
First-of-their-kind ancient homes found in China and three more discoveries
Throughout history, cultures have left behind a trail of breadcrumbs for archaeologists to follow. New sites and artifacts are found all the time, revealing forgotten secrets of the past.
Here are some of the latest discoveries:
5,000-year-old homes — a first-of-their-kind find — unearthed in China. See them
In Xianyang, China, archaeologists uncovered the remains of ancient homes dating back to the Yangshao period, around 5,000 years ago. The excavation revealed 19 house foundations with unique circular designs, showcasing various room configurations, including single, double, and multi-room constructions. This discovery offers a glimpse into the daily lives and architectural practices of the Yangshao people. | Published June 5 | Read More |
Massive pits may actually be 'rare' 4,200-year-old ritual holes in UK. See them
At the site of a future nuclear facility in the United Kingdom, researchers found hundreds of pits dating back to the Neolithic period, between 4,200 and 6,000 years ago. These pits, filled with pottery, flint pieces and animal bones, may have served ritual purposes rather than just domestic activities. | Published June 9 | Read More |
Hobbyists dig up 4,500-year-old blade, lead archaeologists to sensational find
In northwestern Germany, amateur archaeologists discovered a 4,500-year-old flint blade fragment, prompting further investigation by professionals. This led to the discovery of an even older artifact related to the Middle Stone Age, dating between 9650 and 4900 B.C. The finds offer valuable insights into the region's ancient history, despite the challenging soil conditions for preservation. | Published June 10 | Read More |
16th-century shipwreck found — accidentally — at record depth in French waters
During a military operation, France's navy discovered a 16th-century shipwreck, named Camarat 4, at a depth of about 8,200 feet near Saint-Tropez. The wreck, believed to be a merchant ship, contained hundreds of ceramic items, some monogrammed with 'IHS,' indicating a possible origin from northern Italy. The depth of the wreck has helped preserve the artifacts, providing a unique snapshot of maritime history. | Published June 12 | Read More |
McClatchy News continues to follow the discovery of intriguing archaeological discoveries from around the globe. Check back to see the latest finds.

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Fox News
8 hours ago
- Fox News
Oldest written reference to Moses may be revealed in ancient Egyptian desert inscriptions, researcher says
A researcher may have uncovered the oldest-ever written references to Moses, dating back 3,800 years and hidden in an Egyptian desert. The two etchings were found at Serabit el-Khadim, an ancient turquoise mining site in the Sinai desert where Semitic laborers once worked during the Middle Bronze Age. The Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions date back between 1800 and 1600 B.C. They were etched centuries before the earliest parts of the Bible were written between the 10th and 7th centuries B.C. The two inscriptions, among many at the site, were first discovered in the early 1900s – but they're now being reanalyzed by an American-Israeli epigraphist named Michael S. Bar-Ron. The expert, who's also a graduate student at Ariel University, spoke with Fox News Digital about the discovery. Bar-Ron posits that the inscriptions read "Zot M'Moshe" and "Ne'um Moshe." The phrases may mean "This is from Moses" and "Declaration of Moses," respectively. If verified, the inscriptions are the earliest written mention of Moses outside the Bible. The inscriptions also reference El, a deity associated with the Abrahamic God, while censuring the ancient pagan goddess Ba`alat. If verified, the inscriptions are the earliest written mention of Moses outside the Bible. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Bar-Ron noted that the Serabit el-Khadim site once housed a temple to Ba`alat. Some of the etchings, Bar-Ron says, seem to reflect resistance to the goddess's worship from Semitic workers. "[Ra]ather than lauding Ba`alat … [the] readings curse out the Ba`alat cult, with words of warning and rebuke to its followers," Bar-Ron said. He added, "They include the terms 'BŠ' – 'for shame' or 'this is shameful' – and 'nimosh,' [which means] 'let us leave' [or] 'remove ourselves.'" The Herculean task of translating the ancient etchings took nearly a decade, Bar-Ron said. "I spent eight years actively involved in the painstaking, oft-frustrating reconstruction of some 23 wordy Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions," the epigraphist noted. "That is, based on the principles of the foremost greats in the field, and informed by the work of my distinguished colleagues in the field." He also believes the "Moses" inscriptions may have a common author, pointing to certain "stylistic points" such as word usage. Bar-Ron's larger graduate thesis explores "a Mosaic-type leadership" in the region at the time. He described the latest revelations about the inscriptions as "non-essential icing on the cake." "The finding 'Zot M'Moshe' and 'Ne'um Moshe' were really last-minute discoveries and non-essential to that subpoint (possible Mosaic authorship), within a much more serious thesis," he said. Bar-Ron also noted that his findings will be peer-reviewed in the future; his research has already been edited over 100 times. "If we were drawing such conclusions on the basis of one or two inscriptions, it would be weak," he observed. "Rather, they are based on what is understood across the full set found at Serabit el-Khadim." "I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for educated readers to actually read the proto-thesis itself." Excavators have long searched for archaeological evidence of Moses, mostly without success. Last summer, an ancient sword from the era of the Book of Exodus was uncovered in Egypt. More recently, a French expert identified ancient "propaganda" praising Ramesses II, the Egyptian leader who may have challenged Moses.


Scientific American
4 days ago
- Scientific American
New Brain Device Is First to Read Out Inner Speech
After a brain stem stroke left him almost entirely paralyzed in the 1990s, French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote a book about his experiences—letter by letter, blinking his left eye in response to a helper who repeatedly recited the alphabet. Today people with similar conditions often have far more communication options. Some devices, for example, track eye movements or other small muscle twitches to let users select words from a screen. And on the cutting edge of this field, neuroscientists have more recently developed brain implants that can turn neural signals directly into whole words. These brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) largely require users to physically attempt to speak, however—and that can be a slow and tiring process. But now a new development in neural prosthetics changes that, allowing users to communicate by simply thinking what they want to say. The new system relies on much of the same technology as the more common 'attempted speech' devices. Both use sensors implanted in a part of the brain called the motor cortex, which sends motion commands to the vocal tract. The brain activation detected by these sensors is then fed into a machine-learning model to interpret which brain signals correspond to which sounds for an individual user. It then uses those data to predict which word the user is attempting to say. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. But the motor cortex doesn't only light up when we attempt to speak; it's also involved, to a lesser extent, in imagined speech. The researchers took advantage of this to develop their 'inner speech' decoding device and published the results on Thursday in Cell. The team studied three people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and one with a brain stem stroke, all of whom had previously had the sensors implanted. Using this new 'inner speech' system, the participants needed only to think a sentence they wanted to say and it would appear on a screen in real time. While previous inner speech decoders were limited to only a handful of words, the new device allowed participants to draw from a dictionary of 125,000 words. 'As researchers, our goal is to find a system that is comfortable [for the user] and ideally reaches a naturalistic ability,' says lead author Erin Kunz, a postdoctoral researcher who is developing neural prostheses at Stanford University. Previous research found that 'physically attempting to speak was tiring and that there were inherent speed limitations with it, too,' she says. Attempted speech devices such as the one used in the study require users to inhale as if they are actually saying the words. But because of impaired breathing, many users need multiple breaths to complete a single word with that method. Attempting to speak can also produce distracting noises and facial expressions that users find undesirable. With the new technology, the study's participants could communicate at a comfortable conversational rate of about 120 to 150 words per minute, with no more effort than it took to think of what they wanted to say. Like most BCIs that translate brain activation into speech, the new technology only works if people are able to convert the general idea of what they want to say into a plan for how to say it. Alexander Huth, who researches BCIs at the University of California, Berkeley, and wasn't involved in the new study, explains that in typical speech, 'you start with an idea of what you want to say. That idea gets translated into a plan for how to move your [vocal] articulators. That plan gets sent to the actual muscles, and then they carry it out.' But in many cases, people with impaired speech aren't able to complete that first step. 'This technology only works in cases where the 'idea to plan' part is functional but the 'plan to movement' part is broken'—a collection of conditions called dysarthria—Huth says. According to Kunz, the four research participants are eager about the new technology. 'Largely, [there was] a lot of excitement about potentially being able to communicate fast again,' she says—adding that one participant was particularly thrilled by his newfound potential to interrupt a conversation—something he couldn't do with the slower pace of an attempted speech device. To ensure private thoughts remained private, the researchers implemented a code phrase: 'chitty chitty bang bang.' When internally spoken by participants, this would prompt the BCI to start or stop transcribing. Brain-reading implants inevitably raise concerns about mental privacy. For now, Huth isn't concerned about the technology being misused or developed recklessly, speaking to the integrity of the research groups involved in neural prosthetics research. 'I think they're doing great work; they're led by doctors; they're very patient-focused. A lot of what they do is really trying to solve problems for the patients,' he says, 'even when those problems aren't necessarily things that we might think of,' such as being able to interrupt a conversation or 'making a voice that sounds more like them.' For Kunz, this research is particularly close to home. 'My father actually had ALS and lost the ability to speak,' she says, adding that this is why she got into her field of research. 'I kind of became his own personal speech translator toward the end of his life since I was kind of the only one that could understand him. That's why I personally know the importance and the impact this sort of research can have.' The contribution and willingness of the research participants are crucial in studies like this, Kunz notes. 'The participants that we have are truly incredible individuals who volunteered to be in the study not necessarily to get a benefit to themselves but to help develop this technology for people with paralysis down the line. And I think that they deserve all the credit in the world for that.'


Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Whales and dolphins have an ‘intriguing' relationship, study finds. What to know
The relationship between whales and dolphins has long been shrouded in mystery. But, new research reveals that — despite their vast difference in size — these marine mammals often enjoy playful interactions, much like a Great Dane romping with a Chihuahua. Scientists at Griffith University in Australia came to this conclusion by analyzing dozens of interspecies encounters from around the world, according to a study published on Aug. 12 in the peer-reviewed journal Discover Animals. 'It is clear such interactions happen much more often than we previously thought,' Olaf Meynecke, one of the study authors, told McClatchy News. 'These interactions cannot be underestimated and may well play a part in the well-being of whales and dolphins.' The study reviewed 199 separate exchanges between 19 different species of dolphins and baleen whales captured in videos and photos. These interchanges took place off the coast of 17 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. They were then categorized by behavior, including jumps, belly rolls, tail slaps, bow riding and even petting. Humpback whales were involved in the majority of the encounters, participating in 68% of them, while bottlenose dolphins took part in 51%. In both types of marine mammals, adults accounted for most of the activity. 'There were a number of surprising interactions,' Meynecke said. The most frequent interactions involved dolphins positioning themselves near whales' heads — a behavior similar to bow riding — which could be understood as an efficient and playful mode of movement for dolphins. Each whale species also tended to interact with dolphins in their own unique way. For example, humpbacks gestured with their pectoral fins toward dolphins on 172 occasions. They also showed off their undersides 141 times. Meanwhile, grey whales rolled in the presence of dolphins 56 times, and southern right whales slapped their pectoral fins on five occasions. Researchers also obtained two videos recorded from cameras situated on the animals, which revealed some noteworthy encounters. In both instances, dolphins could be seen accompanying whales to the bottom of the ocean, paying close attention to each other and maintaining eye contact. Meynecke said it 'certainly was very interesting to see that dolphins continue their behaviour below the surface, following the whales all the way to the bottom in close proximity with the head turned towards the whales head.' In total, 25% of the interactions were described as positive and mutual exchanges. 'There have been enough events documented that showed positive interaction on both sides, that we can say there is a something both species get out of this,' Meynecke said. Play behavior could allow for sensory stimulation, help the animals develop relationships and contribute to their well-being. Creativity — a characteristic of intelligent species — could also be driving this behavior. Still, though, not all of the interactions were positive. 'Whales (clearly) show avoidance behaviour such as tail slaps or moving away from the dolphins if they don't want the interaction,' Meynecke said. Further study is required to better understand the complex interspecies dynamics between whales and dolphins, researchers concluded. 'Having the opportunity to document these observations and observe some of the behavioural patterns like bow riding by dolphins and close touches was intriguing,' Olivia Crawley, the other study author, said in a university news release. 'I hope that this study can serve as a foundation for future studies.'