Dec 17th, 2025 - Solitary bees repurposed the skulls of extinct mammals as multi-generational nurseries. The floor of the Cueva de Mono, a cave in the Dominican Republic, is a gruesome graveyard. For thousands of years, it served as the dining room for a massive family of now-extinct owls called Tyto ostologa . The owls would swoop down upon the tropical landscape, snatch up hutias (guinea-pig-like rodents) or sloths, and return to the dark to feed. They'd regurgitate the indigestible bits like bones and teeth, creating a grim carpet of skeletal remains. But this story isn't about the owls. It's about bees. ... [Read More]

Dec 17th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Pompeii may have been unseasonably cold when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman city in A.D. 79, new research proposes. A new analysis of 14 of the iconic plaster casts made of the victims at Pompeii has revealed that at least four were ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - (BVIs) evoke a refined, plummy version of the tropics, all high-masted sailboats, perfectly pressed linen slacks and sunset G&Ts at a posh yacht club. , , Jost Van Dyke and wonderful outlier Anegada – will find a refreshing lack of pretense. While it's true that you'll never be far from a sailing moor, the BVIs serve up far more than yacht culture. They're a collection of colorful islands with a Caribbean spirit waiting to be embraced. Outside of self-contained resort ecosystems, the BVIs still offer travelers going it alone access to sparsely populated beaches and gorgeous coral ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) may have discovered the most distant supernova in the universe. This stellar explosion, hosted by a very faint galaxy, occurred when the universe was only 730 million years old. Besides adding a new ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - Hundreds of yards of dinosaur tracks with toes and claws have been found in the Italian Alps in a region that will host the 2026 Winter Olympics, authorities said Tuesday. "This set of dinosaur footprints is one of the largest collections in all of Europe, in the whole world," Attilio Fontana, head of the Lombardy region in northern Italy, said during a news conference. The tracks, which are over 200 million years old, were discovered in the Stelvio National Park, in an area between the towns of Bormio and Livigno, which host part of the Games. Nature photographer Elio Della Ferrera first ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - History from countries and communities across the globe, including the world's major wars. The stories behind the faiths, food, entertainment and holidays that shape our world. Tom Metcalfe A smoked mummy, a Pompeiian banquet room and a Neanderthal fingerprint are among the year's most intriguing discoveries. From ancient Maya kings to Vietnamese mummies to Egyptian pleasure barges, 2025 brought significant archaeological discoveries from all corners of the world. Some were stunning one-offs, the find of a lifetime; others came only after decades of meticulous research. Here are seven of the ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - Reading time 2 minutes In 1998, researchers discovered one of the most complete known human ancestral fossils in South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves. Almost two decades later, Ronald Clarke, the paleoanthropologist who had led the excavation and analysis, identified the remains as an Australopithecus prometheus , while others argued it was an Australopithecus africanus . New research suggests it's neither. In research published last month in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, researchers have challenged the classification of StW 573, nicknamed "Little Foot," pointing to the ... [Read More]

Dec 16th, 2025 - Dec. 16 (UPI) -- More than 16,600 footprints left by carnivorous dinosaurs of different sizes that walked, ran and even swam about 66 million years ago have been identified at the Carreras Pampa site inside Torotoro National Park in central Bolivia, making the country home to the world's largest known concentration of theropod tracks. Theropods, a dinosaur subgroup, walked on two legs, and typically had hollow, thin-walled bones, short forelimbs and strong hind legs. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One and are based on six years of fieldwork carried ... [Read More]