NASA’s Orion Spacecraft is on Its Way to the Moon
Carrying an uncrewed Orion, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket in the world — lifted off today at 1:47 a.m. EST from at NASA’s Kennedy Space…
Martian Springtime Dust Storms Churn Up Surprisingly Earth-Like Cloud Patterns: Study
Using images obtained by two orbiting spacecraft, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA’s Mars Express, planetary researchers analyzed textured dust storms that develop at the northern polar cap boundary on…
Stars and Building Blocks of Their Planets ‘Grow Up’ Together, New Study Suggests
The timing and locations of formation of planetesimals — the building blocks of planets — are crucial to the understanding of planet formation. If we are to form larger planets…
Mars Express Sees Craters and Fractures in Terra Sirenum
This new image from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter shows a diverse region southeast of the Pickering crater in Terra Sirenum, a complex cratered…
Neolithic European Farmers Used Milk as Early as 7,400 Years Ago
Archaeologists have detected traces of dairy fats on the walls of pottery vessels from the settlements of the Linearbandkeramik culture in Central Europe. Part of a decorative ceramic pot of…
Study: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Co-Existed in France and Spain for at least 1,400 Years
A new modeling study by Leiden University and University of Cambridge scientists predicts the appearance of Homo sapiens and the Protoaurignacian culture in France and northern Spain at 42,269 to…
Falcon Shrine Unearthed at Ptolemaic-Roman Port of Berenike
During excavations at the ancient Hellenistic-Roman port of Berenike on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, an international team of archaeologists has documented a religious space from the Late Roman…
Huge Trove of Byzantine Gold Coins Unearthed in Israel
A hoard of 44 gold coins dating to the 7th century CE has been unearthed by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). A gold solidus coin found by IAA…
Cacao Was Not Food Exclusive to Ancient Maya Elite, New Study Says
Cacao, known as the money that grew on trees and as a food from the gods, was brought to the world stage by ancient Mesoamericans. The historical background and prehistory…
Settlements of Ancient Maya were Contaminated with Mercury, Scientists Say
The ancient Maya in Mesoamerica used mercury — predominantly cinnabar, but rarely elemental mercury — for decorative and ceremonial purposes, according to a team of archaeologists from Australia, the United…