The story of our genes may be able to answer enduring questions about humanity's origins.
Mapping and sequencing the human genome — a blueprint of human DNA and all of its complex instructions — has paved the way for scientists to share intriguing evidence of modern humans’ diverse ancestry.
Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2022 for pioneering the use of ancient DNA to decode the first Neanderthal genome.
His groundbreaking work revealed that Neanderthals and modern humans once had children together. Pääbo's reseach also established what distinguishes our species, Homo sapiens, from our extinct hominin cousins — and ancestors — jump-starting the scientific field of paleogenomics.
Now, those same techniques have revealed the roots of one of the oldest and longest-lasting civilizations on Earth.
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For the first time, scientists sequenced the entire genome of an ancient Egyptian, allowing them to decipher the surprising ancestry of a man who may have been alive when the first pyramids were built.
The man lived about 4,800 to 4,500 years ago, making his DNA the oldest ancient Egyptian sample yet extracted. A facial reconstruction based on his skeleton is seen above.
While 80% of his DNA came from ancient people in North Africa, 20% was traced to populations in West Asia and the Mesopotamia region. Scientists have long suspected ancient societies mingled, but because genetic material doesn't normally preserve well, only archaeological evidence existed until now.
The man’s ceremonial burial in a sealed clay pot, which helped preserve his DNA, may be the “needle in the haystack” scientists need to understand the ancestry of ancient Egyptians, said Dr. Linus Girdland-Flink, a lecturer in biomolecular archaeology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
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When astronomers in Australia detected a strange radio signal in June 2024, they initially thought they had stumbled upon an unknown object or mysterious cosmic phenomenon.
The signal was so powerful that it briefly outshined everything else in the night sky. But the scientists knew an astronomical object couldn't be the source because it was so close to Earth. This proximity made it possible to track the signal back to an unlikely source: a NASA satellite that's been dead since 1967.
After studying the signal, researchers now have a couple of ideas about what sparked the satellite back to life.
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After days of weather delays, Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, launched its 13th crewed flight. The mission lifted off from West Texas on Sunday on the heels of the billionaire’s wedding in Venice, Italy. See the views captured from the New Shepard vehicle during the suborbital flight.
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Astronomers spotted an interstellar object zooming through our solar system — and they believe it’s a comet that’s from another part of the cosmos.
Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, the unusual comet arrived from the direction of the Sagittarius constellation, and it’s only the third celestial body from beyond our solar system ever to be observed within our cosmic neighborhood.
Before the fast-moving object disappears from view later this year, scientists are eager to figure out where it came from exactly and what secrets it may contain.
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Polar explorer Alan Chambers is on a mission to visit some of the remotest places in the world to determine the reach of a hidden menace: tiny, and at times microscopic, pieces of plastic.
His first effort involved a punishing, monthslong trek across Antarctica to the South Pole to collect snow samples on behalf of climate scientists at Columbia University in New York City.
“I built a specialist sledge with a perfectly crafted insert inside,” Chambers said. “Each evening I’d get on my hands and knees, lay on my belly upwind from the camp and scrape the snow at minus 35 (degrees Celsius) to fill the tins, which we then logged and photographed.”
While scientists are still trying to understand the impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on the health of humans, animals and environments, another goal is to figure out how pervasive they are in places largely untouched by people — and Chambers’ samples of snow, dirt, water, permafrost and silt could help provide clues.
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Enjoy these stories with your Saturday morning coffee:
— Neanderthals went to extraordinary lengths to ensure they had enough nutrients in their diet, including running what scientists call a “fat factory” to make massive quantities of a wholesome comfort food.
— A hefty meteorite spotted in 2023 in Niger’s Agadez region is the largest known piece of Mars ever found on Earth. The rare space rock is about to hit the auction block, which has some worried it will be out of scientific reach.
— A broken plate discovered by a diver off Britain’s southern coast has revealed a 19th century shipwreck “frozen in time.”
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