history

For only the second time in modern history, mummified lions were discovered in an ancient human tomb. This tomb was uncovered 500 kilometers south of Saqqara, Egypt, at the Bubasteion necropolis near Luxor. This is the second major announcement from the Egypt Ministry of Antiquities in the area, the first of which was nearby at the Assasif necropolis, where 30 ancient coffins were discovered with human remains sealed within.

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A new study shows that human teeth hold information on the body's health from the womb to the grave. Researchers at McMaster University point to the body's first permanent molars, revealing a life-long timeline of information that lasts even after the body is dead. Think of it like a cross-section of a tree - each ring tells a story, each story reveals important details about not only the tree, but the environment in which the tree was living.

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A report here in November of 2019 showed the first and only known example of juvenile crania used as mortuary headgear. The skulls of young humans were placed on the heads of what were likely already-dead infants for their burial. These infants with human skull helmets were interred in their burial mounds at a ritual complex on the central coast of Ecuador for approximately 2100 years before they were dug up by researchers.

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Over a thousand years of history in physical paper documents were in the process of being digitized by a state project called the Venice Time Machine Project. These state archives of Venice would have collected massive numbers of documents through the most modern means, allowing waves of ancient data to be interpreted with machine learning algorithms and utilized by data scientists aplenty. Unfortunately, a few mistakes were made between the start of the project and now. That's effectively a half-decade of scanning data that might be dead in the water.

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There's a new LEGO Ideas set heading to stores that'll cost around $60 that's all about dinosaur bones. This set is called Dinosaur Fossils, and it's been a long time coming. LEGO Fans have been creating masterpieces like these for decades, but this is the first time LEGO's really dropped in and made a full set dedicated to the art of making bricks look like bones.

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A study headed by marine geophysicist Sean P. S. Gulick described a clear timeline for asteroid impact that destroyed the dinosaurs here on Earth. This event was the end of the Cretaceous period, soon the Cenozoic, the crossover into which we'll be running down today. Information comes from none other than the Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico.

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So you're the sort of person that buys odd things at auctions, and you've been called a hoarder, yes? Imagine one day that purchase of a bunch of old AMPEX Video Tapes turned out to be a valuable forgotten buy. That's what happened to Gary George, a former NASA intern who in 1976 purchased a bunch of reels at a government auction.

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Back on July 20, 1969, when the Eagle landed on our moon, it was a Hasselblad camera that was chosen to take photographs. Now that we're here 50 years later, Hasselblad isn't about to let that fact be forgotten. As such, they've delivered all the important facts on their participation with the mission, including a full gear readout for the cameras used on each major photograph. ALSO there's a newly-minted special edition moon landing camera ready to roll for consumers this week.

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In a study published this week, researchers have calculated the limit of human endurance. The study used data from human endurance events and transcontinental races to track Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) (also called metabolic scope) and maximum sustained metabolic scope (SusMS) with regard to event duration. They've also found a limit for habitual metabolic scope (physical activity level) in general.

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Researchers released a new paper this week which suggested stone tools were invented here on Earth more than once. At one point they started to appear in Kenya, then at another point - several hundred thousands of years later - they began to appear again. This isn't what our teachers taught us in grade school.

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Next to rare comets that stay in the sky for days, few other celestial phenomena have invited awe and superstition than a total solar eclipse. Every culture has a myth for the semi-rare event and although it's no longer a mystery by today's standards, it's still something that people want to capture on film today. Much more, then, in the 19th century when things weren't as advanced as they are now. That is why the rediscovery of the first ever total solar eclipse recorded on film is making quite a fuss among astronomers, filmmakers, and even magicians.

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Leonardo was voraciously curious, capable of intense study and preparation for great works. But often - notoriously often - da Vinci moved on to new projects before he'd finished the old. New research made public this week found significant evidence leading to the conclusion that the original Renaissance Man had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

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