Stone Age boy in Sweden was buried in deerskin and a woodpecker headdress, archaeologists discover - By - Kristina Killgrove - published - 27 February 26 - A new method of studying the contents of soil samples has revealed Stone Age people in Sweden were buried in decorated fur-and-feather clothing.

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Acing this new AI exam - which its creators say is the toughest in the world - might point to the first signs of AGI - By - Tristan Greene - published - 27 February 26 - Humanity's Last Exam is a PhD-level benchmark designed to test the limits of AI reasoning. Although Google's Gemini 3 scored a staggering 48.4%, experts stress that this does not indicate the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

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The sun just experienced its first 'spotless days' in 4 years - but we're not in the clear yet - By - Harry Baker - published - 27 February 26 - Earlier this week, the number of visible sunspots on our home star fell to zero for the first time in 1,335 days. This normally indicates a period of greatly reduced solar activity, but it's still too soon to relax, experts say.

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NASA announces sweeping overhaul of Artemis return to moon - By - Ben Turner, Brandon Specktor - published - 27 February 26 - A major shakeup to NASA's Artemis program will step rocket launches up to an annual basis, and discard a Boeing-designed upper stage.

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'It doesn't lie. So who are you?': What happens when DNA tests show a woman is not the mother of the child she gave birth to? By - Lise Barneoud - published - 27 February 26 - "At first, I kind of laughed But they were serious. I could just see the seriousness in their faces." In this book excerpt, Lise Barneoud explores the limitations of DNA testing.

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Babies weren't supposed to be mourned in the Roman Empire. These rare liquid-gypsum burials prove otherwise. By - Kristina Killgrove - published - 25 February 26 - Despite historical records saying otherwise, Roman babies were mourned at death, research into unique plaster burials from York reveals.

3 days ago

Chinese astronauts describe moment a crack was discovered on Shenzhou-20 spacecraft - By - Patrick Pester - published - 25 February 26 - Taikonauts from the ill-fated Shenzhou-20 mission have described what happened when they discovered cracks on their spacecraft as they prepared to depart China's Tiangong space station last year.

2 days ago

Kazakhstan plants tens of thousands of trees in giant effort to reintroduce tigers - By - Patrick Pester - published - 25 February 26 - Kazakhstan planted 37,000 seedlings and cuttings in South Balkhash last year to prepare for the return of its tigers, which disappeared more than 70 years ago.

3 days ago

We now know why shoes squeak, and it involves miniature lightning bolts - By - Kenna Hughes-Castleberry - published - 25 February 26 - Harvard engineers think they've found the reason basketball shoes squeak, and it's due to pockets of friction between the rubber and the court.

3 days ago

Physics & Mathematics

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'Rare and enigmatic' structures found at the Milky Way's center in largest-ever map of its kind - By - Brandon Specktor - last updated - 25 February 26 - Scientists using the ALMA telescope have created the most-detailed-ever map of the Milky Way's chaotic center. The observations could open a window to the ancient universe as it appeared shortly after the Big Bang.

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COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may cut risk of preeclampsia - By - Gabriela Galvin - published - 25 February 26 - A study of more than 6,500 mothers found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy significantly lowered the risk of preeclampsia, a dangerous blood-pressure disorder.

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Giant string of organic molecules on Mars may be one of the best signs of life yet

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'We're starting to find a lot more weirdness': These strange animals can control their body heat

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Paleolithic humans invented an 'early predecessor to writing' at least 40,000 years ago, carved signs suggest

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'Spiderwebs' spotted on Mars as NASA's moon program gets a major shakeup, tigers set to return to Kazakhstan, and why 'monogenic' diseases might not be so simple after all.

12 hours ago

Did the Vikings reach Maine?

13 hours ago

Scientists made AI agents ruder - and they performed better at complex reasoning tasks - By - Drew Turney - published - 28 February 26 - A new project allowed AI chatbots to interrupt, stay silent or speak up the way humans do in conversation, and it made them smarter and more accurate.

9 hours ago

Inherited diseases don't work like we thought they did - By - Stephanie Pappas - published - 27 February 26 - "Monogenic" diseases, triggered by mutations in just one gene, may actually be more complex than scientists thought.

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Humans and Neanderthals interbred - but it was mostly male Neanderthals and female humans who coupled up, study finds - By - Kristina Killgrove - published - 26 February 26 - A preference for pairings between male Neanderthals and female Homo sapiens may answer the question of why there are "Neanderthal deserts" in human chromosomes.

2 days ago

Rubin Observatory alerts scientists to 800,000 changes in the sky in one night - By - Elizabeth Howell - published - 26 February 26 - The Vera C. Rubin Observatory sent scientists nearly 1 million astronomy alerts in one night, showing off changes in the sky. Eventually, the telescope is expected to reach 7 million alerts per night.

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Giant 'spiderwebs' on Mars contain tiny egg-like structures that scientists 'can't quite explain,' NASA rover reveals - By - Harry Baker - published - 26 February 26 - New photos captured by NASA's Curiosity rover show that Mars' giant, spiderweb-like "boxwork" features are covered in tiny, never-before-seen nodules that bear a striking resemblance to arachnid eggs. And researchers are struggling to explain them.

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Fresh look at Apollo moon rocks solves decades-old lunar mystery - By - Elizabeth Howell - published - 26 February 26 - The lunar rocks collected by Apollo astronauts suggested the moon had a strong magnetic field. A new analysis shows the opposite.

3 days ago