Science Daily

• Scientists may have misread a 2-billion-year-old clue about Earth

  Scientists have found that a famous 2-billion-year-old chemical signature, once thought to record a massive global change in Earth’s carbon cycle, may instead have been produced by local magma, hydrocarbons, and methane-eating microbes. The discovery raises new questions about what was really happening as oxygen transformed the young planet.

• 1.7-billion-year-old fossils reveal a crucial clue to the rise of complex life

  Scientists studying ancient Australian rocks uncovered more than 12,000 fossils from some of the oldest known eukaryotes on Earth. These early complex cells lived in settings ranging from coastal mudflats to the open sea, but only where oxygen was available. Oxygen-free environments contained simpler microbes instead. The findings strengthen the idea that oxygen played a crucial role in the emergence of complex life.

• These medieval graves looked like family burials. DNA told a different story

  Ancient DNA shows that adults and children buried together in medieval Sweden were often not members of the same immediate family, suggesting that burial choices reflected more than biological kinship. The research also revealed early gender-based burial customs and uncovered the remarkable story of a young woman who may have completed a pilgrimage across Europe.

• New soil test could reveal how soil microbes help feed plants

  Scientists have streamlined a method for measuring DNA-bound phosphorus in soil, making it cheaper and easier while preserving its accuracy. The technique could reveal how soil microbes help recycle phosphorus and ultimately support more sustainable fertilizer and nutrient management.

• Scientists burned their own scrolls to unlock a 2,000-year-old mystery

  Scientists discovered that tiny amounts of lead in ancient ink can make writing inside burned papyrus scrolls stand out dramatically in X-ray scans. The technique could help unlock lost Greek and Roman texts preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago.