Science Daily

• For 15,000 years, humans and dogs have been changing each other

  Dogs have been shaping—and being shaped by—humans for about 15,000 years, evolving from early partners of hunter-gatherers into an astonishing range of specialized companions. Across the globe, they adapted alongside people to wildly different environments and needs, from powerful Arctic sled dogs and agile rainforest hunters to high-altitude dogs with genetic traits for surviving thin air. Some were even bred for wool, while others played important spiritual or ceremonial roles.

• 60,000-year-old ostrich eggshell engravings reveal a surprisingly sophisticated human mind

  More than 60,000 years ago, humans in southern Africa were engraving ostrich eggshells with intricate geometric patterns that appear far more organized than previously realized. Researchers found recurring grids, parallel lines, right angles, and repeated shapes, suggesting the designs followed deliberate rules rather than being improvised. The engravers may even have planned entire patterns in their minds before carving them.

• Potatoes may have given Indigenous Andeans a digestive superpower

  The rise of the potato in the Andes appears to have left a lasting mark on human DNA. Indigenous Peruvians carry exceptionally high numbers of a starch-digestion gene, likely because people with more copies gained an evolutionary advantage once potatoes became a staple food. The change began thousands of years before European contact, providing unusually strong evidence that diet can shape human evolution.

• 240-million-year-old reptile fossil reveals a lost chapter before dinosaurs and crocodiles

  A 240-million-year-old reptile discovered in Brazil is revealing what evolution looked like just before the rise of dinosaurs and crocodiles. The small predator had unusually positioned legs that may have allowed it to move more efficiently than many earlier reptiles. Its close relatives were previously known mostly from other continents, suggesting these ancient animals spread much farther across the Triassic world than scientists realized.

• Scientists discover bacteria that lock toxic uranium into a stable form

  Deep underground, bacteria may be capable of doing something remarkable: trapping toxic uranium before it spreads. When researchers fed microbes in uranium-contaminated mine water with glycerol, about 95% of the dissolved uranium disappeared within 130 days. The bacteria helped convert it into an unusually stable uranium compound that had rarely been observed before.