The frozen mummy of <em>Homotherium latidens</em> (Owen, 1846), specimen DMF AS RS, no. Met-20-1, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Indigirka River basin, Badyarikha River; Upper Pleistocene: (A) external appearance; (B) skeleton, CT-scan, dorsal view.
courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin
35,000-year-old saber-toothed baby cat mummy still has its fur
This week, meet a baby saber-toothed cat mummy, see the first image of a star beyond our galaxy, explore an atlas of the human body on a cellular level, and more.

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Deep Sea Vision
They thought they’d found Amelia Earhart’s plane. Instead, the search continues
Rare 2,000-year-old knife handle found at Hadrian’s Wall offers glimpse into gladiator life
Baby saber-toothed cat mummy found in Siberia with intact skin, fur and toes is ‘mind-blowing,’ scientists say
Lucy at 50: How the world’s most famous fossil was discovered
Archaeologists identify centuries-old battle site in Iraq using declassified spy satellite images
Scans help solve a 3,000-year-old mystery of a high-status Egyptian woman
Ancient ‘terror birds’ were giant apex predators. Suspected new species is among the largest ever known
A three-dimensional reconstruction of Zosia's face, a woman buried as a vampire, is pictured, in this undated handout photo taken in Stockholm, Sweden. Oscar Nilsson - Project Pien/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT.
Oscar Nilsson/Project Pien/Handout/Reuters
Researchers are learning more about ‘Zosia,’ the 17th century ‘vampire’ buried with a blade over her neck
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Archaeological Park of Pompeii
DNA analysis upends long-held assumptions about Pompeii victims’ final moments
Cylinder seal and modern impression: ritual scene before a temple facade, Late Uruk, ca. 3500-3100 B.C., Mesopotamia, Bituminous limestone, H. 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.), Stone-Cylinder Seals, Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
World’s oldest writing system may have its origins in mysterious, undeciphered symbols
Ancient buildings and landscape modifications (including public plazas, agricultural terraces, and field walls) blanket uplands, while low-lying areas that flood seasonally were mostly unmodified save for the construction of reservoirs.
Courtesy Luke Auld-Thomas
Lost Maya city discovered in Mexico

Featured

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Shutterstock (515009di) The skull of a newly discovered species of human - Homo Floresiensis. Believed to be living 18,000 years ago, barely a metre tall with a skull the size of a grapefruit. The partial skeleton was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores - 27 Oct 2004 VARIOUS
Shutterstock
The remarkable fossil that radically changed our understanding of the human story
Sue the T. rex strikes a pose in its old location at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. (Antonio Perez /Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Getty Images
What is a mass extinction, and why do scientists think we’re in the middle of one?
DTGN0M Megalosaurus jaw
Natural History Museum/Alamy Stock Photo
Megalosaurus, the first ever dinosaur discovery
Babylonian clay model showing a nude couple engaged in kissing. Date: 1800 BC
The Trustees of the British Museum
Humanity’s earliest recorded kiss adds new twist to the history of locking lips

Explore

The wreckage of the Mary Rose at The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, England.
The Mary Rose Trust
A Tudor warship sank nearly 500 years ago. The bones of its crew reveal what life was like
The United States’ oldest surviving tombstone from 17th century Jamestown has been identified as black limestone originally from Europe.
Courtesy Marcus Key, Dickinson College Geosciences Professor
Scientists find new piece in puzzle of America’s oldest tombstone
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courtesy Luke Parry/Yu Liu/Ruixin Ran
Stunning fossil preserved in fool’s gold reveals newly identified 450 million-year-old species
Skeleton on black background CREDIT Åge Hojem NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet.jpg
Åge Hojem NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet
Scientists say skeletal remains found in castle well belong to figure from 800-year-old saga
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Courtesy Professor Chenyang Cai
Stunning fossil trapped in amber reveals previously unknown species that lived during the time of dinosaurs
Using drone-borne light detection and ranging equipment, archaeologists have mapped two abandoned cities in the mountains of Uzbekistan.
Michael Frachetti
Lost Silk Road cities mapped using remote sensing
The hoard of coins was valued at more than $5 million.
The British Museum
Hoard of silver coins dating from Norman Conquest is Britain’s most valuable treasure find ever
Deposit reflecting the passage of a tsunami initiated by the S2 meteorite impact 3.26 billion years ago.
Nadja Drabon/Harvard University
A giant meteorite boiled the oceans 3.2 billion years ago. Scientists say it was a ‘fertilizer bomb’ for life
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Lheritier et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadp6362 (2024)
World’s largest arthropod lived 300 million years ago. Now, fossils show what it really looked like
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Discovery’s Expedition Unknown
Secret tomb found under ‘Indiana Jones’ filming location in Petra
A sock embroidered with "A.C. Irvine," along with a boot, has been discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier on Mount Everest by a team led by Jimmy Chin. This is the first possible proof of Irvine’s death since disappearing during a 1924 expedition.
Jimmy Chin/National Geographic/PA Media
Human foot found on Everest may hold key to one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries
2C9JNYC James Fitzjames.
Alamy Stock Photo
‘It went horribly wrong’: DNA analysis sheds light on lost Arctic expedition’s grisly end
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Guy Eisner
Lost biblical plant with medicinal properties resurrected from 1,000-year-old seed
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Yamagata University Institute of Nasca
AI helps uncover hundreds of unknown ancient symbols hidden in Peru’s Nazca Desert
Panoramic view of the treeless Falkands landscape which was once a rainforest.
Zoë Thomas/University of Southampton
Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island
An illustration of the now-extinct woolly rhino.
Florilegius/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images
Woolly rhino found preserved in Russian permafrost after 32,000 years