Researchers have discovered evidence at a Paleolithic site in England, suggesting humans could make fire over 400,000 years ago, according to a study in Nature. The discovery includes heated clay, heat-shattered flint handaxes and iron pyrite, indicating intentional fire-making. This challenges previous beliefs that the earliest evidence of fire-making was from 50,000-year-old Neanderthal sites in France.

Researchers have discovered a new species of frog, the bright orange pumpkin toadlet, Brachycephalus lulai, in the Serra do Quiriri mountain range in Brazil, according to a study in PLOS One. The frog measures just over a centimeter long and inhabits leaf litter more than 750 meters above sea level.

A study in PLOS One analyzing the Hjortspring boat, a 2,000-year-old vessel found in Denmark, suggests that it originated from the Baltic Sea region. Researchers found that the caulking was made from pine pitch, which was not common in Denmark at the time. The study also found a partial human fingerprint on tar fragments on the boat.

A study in Geophysical Research Letters has identified a previously unknown wintertime spike in dissolved iron levels in the ocean near Hawaii that researchers say could be caused by increased rainfall and sediment runoff from the Hawaiian Islands. This finding, based on seawater samples collected between 2020 and 2023, contrasts with the well-documented springtime iron increase from Asian dust and could enhance understanding of phytoplankton ecology and nutrient cycling.

Melatonin is being explored in agriculture for its potential to promote plant growth and improve stress tolerance, with studies showing it can help plants cope with various environmental challenges, according to a study in iScience. Researchers suggest that melatonin-based strategies could become sustainable crop-management tools, potentially leading to genetically engineered strains that better resist diseases and environmental stresses.

Being overweight as a child and young adult was linked to a greater likelihood of coronary heart disease in adulthood, but normalizing weight before young adulthood may help reduce the risk, researchers reported in JAMA Pediatrics. The study followed 103,232 people born between 1945 and 1968 for an average of 37.8 years. Overweight as a young adult was associated with a higher risk than overweight as a child, and people who normalized their weight before young adulthood had a CHD risk as adults similar to peers who had maintained a normal weight.

A study in the European Child Adolescent Psychiatry found that boys ages 6 to 10 who consistently participated in organized sports had fewer symptoms of oppositional-defiant disorder at ages 10 and 12. "Sport may serve as a natural and influential context for learning self-regulation, cooperation and respect for rules," said lead researcher Matteo Privitera.

Molly Sutherland, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware, has received a $1.38 million NSF award to study how cytochromes c are made in bacteria. Cytochromes c are proteins crucial for energy production in cells, and Sutherland's research could improve understanding of bacterial bioenergetics with applications in agriculture and human health.