coloured glass rather than sapphire, such materials were prized for their symbolic power -- believed to cool inner heat, preserve chastity, and confer divine protection.With its rich decoration and small size, experts believe the ring once belonged to a woman of high status.The discovery was made during extensive excavations in the Norwegian city of Tønsberg, specifically in Prestegaten and its surrounding streets, where archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural...
  • EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Demonstrates Laser Weapons for Hegseth

    06/23/2026 8:25:17 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 34 replies
    LaserWars.Net ^ | June 23, 2026 | Jared Keller
    The US military fired several high-energy laser and high-power microwave weapons for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday. The US Defense Department demonstrated several high-energy laser and high-power microwave weapons for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, Laser Wars has learned, the first publicly known instance of a sitting US defense secretary personally observing a live directed energy weapon firing. The demonstration, which occurred at the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, was attended by Hegseth and Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael. “We have dramatically increased investment in scaling directed energy technologies, signaling...
  • 1st-of-its-kind mission will attempt to save aging space telescope using robot spacecraft...NASA's Swift telescope could be destroyed in months if nothing is done.

    06/23/2026 7:51:46 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 19 replies
    ABC News ^ | June 23, 2026 | Matthew Glasser and Briana Alvarado
    Satellites don't always stay in orbit. As they get closer to Earth, atmospheric drag can pull them lower and lower until they burn up, with solar activity speeding up the process. NASA's Swift Space Observatory is facing that fate -- its orbit is decaying, and if left alone, it will be destroyed in a matter of months. But in a first-of-its-kind mission, Katalyst Space, a startup, is teaming up with NASA to try and rescue Swift using the company's newly developed robotic spacecraft, LINK. "This is a historic mission, you know, some would call it the first of its kind,...
  • 5,500 Years Ago, Something Was Killing Humans in Prehistoric Siberia -- New Research Has Finally Revealed This Ancient Assassin

    06/23/2026 6:46:19 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 26 replies
    The Debrief ^ | June 21, 2026 | Micah Hanks
    A longstanding archaeological mystery has loomed over discoveries at ancient burial sites in eastern Siberia: why were so many children and adolescents among the dead?Now, according to a recent study in the journal Nature, DNA recovered from human remains found in burial sites at four cemeteries near Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia may finally reveal the answer.Thousands of years ago, prior to the rise of ancient medieval cities -- and their often-rat-infested streets -- a disease famously associated with these rodents had already ravaged communities of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.The research, based on reconstructions of ancient bacterial genomes preserved in the teeth...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Flying Past Neptune's Moon Triton

    06/23/2026 12:23:56 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 19 replies
    NASA ^ | 23 Jun, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA; JPL, Voyager 2, Digital composition: Paul Schenk (LPI, USRA)
    Explanation: What would it look like to fly past Triton, the largest moon of planet Neptune? Only one spacecraft has ever done this -- and the images of this dramatic encounter have been gathered into a video. In 1989, the Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft shot through the Neptune system with cameras blazing. Triton is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon but has ice volcanoes and a surface rich in frozen nitrogen. The first sequence in the video shows Voyager's approach to Triton, which, with the exception of an overall false green tint, appears in approximately true color. The mysterious cantaloupe terrain...
  • Not a good day for Tesla-haters

    06/23/2026 9:39:17 AM PDT · by eastexsteve · 25 replies
    Teslarati ^ | Juine 22, 2026 | Joey Klender
    Tesla has finally clarified the situation regarding the viral crash in Texas where a Model 3 slammed into a home. CEO Elon Musk replied to reports on Monday that stated the crash was due to the company’s Full Self-Driving or Autopilot suite, which seemed unlikely to those who are familiar with it. Video showed the car slamming into a house at an excessive rate of speed, making it highly unlikely the crash was due to the suite’s operation, as it does not travel at those speeds in residential areas. Musk said: “This makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood...
  • Chicago resident living in shadows of Obama Presidential Center reveal chaos caused by years-long construction

    06/23/2026 6:58:41 AM PDT · by Libloather · 26 replies
    Fox News ^ | 6/22/26 | Peter D'Abrosca
    CHICAGO – A man who has lived on Chicago’s South Side for 18 years and now lives in the shadow of the newly opened Barack Obama Presidential Center described to Fox News Digital the havoc he says the years-long construction project wreaked on his housing complex. Akoma Amanze is a local cab driver who lives in Jackson Park Terrace, a low-income housing community directly across the street from the 19.3 acre campus dedicated to the 44th president. Over the weekend, while thousands of people from across the country — celebrities and ordinary folks alike — swarmed the area to visit...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - M27: The Dumbbell Nebula

    06/22/2026 1:34:31 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 14 replies
    NASA ^ | 22 Jun, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Francesco Antonucci
    Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, one of the brightest planetary nebulas on the sky and visible with binoculars toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula). It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, featured here in colors enhanced by red for hydrogen and...
  • GM letting some EV owners sell electricity back to the US power grid (only 4.61 years left)

    06/22/2026 10:50:55 AM PDT · by Libloather · 13 replies
    Fox Business ^ | 6/11/26 | Eric Revell
    General Motors on Tuesday announced it's releasing a software update that allows some electric vehicle (EV) owners to send power back to the electric grid. The update allows owners of GM's vehicle-to-home energy system, which allows the EV to power the home during a blackout, the expanded capability of sending electricity to the power grid. Owners of the system would be able to sell power from their vehicle back to utility providers at times when demand is high, with GM getting a portion of the proceeds. EVs are viewed as an untapped resource for balancing the electric grid to meet...
  • If aliens had to survive on Earth, what exactly would they eat?

    06/21/2026 6:13:54 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 133 replies
    .unexplained-mysteries.com/ ^ | June 21, 2026 | T.K. Randall
    ET: The Extraterrestrial, the titular alien is seen eating and drinking all manner of human foods and beverages from chocolates to tins of beer. In reality, however, it is unlikely that an entity that lived and evolved on another world would be capable of consuming and digesting the same types of foods as we are. Professor Jose Miguel Soriano del Castillo of the University of Valencia ,,,argues that dining on the same foods that humans eat would be highly risky for a visitor from another world and that their best bet would be to instead seek out the individual nutrients...
  • Book Review: ‘Inevitable Differences’ by John Staddon; Author challenges prevailing views on race and inequality, arguing that science, economics, and history—not ideology—should guide the debate.

    06/21/2026 9:24:41 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 21 replies
    American Greatness ^ | 06/21/2026 | Lipton Matthews
    John Staddon, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, brings unusual precision to a subject that has long been governed more by social convention than by rigorous inquiry in his work, Inevitable Differences: An Inquiry into Human Variation (Academica Press, 2026). His background in experimental psychology and quantitative methods equips him to examine the empirical literature on group differences with a dispassion rarely found in this field. The result is a book that challenges, on both philosophical and empirical grounds, the dominant egalitarian framework shaping contemporary debates on race and inequality.That framework rests substantially on John Rawls, whose...
  • The Use of AI in Proclamation Evangelism

    06/21/2026 3:25:58 PM PDT · by RoosterRedux · 11 replies
    lausanne.org ^ | Oct 2025 | Gretchen Huizinga
    Proclamation evangelism, a core missional strategy in Christian theology, invites people into a relationship with Jesus Christ via the public declaration of the gospel. Advocates of this strategy cite the Great Commission of Jesus as the scriptural mandate for Christian witness on a global scale: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’1 Proclamation evangelists prioritize ‘kerygma’, or the verbal proclamation of the gospel, over other methods as the primary means of fulfilling...