Dolphins Give Themselves Names That Could Hide Secret Information

28 May 2025, By E. OVSYANIKOVA, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/dolphins-give-themselves-names-that-could-hide-secret-information

(Schnapps2012/Getty Images/Canva)

Like us humans, many animals rely on social interactions to survive and thrive. As a result, effective communication between individuals is essential.


Highly social animals often have more complex communication systems. Think of a group of chimpanzees gesturing and vocalising at each other, or a family of elephants communicating through touch or low-frequency calls.


Bottlenose dolphins live in complex societies where each animal has a small number of closely connected individuals and a larger number of looser associates (not dissimilar to our own social networks). They rely heavily on interpersonal interactions to maintain a healthy social balance.


Scientists have long known that dolphins use "signature whistles" to identify themselves to others. In our recent study, we present evidence suggesting that these whistles may contain more information than just identity.

Dolphins live in complex societies where communication is important. 

(Ekaterina Ovsyanikova)

A unique but variable sound

Dolphins use various sounds, such as burst pulses and whistles, to communicate. There are two broad categories of whistles: signature whistles (distinctive whistle types that are unique to each individual) and non-signature (the rest).

Dolphins use the unique frequency patterns of their signature whistles to broadcast their identity. They develop these signals when they are young and maintain them throughout their lives.

When interacting with others, up to 30% of a dolphin's whistling may be comprised of its signature whistle. There is often some variation in the whistle versions produced by the individual animals. This led us to analyse the balance between stability and variability of the signature whistles to test if they can contain more information than just the whistler's identity.

Listening to whistles

In 2017 and 2018, our research team made repeated sound recordings of a group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) at Tangalooma Island Resort near Moreton Island, off the coast of Brisbane in eastern Australia.

We collected many instances of signature whistles produced by the same animals. We also used historical data collected from the same group 15 years earlier.

We found that, while the whistles were exceptionally stable in their frequency patterns, they did vary a certain amount (this variability also remained similar across the years). This suggests that even though frequency patterns of signature whistles encode identity, they are also likely to transmit more information, such as emotional or contextual cues.

An example of the variability in signature whistle renditions produced by a single animal. Dolphins can be individually identified by their dorsal fins. 

(Ekaterina Ovsyanikova)

Our study group of animals was too small to draw definitive conclusions, but our findings indicated that males demonstrate more variability in their signature whistles than females. It could be linked to the differences in their social roles and the nature of their interactions with others.

We also identified a whistle much like a signature, but which was shared between several individuals. This supports recent findings that groups of dolphins may have shared distinctive whistles, along with their individual ones.

Faces that you hear

What does all this mean?

First, signature whistles are likely to be more versatile than previously thought. They may carry additional information within their frequency patterns, and possibly other structural elements.

The second lesson is that, while signature whistles are individually learned "labels" that are like human names in many ways, in terms of the information they transmit, a useful analogy may be human faces.

Humans carry identity information in our fixed facial features. At the same time, we transmit a lot of additional information, including emotional and contextual cues, through more transient facial expressions. Like signature whistles, our faces combine stability and variability in their "information package".

Like human faces, dolphin signature whistles may convey a stable identity alongside other information. 

(Ekaterina Ovsyanikova)

Making the whole world blurry

Understanding dolphin communication helps us better understand the challenges these animals face in an increasingly human-affected world.

Take noise pollution in the oceans. It's a hot topic among marine bioacoustics researchers, but rarely at the front of the general public's mind.

If we do think of it, it's probably in human terms. Living in a noisy environment for us might be annoying and stressful, but we could still do most of the things we need to do.

But for dolphins, deafening shipping noise would be the equivalent of the whole world going blurry for us. Imagine what it would be like to navigate through life, make friends, stay away from bad connections, and be socially effective (which is necessary for survival), if you can't recognise anyone's face or see their expressions.

Thinking of the dolphins' key signal, a signature whistle, as informational equivalent of our faces, may help us see (and hear) the world from a dolphin's perspective.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Sound of Earth's Flipping Magnetic Field Is an Unforgettable Horror

30 May 2025, ByT. KOUMOUNDOUROS

https://www.sciencealert.com/sound-of-earths-flipping-magnetic-field-is-an-unforgettable-horror

Earth's magnetosphere formed by the interaction between the planet's geomagnetic field and solar winds. 

(NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio)

Earth's magnetic field dramatically flipped roughly 41,000 years ago. We can now experience this epic upheaval, thanks to a clever interpretation of information collected by the European Space Agency's Swarm satellite mission.

Combining the satellite data with evidence of magnetic field line movements on Earth, geoscientists mapped the Laschamps event and represented it using natural noises like the creaking of wood and the crashing of colliding rocks.

The resulting compilation – unveiled in 2024 by the Technical University of Denmark and the German Research Center for Geosciences – is unlike anything you've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tc7XI0iUYU&t=2s

Generated by the swirling liquid metals in our planet's core, Earth's magnetic field reaches tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometers into space, protecting us all by deflecting atmosphere-stripping solar particles.

As the iron and nickel inside our planet shift, so does Earth's magnetic field, meaning the North (and South) Poles are also constantly on the move. Recently, the position of the magnetic North Pole was officially changed, as it continues its shift away from Canada and towards Siberia.

In its current orientation, the magnetic field lines form closed loops that are directed south to north above the planet's surface, and then north to south deep within it.

Yet every so often the field randomly flips its polarity. Were this to happen again today, our north-pointing compasses would point to the South Pole.

Strength of the magnetic field at Earth's surface. (ESA)

The last such cataclysmic event occurred about 41,000 years ago, leaving a signature in the Laschamps lava flows in France. As the field weakened to only 5 percent of its current strength the reversal process allowed a surpluss of cosmic rays to pass into Earth's atmosphere.

Ice and marine sediment preserve isotopic signatures of this higher-than-normal solar bombardment, with levels of beryllium-10 isotopes doubling during the Laschamps event, according to a study published last year.

These altered atoms are formed when cosmic rays react with our atmosphere, ionizing the air and frying the ozone layer. With global climate change being a potential consequence, it's speculated the extinction of Australia's megafauna as well as changes in human cave use may have been associated with this event.

Convection currents of liquid metal in the outer core, driven by heat from the inner core, produce circulating electric currents which generate Earth's magnetic field.

 (Andrew Z. Colvin/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons)




"Understanding these extreme events is important for their occurrence in the future, space climate predictions, and assessing the effects on the environment and on the Earth system," German Research Center for Geosciences geophysics Sanja Panovska explained at the time.

It took 250 years for the Laschamps reversal to take place and it stayed in the unusual orientation for about 440 years. At most, Earth's magnetic field may have remained at 25 percent of its current strength as the north polarity drifted to the south.

Strength of the magnetic field at Earth's lithosphere. (ESA)

Recent magnetic field anomalies like the weakening over the Atlantic ocean have led to questions about an impending reversal today, but recent research suggests these anomalies are not necessarily connected to flipping events.

The South Atlantic anomaly is, however, exposing satellites in the area to higher levels of radiation.

Since 2013, ESA's Swarm constellation has been measuring magnetic signals from Earth's core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere, and magnetosphere so we can better understand our planet's geomagnetic field and predict its fluctuations.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

New Clues to the Origins of Human Medicine: Chimpanzees Caught Healing Each Other’s Wounds in the Wild

BY A. BREWER GILLHAM, FRONTIERS, MAY 29, 2025

https://scitechdaily.com/new-clues-to-the-origins-of-human-medicine-chimpanzees-caught-healing-each-others-wounds-in-the-wild/

Social grooming between two chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest. 

Credit: Dr. Elodie Freymann

Scientists observed chimpanzees in Uganda appearing to clean and treat both their own wounds and those of others.

Scientists studying chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest of Uganda have found that these primates not only treat their own injuries but also care for the wounds of others. This behavior may offer insight into how early humans began treating injuries and using medicinal practices. While similar actions have been observed in other chimpanzee communities, the consistent occurrence of this behavior in Budongo suggests that medical care among chimpanzees may be more common and not limited to helping close relatives.

“Our research helps illuminate the evolutionary roots of human medicine and healthcare systems,” said Dr. Elodie Freymann of the University of Oxford, first author of the article in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. “By documenting how chimpanzees identify and utilize medicinal plants and provide care to others, we gain insight into the cognitive and social foundations of human healthcare behaviors.”

Community care

The scientists studied two chimpanzee communities in the Budongo Forest: Sonso and Waibira. Like all chimpanzees, individuals in these groups are susceptible to injuries from fights, accidents, or human-made snares. In the Sonso community, about 40% of the chimpanzees have been observed with snare-related injuries.

Researchers observed each community over a four-month period and also reviewed video footage from the Great Ape Dictionary database, long-term logbooks with decades of observational data, and surveys from other scientists who had witnessed chimpanzees treating injuries or illness. They identified the plants used by chimpanzees for external treatment, and several were found to have chemical properties associated with wound healing and traditional medicinal use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpivbXNSKs

A young chimpanzee cares for a wound on his left knee with chewed stem bark and fresh leaves, filmed by Dr. Elodie Freymann. 

Credit: Dr. Elodie Freymann

During their direct observational periods, the scientists recorded 12 injuries in Sonso, all of which were likely caused by within-group conflicts. In Waibira, five chimpanzees were injured — one female by a snare, and four males in fights. The researchers also identified more cases of care in Sonso than in Waibira.

“This likely stems from several factors, including possible differences in social hierarchy stability or greater observation opportunities in the more thoroughly habituated Sonso community,” said Freymann.
The roots of modern medicine?

The researchers documented 41 cases of care overall: seven cases of care for others — prosocial care — and 34 cases of self-care. These cases often included several different care behaviors, which might be treating different aspects of a wound, or might reflect a chimpanzee’s personal preferences.

“Chimpanzee wound care encompasses several techniques: direct wound licking, which removes debris and potentially applies antimicrobial compounds in saliva; finger licking followed by wound pressing; leaf-dabbing; and chewing plant materials and applying them directly to wounds,” said Freymann. “All chimpanzees mentioned in our tables showed recovery from wounds, though of course we don’t know what the outcome would have been had they not done anything about their injuries.

“We also documented hygiene behaviors, including the cleaning of genitals with leaves after mating and wiping the anus with leaves after defecation — practices that may help prevent infections.”

Who cares?

Of the seven instances of prosocial care, the researchers found four cases of wound treatment, two cases of snare removal assistance, and one case where a chimpanzee helped another with hygiene. Care wasn’t preferentially given by, or provided to, one sex or age group. On four occasions, care was given to genetically unrelated individuals.

“These behaviors add to the evidence from other sites that chimpanzees appear to recognize need or suffering in others and take deliberate action to alleviate it, even when there’s no direct genetic advantage,” said Freymann.

The scientists call for more research into the social and ecological contexts in which care takes place, and which individuals give and receive care. One possibility is that the high risk of injury and death which Budongo chimpanzees all face from snares could increase the likelihood that these chimpanzees care for each other’s wounds, but we need more data to explore this.

“Our study has a few methodological limitations,” cautioned Freymann. “The difference in habituation between the Sonso and Waibira communities creates an observation bias, particularly for rare behaviors like prosocial healthcare. While we documented plants used in healthcare contexts, further pharmacological analyses are needed to confirm their specific medicinal properties and efficacy. Also, the relative rarity of prosocial healthcare makes it challenging to identify patterns regarding when and why such care is provided or withheld. These limitations highlight directions for future research in this emerging field.”

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Groundbreaking Discovery at Stonehenge Rewrites History

M. Button, May 28, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSliZqaIy6s

In August 2024, Nature published a paper revealing that Stonehenge's central Altar Stone came all the way from northeastern Scotland— a staggering 700 + kilometers north of the monument. This stone weighs over 6 tonnes so moving it this far is truly an extraordinary feat. And raises a lot of questions...

This new discovery completely upends our understanding of Neolithic Britain. If the Altar Stone truly came from northeast Scotland, it means these so-called “stone age” people achieved an astonishing feat. 

Transporting a multi-ton slab that distance would require one of two options that seem impossible - either an arduous overland journey , or a coordinated maritime expedition down Britain’s entire east coast, through the notoriously stormy North Sea. Both options are mind-blowingly difficult. And yet, they did it. 

This suggests not just transportation, but planning, communication networks, societal organisation and engineering far beyond what we’ve assumed. Add to this astronomers and knowledge of advanced geometry and you start to think - were this culture alot more sophisticated than we thought? 

Seriously - Why did they go to such effort? Who coordinated it? And What symbolic or technological significance did this stone hold? The questions it raises are as massive as the stone itself.

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Newly discovered 'ghost' lineage linked to ancient mystery population in Tibet, DNA study finds

By K. Killgrove published May 29, 2025
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/newly-discovered-ghost-lineage-linked-to-ancient-mystery-population-in-tibet-dna-study-finds

The burial of Xingyi_EN, a woman who died in the Early Neolithic period in Yunnan Province, China. 

(Image credit: Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

A study of more than 100 genomes from people who lived in ancient China has unmasked a "ghost" in their midst.

A 7,100-year-old skeleton from China has revealed a "ghost" lineage that scientists had only theorized about until now, a new study finds.

Researchers made the discovery while studying ancient skeletons that could help them map the diverse genetics of central China. The DNA of this ghost lineage individual, an Early Neolithic woman who was buried at the Xingyi archaeological site in southwestern China's Yunnan province, also holds clues to the origins of Tibetan people.

"There likely were more of her kind, but they just haven't been sampled yet," study co-author Qiaomei Fu, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, told Live Science in an email.

Fu and colleagues detailed their analysis of 127 human genomes from southwestern China in a study published May 29 in the journal Science. Most of the skeletons that they sampled were dated between 1,400 and 7,150 years ago and came from Yunnan province, which today has the highest ethnic and linguistic diversity in all of China.

"Ancient humans that lived in this region may be key to addressing several remaining questions on the prehistoric populations of East and Southeast Asia," the researchers wrote in the study. Those unanswered questions include the origins of people who live on the Tibetan Plateau, as previous studies have shown that Tibetans have northern East Asian ancestry along with a unique ghost ancestry that has mystified researchers.

The oldest person the researchers tested was found to be the missing link between Tibetans and the ghost' lineage.

Ghost hunters

At the Xingyi archaeological site in central Yunnan, dozens of burials were discovered that dated from the Neolithic period (7000 to 2000 B.C.) to the Bronze Age (2000 to 770 B.C.). Beneath all the other burials, archaeologists found a female skeleton with no grave goods. Carbon dating revealed she lived about 7,100 years ago, and isotope analysis of her diet showed she was probably a hunter-gatherer.

But genomic analysis of the woman, who has been named Xingyi_EN, was a surprise: her ancestry was not very similar to East and South Asians but was closer to a "deeply diverged" Asian population whose genes contributed to the ghost population only seen in modern Tibetans.

A "ghost population" refers to a group of people who were not previously known from skeletal remains but whose existence has been inferred through statistical analysis of ancient and modern DNA.

The mystery ancestry seen in Xingyi_EN does not match Neanderthals or Denisovans, both well-known ancient populations that did contribute some "ghost" DNA to humans. Rather, Xingyi_EN is evidence of a previously unknown lineage that diverged from other humans at least 40,000 years ago, according to the researchers, and has been named the Basal Asian Xingyi lineage.

For thousands of years, the lineage was separated from other human groups, meaning there was no admixture — interbreeding that would mix their DNA. "The possible isolation allowed this ancestry to persist without apparent admixture with other populations," Fu said.

But at some point, Xingyi_EN's relatives did interbreed with other groups of East Asian ancestry, mixing DNA. "The mixed population has lasted for quite a long time and contributed genes to some Tibetans today," Fu explained.

However, these results should be taken with caution, the researchers noted in the study. Given the genetic evidence comes from just a single person, further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between Xingyi_EN and the Tibetan ghost lineage.

The birth of modern Man

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'Trash' found deep inside a Mexican cave turns out to be 500-year-old artifacts from a little-known culture

By K. Killgrove published May 26, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/trash-found-deep-inside-a-mexican-cave-turns-out-to-be-500-year-old-artifacts-from-a-little-known-culture

About 500 years ago, someone placed a shell bracelet on a stalagmite in a Mexican cave.

 (Image credit: Katiya Pavlova)

When two spelunkers investigated what they thought was trash in a cave in Mexico, they discovered more than a dozen artifacts dating back centuries.

While investigating a cave high in the mountains of Mexico, a spelunker thought she had found a pile of trash from a modern-day litterbug. But upon closer inspection, she discovered that the "trash" was actually a cache of artifacts that may have been used in fertility rituals more than 500 years ago.

"I looked in, and it seemed like the cave continued. You had to hold your breath and dive a little to get through," speleologist Katiya Pavlova said in a translated statement. "That's when we discovered the two rings around the stalagmites."

The cave, called Tlayócoc, is in the Mexican state of Guerrero and about 7,800 feet (2,380 meters) above sea level. Meaning "Cave of Badgers" in the Indigenous Nahuatl language, Tlayócoc is known locally as a source of water and bat guano. In September 2023, Pavlova and local guide Adrián Beltrán Dimas ventured into the cave — possibly the first time anyone has entered it in about five centuries.

Roughly 500 feet (150 m) into the cave, the ceiling dipped down. The pair of explorers had to navigate the flooded cave with a gap of just 6 inches (15 centimeters) between the water and the cave ceiling. "Adrián was scared, but the water was deep enough, and I went through first to show him it wasn't that difficult," Pavlova said.

While taking a break to look around, Pavlova and Beltrán were shocked to discover 14 artifacts.

"It was very exciting and incredible!" Pavlova said. "We were lucky here."

Archaeologists removed the bracelets from the stalagmites and cleaned them to reveal the design. 

(Image credit: Miguel Pérez)

Among the artifacts were four shell bracelets, a giant decorated snail shell (genus Strombus), two complete stone disks and six disk fragments, and a piece of carbonized wood. Pavlova and Beltrán immediately contacted Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), which sent archaeologists to recover the artifacts in March.

Given the arrangement of the bracelets — which had been looped over small, rounded stalagmites with "phallic connotations" — the archaeologists speculated that fertility rituals were likely performed in Tlayócoc cave, they said in the statement.

"For pre-Hispanic cultures, caves were sacred places associated with the underworld and considered the womb of the Earth," INAH archaeologist Miguel Pérez Negrete said in the statement.

Three of the bracelets have incised decorations. An S-shaped symbol known as "xonecuilli" is associated with the planet Venus and the measurement of time, while the profile of a human-like figure may represent the creator god Quetzalcoatl.

Pérez dated the artifacts to the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican history, between A.D. 950 and 1521, and suggested that they were made by members of the little-known Tlacotepehua culture that inhabited the region.

"It's very likely that, because they were found in a close environment where humidity is fairly stable, the objects were able to survive for so many centuries," Pérez said.

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Earliest Known Whale Bone Tools Discovered in Europe's Museum Collections

28 May 2025, By M. STARR

https://www.sciencealert.com/earliest-known-whale-bone-tools-discovered-in-europes-museum-collections

A projectile point made from gray whale bone, dated to between 17,500 and 18,000 years ago. 

(Alexandre Lefebvre)

As far back as 20,000 years ago, humans living around the Bay of Biscay were crafting a variety of whale bones into tools, new research has revealed.

A careful study of artifacts that have spent years tucked away in museum collections across Europe shows that the Magdalenian culture not only worked and used the bones of our planet's largest living beasts, they did so from a range of species, long before they were capable of actively hunting them.

This discovery not only gives is crucial insight into the Magdalenians, but also reveals information about the changing ecology of the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France and Spain.

"I am an archaeologist more accustomed to terrestrial faunas. I am used to excavating cave sites in the foothills of the Pyrenees, and I work on the Magdalenian period which yielded a well-known cave art showing mostly ungulates (horse, bison, cervids, etc.)," University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès archaeologist and senior author Jean-Marc Pétillon told ScienceAlert.

"The most exciting thing for me is to shed light on how much the sea, and the sea animals, might also have been important for the people at that time."

A fragment of fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) vertebra found in Santa Catalina in Spain and dated to between 15,000 to 15,500 years ago. 

(Jean-Marc Pétillon, Eduardo Berganza)



The Magdalenian culture occupied coastal and inland regions of western Europe flourished some 19,000 to 14,000 years ago as the world was reaching the end of the last glacial period. They left behind a relatively rich archaeological record, but with limitations.

Ancient coastal habitats are particularly prone to the ravages of time and the ocean, and most of the record of the use of coastal resources comes from inland, where artifacts had been transported.

It's from these inland sites that archaeolologists excavated the Magdalenian artifacts: "more than 150 tools and projectile heads made of whale bone presumably of Atlantic origin, mostly found scattered from Asturias to the central part of the northern Pyrenean range," writes a team led by Krista McGrath of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Laura G. van der Sluis of the University of Vienna.

Hunting and seafaring techniques to prey on whales would not emerge until thousands of years later, so the bones would have been gleaned opportunistically from whales stranding themselves on the seashore. The Magdalenians then used the foraged material to craft tools – mostly projectile points, Pétillon explained.

"The main raw material used to manufacture the points at that period is antler (from reindeer or red deer), because it is less brittle and more pliable than land mammal bone," he said.

"The fact that some points are made of whale bone shows that this material was preferred over antler in certain cases. It is probably because of its large dimensions: some of our whale bone points were more than 40 centimeters [16 inches] long, which is difficult to get with antler."

This whale-bone point was found in the Duruthy rock shelter in France. 

(Alexandre Lefebvre)



To learn more about the timing and use of whale bone as a material, the researchers turned to two relatively modern techniques: a paleoproteomics method that analyzes collagen peptides in ancient samples to identify species; and micro-carbon dating, which is a variation of radiocarbon dating that requires less material.

By carefully using these techniques on their samples, the researchers dated the bone tools to between 16,000 and 20,000 years ago. At least five different species of large whales contributed their bones to Magdalenian technology – which tells us about the ecology of the region during the last glacial period.

"Our study shows that there was a large diversity of whale species in the Gulf of Biscay, northeastern North Atlantic, at that period. Most of the species we identified (sperm whale, blue whale, fin whale) are present in the North Atlantic today; in this perspective, their presence is not surprising," Pétillon said.

"What was more surprising to me – as an archaeologist more accustomed to terrestrial faunas – was that these whale species remained the same despite the great environmental difference between the Late Pleistocene and today. In the same period, continental faunas are very different: the ungulates hunted include reindeer, saiga antelopes, bison, etc., all disappeared from Western Europe today."

An analysis of 83 worked bones revealed that most of them came from whales of various species. 

(McGrath et al, Nat. Commun., 2025)

Interestingly, analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes absorbed from the environment as the animals fed show that these whales had a slightly different diet from those of the same species that are around today.

It's impossible to determine what exactly this means – perhaps migration patterns were different, or food availability – but it does show a level of adaptability to changing circumstances, whatever those were.

The presence of the whales in the Bay of Biscay would have been a draw for the Magdalenian culture, the researchers believe, offering a resource opportunity too good to pass up. Although whale strandings may not have been a frequent occurrence, they would have contributed to the list of benefits coastal living would have had to offer, playing a role in human mobility patterns in the region.

It's a fascinating, multi-layered result that underscores the value of revisiting previously collected objects and seeing what new information we can discover with new techniques.

"Even old collections, excavated more than one century ago with field methods now outdated, and stored in museums for a long time, can bring new scientific information when approached with the right analytical tools," Pétillon said.

The birth of modern Man

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43,000-year-old human fingerprint is world's oldest — and made by a Neanderthal

By Tom Metcalfe published May 28, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/43-000-year-old-human-fingerprint-is-worlds-oldest-and-made-by-a-neanderthal

Microscopic examinations of the red dot revealed the whorls of the Neanderthal fingerprint that made it about 43,000 years ago. 

(Image credit: Álvarez-Alonso et al. 2025; CC BY 4.0)

The discovery of a 43,000-year-old fingerprint in Spain is challenging the idea that Neanderthals were not capable of symbolic art.

A red dot on a face-shaped rock in Spain may be setting records in more ways than one. At roughly 43,000 years old, the dot may be the oldest human fingerprint on record and also one of the earliest symbolic objects ever found in Europe.

The fingerprint, made with the red mineral ocher, was left by a Neanderthal — the closest extinct relative of modern humans. Neanderthals went extinct around 40,000 years ago but occupied Europe for hundreds of thousands of years before early modern humans arrived on the continent.

The researchers behind a new study argue that the red dot represents a nose on a rock with face-like features. The discovery is a further challenge to the idea that Neanderthals were generally not capable of symbolic art.

But some experts told Live Science they are not convinced that the dot is symbolic.

Anthropologist and archaeologist Bruce Hardy of Kenyon College in Ohio, who was not involved in the discovery, said the red dot was definitely deliberate but little more could be certain beyond that.

"Clearly, the ocher has been intentionally applied with the fingerprint," Hardy told Live Science. "But I did not see a face — symbolism is in the eye of the beholder."

The study, published May 5 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, describes the 2022 discovery at the San Lázaro rock shelter on the outskirts of Segovia in central Spain.

Scientists have evidence that the region was heavily populated by Neanderthals between 44,000 and 41,000 years ago, but there is no evidence that early modern humans ever lived there.

A: the rock before it was fully excavated. B: the face-shaped rock and the red dot "nose."

(Image credit: Álvarez-Alonso et al. 2025; CC BY 4.0)

The researchers say the red dot was deliberately placed as a "nose" to highlight the rock's resemblance to a human face. The yellow dots are where scientific samples were taken.

Ancient face?

The rock, which resembles a large potato, is about 6 inches (15 centimeters) long and has vaguely eyebrow-shaped indentations near one end.

But the deliberate addition of a red dot for a "nose" beneath the "eyebrows" of the rocky Mr. Potato Head transforms the large pebble into a primitive portrayal of a human face, the authors argue.

"This find represents the most complete and oldest evidence of a human fingerprint in the world, unequivocally attributed to Neanderthals, highlighting the deliberate use of the pigment for symbolic purposes," Spain's National Research Council (CSIC) said in a translated statement.

The red dot looks evenly spread, but forensic examinations and analysis of how it reflected different wavelengths of light revealed it was created by a fingerprint with a distinctive whorl pattern, probably from an adult male Neanderthal.

The granite pebble seems to have been deliberately brought to the rock shelter, probably from a nearby river where it formed. "The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object," the team of researchers wrote in the study.

The rock was excavated from the San Lázaro rock shelter near Segovia in Spain, which was occupied by Neanderthals between 44,000 and 41,000 years ago.

 (Image credit: Álvarez-Alonso et al. 2025; CC BY 4.0)

Stone Age art

Debate about whether Neanderthals made abstract art has raged among archaeologists for decades. Finds include engravings on cave walls in France that may be up to 75,000 years old, but even the finest works of Neanderthal art pale next to the cave paintings made by early modern humans at sites like the Chauvet Cave in France and on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Rebecca Wragg Sykes, a paleolithic archaeologist at the universities of Cambridge and Liverpool in the U.K. and the author of "Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art" (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020), thinks that, even if red dot is symbolic, it is possible that the study's authors may have misunderstood its meaning.

"What the team infer to be a representation of a nose on a face might, if turned the other way up, be seen as a navel on a human figure," she told Live Science in an email. "We can't really say what it is meant to 'be.'"

Durham University archaeologist Paul Pettitt, who also was not involved in the discovery, said the rock was an "unequivocal example of the Neanderthal use of red pigment" that showed how Neanderthals were routinely leaving marks on cave walls and portable objects. But whether the red dot was truly symbolic of something or not was still unclear, he said.

And the archaeologist and psychologist Derek Hodgson, an expert in prehistoric cave art who also was not involved in the study, told Live Science that the rock seemed to have had no other purpose. Additionally, the rock only looked like a face when the "nose" mark was added, he said in an email.

"This find adds to the growing corpus of objects made by the Neanderthals that are non-functional in nature."

The birth of modern Man

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60% of The Ocean Floor Could Harbor 'Rare' Supergiant Crustacean

27 May 2025, By M. STARR

https://www.sciencealert.com/60-of-the-ocean-floor-could-harbor-rare-supergiant-crustacean

Alicella gigantea seems to live wherever there is an abyss to call home. 

(Maroni et al., R. Soc. Open Sci., 2025)

Far beneath the wavetops, down into the dark ocean depths, a rarely seen crustacean makes its home.

It's called Alicella gigantea, and it's the largest known species of amphipod, a shrimp-like species that is usually less than the size of your fingertip. By this measure, A. gigantea is a gargantuan: it can reach up to 34 centimeters (13.4 inches), as far as we have been able to verify.

We thought that these creatures were pretty rare; very few have ever been spotted. New research, however, suggests that A. gigantea might be widespread, occupying 59 percent of the world's oceans – its apparent scarcity more a product of our own observation bias than representative of any reality.

It's a finding that underscores just how little we know about what dwells in the darkness of the oceanic abyss.

A. gigantea swarming a bait trap at the Murray Fracture Zone in the North Pacific Ocean, at a depth of 6,500 to 6,700 meters. Please enjoy what appears to be a photobombing rattail fish in the upper right corner. 

(Maroni et al., R. Soc. Open Sci., 2025)




"Historically, it has been sampled or observed infrequently relative to other deep-sea amphipods, which suggested low population densities," says marine molecular biologist Paige Maroni of the University of Western Australia.

"And, because it was not often found, little was known about the demography, genetic variation and population dynamics with only seven studies published on DNA sequence data."

The problem with finding A. gigantea is that it lives deep under the ocean, in the abyssal and hadal zones below depths of 3,000 meters (9,843 feet). By around 1,000 meters down, sunlight is no longer able to penetrate the water; it gets very, very cold, and very, very dark. In addition, with the weight of all that water bearing down, pressures are crushing.

A. gigantea has been recorded at sizes up to 34 centimeters, and is unusually unpigmented.

 (Jamieson & Weston, J. Crustac. Biol., 2023)



Its inhospitality to us land-dwellers plays a major role in why humanity's exploration of the deep sea is minuscule. So it's probably unsurprising that we have an extremely incomplete understanding of what's living down there.

To find out, Maroni and her colleagues conducted a survey of encounters with the species. They compiled 195 records of A. gigantea, from 75 different sites in the deep sea in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, from depths of 3,890 to 8,931 meters. They also collected specimens for themselves to sequence their genomes, and found them in fracture zones in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The genomes revealed genetic similarities between populations found in different seas, suggesting that the animals are more connected than we would have thought. The information suggests that A. gigantea can be found thriving on the floor of the deep sea in their depth range, which the researchers estimate represents 59 percent of Earth's total seafloor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryRcPeOM1sY

Previous studies on deep-sea amphipods suggest that the lack of pigmentation of A. gigantea – quite strange for an amphipod, which are usually hued along the red spectrum – may be because it doesn't have any major predators. That would certainly facilitate a widespread distribution.

"As exploration of the deep-sea increases to depths beyond most conventional sampling, there is an ever-growing body of evidence to show that the world's largest deep-sea crustacean is far from rare," Maroni says.

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Africa is being torn apart by a 'superplume' of hot rock from deep within Earth, study suggests

By P. Pester published May 27, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/africa-is-being-torn-apart-by-a-superplume-of-hot-rock-from-deep-within-earth-study-suggests

The East African Rift System drives volcanic activity in places like the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia (pictured here). 

(Image credit: Mike Korostelev via Getty Images)

Researchers have found new evidence that a gigantic superplume of hot rock is rising beneath Africa, causing intense volcanic activity and splitting the continent in two.

Geologists have long known that Africa is slowly breaking apart in a region called the East African Rift System (EARS), but the driving force behind this massive geological process was up for debate. Now, a new study has presented geochemical evidence that a previously theorized superplume is pressing up against — and fracturing — the African crust.

Scientists found that gases at the Meengai geothermal field in central Kenya have a chemical signature that comes from deep inside Earth's mantle, likely from between the bottom of the mantle and the core. The signature matches those of gases found in volcanic rocks to the north, in the Red Sea, and to the south, in Malawi, indicating all of these places are sitting on the same deep mantle rock, according to a statement from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

"The deep mantle signatures observed in different segments of EARS are remarkably similar, suggesting that they all originate from a common deep source," study first-author Biying Chen, a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told Live Science in an email.


The researchers published their findings May 12 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

EARS is the largest active continental rift system on Earth, ripping through around 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) of Africa. The lithosphere, Earth's rocky outer shell of crust and upper mantle, has been gradually breaking apart across the rift for around 35 million years. This has left a network of valleys that carve through the top of the continent from the Red Sea off northeastern Africa to Mozambique in southern Africa.

Previous studies identified signs of a deep mantle plume beneath EARS in noble gas signatures. Noble gases, such as helium and neon, are rare and inert, which means they usually don't chemically react with other substances. As a result, they stick around for a long time, so researchers can use them to trace long-term geological processes. However, Chen noted that these geochemical tracers have been sparse and often controversial beneath EARS.

To help clarify what's going on beneath EARS, the team used high-precision instruments to look for neon (Ne) isotopes in Kenyan gases — and they detected a deep mantle signature. The signature in the gases is very similar to those of the most primordial (ancient) surface signatures in Hawaii, which is also thought to be sitting on a deep mantle plume.

"We were very excited to see the preliminary Ne isotope data showing the primordial deep mantle signature," Chen said. "But the deep mantle signature is small and we had to work hard to disentangle it — truthfully there was no Eureka moment, we frequently questioned the result and spent many hours checking and re-checking the data."

Once the team had rigorously assessed the data, they became confident that the signature was genuine and matched signatures found in other parts of the rift. Chen noted that the EARS plume likely originates from the core-mantle boundary, about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) deep inside the Earth.

While the EARS signatures are similar to those found in volcanic rocks on Hawaii, Chen noted that the Hawaii plume is proposed to be a discrete rising stream of hot mantle, a bit like a lava lamp, while the EARS plume is probably a different shape.

"More likely a large mass of upwelling of hot buoyant material from deep within the Earth has replaced the mantle that was originally beneath the EARS," Chen said. "As it has risen and meets the solid colder lithosphere it spreads out generating enough force to fracture the thin lithosphere, leading to intense volcanic activity in the region."

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Why Fire is Found Only On Earth? What actually is Fire? Is it Plasma?

by Science Simplified 4 All, on ytube.  Oct 20, 2024

🔥 What is Fire, and Why is it Unique to Earth? 🔥 

Have you ever wondered what fire actually is? It’s a phenomenon we see every day, but did you know that fire is incredibly rare in the universe?

 In this video, we’ll explore the science behind fire—what makes it possible, why it’s only found on Earth, and its surprising connection to life itself. 🌍 

We’ll dive into the differences between fire and other high-energy processes like fusion in the Sun, explain how gravity shapes flames, and uncover the role of oxygen in making fire possible. From the bright yellow glow of a candle to the near-invisible blue flames of certain fuels, we’ll break down everything you need to know about this fascinating natural event.

 If you’re curious about the science of fire, the chemistry behind combustion, or why flames behave differently in space, this video is for you! 🚀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVNtIjbezLA

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Jupiter’s Colossal Secret: Tiny Moons Reveal a Planet Twice Its Size

BY M. WILLIAMS, UNIVERSE TODAY, MAY 25, 2025

https://scitechdaily.com/jupiters-colossal-secret-tiny-moons-reveal-a-planet-twice-its-size/

Jupiter is shown in visible light for context, with an artistic impression of the Jovian upper atmosphere’s infrared glow overlain, along with magnetic field lines. 

Credit: J. O’Donoghue (JAXA)/Hubble/NASA/ESA/A. Simon/J. Schmidt

Jupiter may have once been more than twice its current size, with a magnetic field 50 times stronger, say scientists who analyzed its tiny inner moons. These new findings offer a rare and powerful window into how Jupiter—and by extension, the entire Solar System—first formed.

Jupiter has long been known as the heavyweight champion of the Solar System, but new research suggests it was once even more massive than we imagined. Scientists believe that Jupiter played a crucial role in shaping the early Solar System—its powerful gravity helped sculpt the orbits of other planets, guided the formation of the asteroid belt, and may have even protected Earth by deflecting dangerous asteroids.

Unveiling Jupiter’s Primordial Power

Now, a new study has taken us deeper into Jupiter’s mysterious beginnings. Astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Fred C. Adams have revealed that Jupiter was once between two and two-and-a-half times its current size. Even more astonishing, its magnetic field may have been up to 50 times stronger than it is today. These findings help paint a vivid picture of the young Solar System during its most chaotic and formative phase.

Batygin is a planetary science and astrophysics professor at Caltech, while Adams serves as a physics professor and director of the Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Michigan. Their groundbreaking paper, titled “Determination of Jupiter’s Primordial Physical State,” was published on May 20, 2025, in the journal Nature Astronomy.

An illustration of Jupiter with magnetic field lines emitting from its poles. 

Credit: K. Batygin
Rethinking Solar System Formation Models




In celestial mechanics, the traditional paradigm where the evolution of the Solar System was attributed solely to the influence of Jupiter and the Sun is deeply rooted. However, observations have increasingly highlighted the importance of Jupiter in sculpting the Solar System’s architecture. As such, the full history of Jupiter’s origins and structural evolution is viewed as a key milestone in the early evolution of the Solar System. However, the details and timing of Jupiter’s formation remain elusive largely because of the inherent uncertainties of accretionary models.

Jupiter’s Inner Moons Reveal Ancient Secrets

For their study, Batygin and Adams examined Amalthea and Thebe, two of Jupiter’s inner satellites. This family of satellites is low-mass and orbits even closer to Jupiter than Io, the smallest and closest-orbiting of Jupiter’s Galilean Moons. Both of these satellites have slightly tilted orbits and small orbital discrepancies, which allowed Batygin and Adams to calculate Jupiter’s original size. According to their results, Jupiter once had a volume of more than 2,000 Earths, roughly twice its current volume of 1,321 Earths. As Batygin said in a Caltech news story:

“Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle. This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire solar system took shape. What we’ve established here is a valuable benchmark. A point from which we can more confidently reconstruct the evolution of our solar system.”

Jupiter and its four planet-size moons, called the Galilean satellites, were photographed in 1998 by Voyager 1 and assembled into this collage. They are not to scale but are in their relative positions. 

Credit: NASA/JPL
A New Benchmark in Planetary Science

These insights are especially significant because they bypass traditional uncertainties in planetary formation models. These often rely on assumptions concerning the ability of a gas to absorb or scatter electromagnetic radiation, rates of accretion, and the mass of Jupiter’s core (composed of rock and metal). Instead, the team focused on directly measurable quantities, including the conservation of Jupiter’s angular momentum and the orbital dynamics of its moons.

Batygin and Adams’ analysis provides a crucial picture of one of Jupiter’s critical development stages, which has been subject to uncertainty in the past. In essence, it provides insight into the period when the solar nebula from which the planets formed evaporated. This was a critical transition point when the building blocks of the planets disappeared and the primordial architecture of the Solar System emerged. “It’s astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter’s physical state at the dawn of its existence,” said Adams.

These results could also add new insight into theories about planet formation, which could have implications for exoplanet studies. These theories suggest that Jupiter and the gas giants formed as rocky and icy material (which formed the core of these planets) rapidly accreted gas from the solar nebula. This new study builds on traditional models by providing more exact measurements of Jupiter’s size, spin rate, and magnetic conditions when it was still in a primordial state.

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Watch: 1,000-Foot Lava Jets Erupt From Hawaii's Kīlauea Volcano

27 May 2025, By C. CASSELLA

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-1000-foot-lava-jets-erupt-from-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano

A still of the lava fountain from the livestreamed video. (USGS)

Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, is at it again.

The infamous crater has been spurting fountains of lava on and off since the end of last year, and on May 25, it shot a fiery jet of molten rock over 300 meters (1,000 feet) into the sky.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) livestreamed a video of the uncontrolled outburst – the volcano's 23rd tantrum since December 2024, and the biggest of the bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRXNJ1tLT64&t=1s

All in all, Kīlauea's latest blowup lasted for just over six hours. Beginning at 4:15 pm Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, thin jets of lava began erupting from the north vent, turning from sporadic bursts to sustained fountains of lava.

Within half an hour, the situation at the north vent had escalated quickly, and a lava fountain reached its pinnacle of 300 meters.

Soon after, in a south vent, other fountains of lava reached 250 meters in height.

"Large lava flows erupted from both vents and covered about half of Halema'uma'u crater floor," reads a USGS update.

By 10:25 pm that night, both vents had calmed down.

Episode 22 of the ongoing summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano took place on Friday, May 16, and produced a smaller fountain of lava.

 (USGS/M. Zoeller)

Luckily, for now, all of the eruptions have been contained within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawai'i. But that doesn't mean surrounding populations won't face fallout.

The eruptive plume of ash, volcanic glass, and rock produced by Kīlauea on May 25 reached at least 1,500 meters into the sky.

Scientists at the USGS say their primary concern is the volcanic gas, which could travel downwind and impact human health, possibly causing respiratory issues if concentrations in the air are high enough.

Eruptions like these, however, can also produce strands of volcanic glass, called Pele's hair, which can also travel on the wind and cause skin and eye irritation.

The volcano has quietened down for now, but in its current phase it seems to be kicking up a fuss every week or so.

There's no signs a larger eruption is growing, but another outburst of lava is likely on the horizon.

The Life of Earth

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