The data comes from mudstones in Jezero crater, which once hosted a deep lake. Last year, researchers described a piece of rock with patterns resembling those left by microorganisms on Earth as one of the clearest signs yet of past Martian microbes.
Going even further back in history, new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed how early galaxies lived fast and died young, offering a possible preview of our own galaxy's death.
The largest (left) and the smallest (right) skulls of Homo naledi found in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa. All specimens of H. naledi have been shown to be female. (Image credit: Rising Star Program)
Homo naledi surprised scientists once again this week. Found in a South African cave in 2013, the small-brained, two-legged relative to modern humans is thought to have lived around 300,000 years ago. Since its initial discovery, the enigmatic hominin has shocked scientists with a string of baffling revelations. In 2023, researchers found evidence that H. naledi may have used fire in the cave. This early hominin may also have buried its dead. Now, archaeologists have analyzed genetic material in the enamel of nearly two dozen skeletons at the site and found that they are all female.
Discover more archaeology news
—Early Homo sapiens may have lived in rainforests, new clues suggest — and it could overturn our understanding of human evolution
Life's Little Mysteries
How did the Romans build such straight roads?
The remarkably straight Stane Street in southern England was built by the Romans. (Image credit: Tim Stocker Photography via Getty Images)The Romans are known for their transport systems that enabled travel and trade across their enormous empire. Many of these centuries-old streets had a reputation for being extremely straight. Nowadays, building straight roads requires advanced surveying using GPS networks and lasers, as well as careful engineering to flatten the terrain. So how did the Romans do it about 2,000 years before these things were invented?
An illustration of a water molecule. New research adds credence to a controversial theory that water actually switches between two chemical structures. (Image credit: Yaroslav Kushta via Getty Images)
Most of us discount water as the most basic of beverages, but if you look at it at a molecular level, water is actually rather exciting. Think about it: While most liquids are denser in their solid form, water ice floats. That's weird. Water also resists temperature changes better than similar liquids do, and its viscosity decreases under certain pressures.
Discover more weird news
—'Weirdos of the sperm whale world' appear to be evolving 2 different dialects, audio recordings suggest
Also in science news this week
—The US just approved bemotrizinol, a sunscreen ingredient long used in Asia and Europe. Here's how it works.
—Water shortages could prevent the US from mining more lithium, deepening reliance on foreign imports
'If there's any country that will do it, it's China': Why is China diverting some of the world's mightiest rivers thousands of miles?
People in China's northern megacities have 74 times less fresh water than the average American — so the Chinese government has built the world's largest water diversion project. (Image credit: Xinmei Liu for Live Science)
People in China's northern megacities have 74 times less fresh water availability than the average American. But China boasts some of the largest rivers in Asia that flow farther south, along with massive water reserves in glaciers in the west. To address this imbalance, the Chinese government has built the world's largest water diversion project, ferrying water from the Yangtze River in the country's center and south over thousands of miles through a complex system of canals, pipes, dams, reservoirs and pumps.
Beyond diverting the country's rivers, China is also building the world's largest dam in an earthquake-prone region in Tibet and has invested heavily in creating a permanent "sky river" to help solve the country's water crisis.
Something for the weekend
—9 of the best technology conspiracy theories [Countdown]
—Live Science crossword puzzle #49: 'Short' tempered French emperor — 13 across [Crossword]
—60 million stars: Euclid space telescope snaps the most detailed photo of the Milky Way ever taken [Skywatching]
NASA satellite captures wave of warm water hundreds of miles long that signals a devastatingly strong El Niño
A wave of warm water and higher-than-usual sea surfaces (red) stretches across the Pacific, a few days before El Niño was declared. (Image credit: Data for the map were acquired by the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite and processed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin)
Ocean patterns like this are known as Kelvin waves. They occur when winds in the Pacific Ocean near the equator temporarily reverse and blow from west to east. This enables warm water to gradually build up in the east,preventing cold waters from rising below.
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