When archaeologists sift through layers of dirt to tell stories of the past, sometimes their discoveries capture stirring traces of humanity.
Continuing excavations within the ancient city of Pompeii have revealed the remains of a man and a woman within a small bedroom buried by ash and volcanic glass in AD 79 from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
It appears that the pair sought refuge in the temporary sleeping space while the home was under renovation. In death, the woman still clutches a cache of earrings and gold, silver and bronze coins.
Meanwhile, a team aiming to restore a neglected and earthquake-damaged archaeological site in Turkey came across a tiny 3,500-year-old cuneiform tablet. The small clay piece, covered in wedge-shaped writing, is akin to a purchase receipt that could provide insights into Late Bronze Age society.
And new revelations about an iconic Neolithic monument may shed light on the people who built it.
A long time ago
Mysteries still swirl around Stonehenge thousands of years after its massive stones were erected in what’s now southern England. But a new study of the Altar Stone, which lies at the heart of the horseshoe-shaped monument, suggests that it traveled a great distance to get there.
A mineral analysis found that the stone likely originated from 435 miles (700 kilometers) away in current-day northeast Scotland, rather than Wales, overturning a century-old theory.
“This is the longest recorded journey for any stone used in a monument at that period,” said Nick Pearce, a professor of geography and Earth sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales.
Researchers believe the stone may have been transported over open water, which suggests that ancient Britain and its citizens were much more advanced 5,000 years ago than previously believed.
Solar update
German astronomer Johannes Kepler used a projecting device in 1607 to help him sketch the sunspots he saw just a few years before the first telescopic observations of the features.
Now, the drawings have helped scientists solve a centuries-long solar puzzle.
Astronomers use sunspots to help them track the 11-year cycle of waxing and waning activity the sun experiences. But between 1645 and 1715, the sun experienced a phenomenon known as the Maunder Minimum, a period of extremely weak and abnormal solar cycles.
A new analysis of Kepler’s long-disregarded drawings shows that two of the solar cycles before this grand minimum occurred normally, which means that yet to be identified precursors of what was considered an anomaly likely exist.
Ocean secrets
The world’s largest iceberg has been slowly spinning in the Southern Ocean for months with no end in sight.
The iceberg, known as A23a, initially broke away from Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986, forming a chunk of ice slightly bigger than Rhode Island.
After drifting over a seamount, it got caught in a water vortex caused by ocean currents hitting the underwater mountain, which cause the iceberg to rotate about 15 degrees per day.
Scientists are baffled by the phenomenon, and they are monitoring the frozen block to see how long it could remain trapped in the vortex as it gradually melts.
Other worlds
The InSight mission may have ended in 2022, but the NASA lander’s data has revealed evidence of a water reservoir deep beneath the surface of Mars.
New estimates show there may be enough water, trapped in tiny cracks and pores of rock in the middle of the Martian crust, to fill oceans on the planet’s surface.
The water is located between 7 and 12 miles (11.5 and 20 kilometers) beneath the surface, making it impossible to access.
But if the water ever could be reached, scientists think the subterranean reservoir might represent a new place to search for life on the red planet.
Across the universe
Chinese astronomers first spotted what they called a “guest star” in 1181, and for six months, the dying star appeared as bright as Saturn in the night sky. And the supernova, observed long before telescopes, has baffled researchers ever since.
Amateur astronomer Dana Patchick found a remnant called a nebula, or giant cloud of gas and dust, associated with the supernova in 2013. Now, scientists have created a model of the supernova’s evolution and uncovered a cosmic surprise.
The event that created the nebula may have been a rare Type lax supernova, or the result of two white dwarf stars that collided and left behind a “zombie star.” And the so-called zombie star has shown intriguing signs of recent activity that could reveal insights into the life and death of stars.
Take note
Explore these unexpected stories:
— NASA will soon announce its decision on how the crew of Boeing’s Starliner mission will return to Earth as it faces looming issues such as a limited supply of food on board the International Space Station.
— A fossil hunter made the discovery of a lifetime when he found a giant intact tusk of an ice age mammoth in a Mississippi creek.
— Invasive Jorō spiders continue to spread and build their large webs almost anywhere, and how the spiders “keep cool under pressure” may explain why, according to the lead author of a new study on the spiders’ heart rates.
— The wreck of a torpedoed World War I warship has been located off the coast of Scotland in “amazing condition,” according to divers, but the shipwreck comes with a tragic tale of those aboard when it sank.
—The asteroid that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, setting off events leading to the demise of the dinosaurs, was a rare clay-rich mudball, scientists found.
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