Month: February 2026

Seabird guano fertilization boosted maize production in ancient Peru, fueling Chincha wealth, trade networks, and strategic Inca alliances. New archaeological findings show that seabird guano—nutrient-rich bird droppings—was not simply a farming aid but a foundation of economic and political power in ancient Peru. By dramatically improving corn yields, it may have played a central role […]

Scientists have identified the world’s oldest rock art—a 67,800-year-old hand stencil in Sulawesi—using uranium-series dating A hand stencil discovered on the wall of a cave in Indonesia has been identified as the oldest-known example of rock art anywhere in the world. The artwork predates the previous oldest discovery in the same region by at least […]

Recovering humpback whale populations are revealing a hidden shift: older males are increasingly outcompeting younger rivals to father calves. New research from the University of St Andrews, published today (February 27) in Current Biology, reveals that age now plays a different role in male humpback whale reproduction as populations rebound from centuries of commercial whaling. […]

A privacy-first AI can diagnose a life-shortening hormone disorder—just from a photo of your hand. Researchers at Kobe University have developed an artificial intelligence system that can identify a rare endocrine disorder by examining photos of the back of a person’s hand and their clenched fist. By avoiding facial images, the approach was designed with […]

A privacy-first AI can diagnose a life-shortening hormone disorder—just from a photo of your hand. Researchers at Kobe University have developed an artificial intelligence system that can identify a rare endocrine disorder by examining photos of the back of a person’s hand and their clenched fist. By avoiding facial images, the approach was designed with […]

Deep inside a dust-choked galaxy, astronomers have uncovered a chemical environment far more complex than expected. The James Webb Space Telescope detected abundant small organic molecules in a heavily obscured galaxy nucleus, far exceeding theoretical expectations. Evidence points to cosmic rays fragmenting carbon-rich materials and driving intense chemical activity. Such nuclei may act as cosmic […]

Three papers in JCAP report the final data release from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, unveiling a new map of the early “infant” Universe, confirming the “Hubble tension,” and ruling out several extended cosmological models. There is often a sense of mixed emotions when a long scientific project concludes. For the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), that […]

Tiny crystal “seeds” could solve a hidden flaw in perovskite solar cells—unlocking high efficiency at larger scales. Traditional perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are built with the electron transport layer underneath the perovskite light-absorbing layer and the hole transport layer on top. While this design has delivered strong performance in laboratories, it faces challenges when scaled […]

Tiny crystal “seeds” could solve a hidden flaw in perovskite solar cells—unlocking high efficiency at larger scales. Traditional perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are built with the electron transport layer underneath the perovskite light-absorbing layer and the hole transport layer on top. While this design has delivered strong performance in laboratories, it faces challenges when scaled […]

A new study from researchers highlights an unexpected player in Alzheimer’s disease: aging astrocytes. Senescent astrocytes have been identified as a major contributor to Alzheimer’s progression. The cells lose protective functions and fuel inflammation, particularly in APOE4 carriers. The findings highlight senolytic drugs as a potential new therapy. For the first time, the research team […]