Science Daily

• Stunning fossil discovery in Ethiopia rewrites human origins

  A stunning fossil discovery in Ethiopia shows that early Homo and a previously unknown Australopithecus species lived together around 2.6 to 2.8 million years ago. The find overturns the classic “ape-to-human” progression and paints human evolution as a crowded, branching tree with multiple species coexisting. Scientists dated the fossils using volcanic ash deposits and are now investigating what these ancient relatives ate and whether they competed for resources.

• Stunning 150-million-year-old stegosaur skull rewrites dinosaur evolution

  A spectacular dinosaur discovery in Spain is giving scientists a rare new look inside the world of stegosaurs. Paleontologists uncovered the best-preserved stegosaur skull ever found in Europe, belonging to the iconic plated dinosaur Dacentrurus armatus, which roamed Earth around 150 million years ago. Because stegosaur skulls are extremely fragile and almost never survive intact, the fossil is helping researchers uncover previously unknown details about how these armored giants evolved.

• Lost 1,200-year-old manuscript contains the first English poem

  A long-lost manuscript discovered in Rome has revealed one of the oldest surviving versions of the very first known poem written in English. Hidden for decades and once believed lost, the 1,200-year-old manuscript contains Caedmon’s Hymn — a nine-line Old English poem said to have been miraculously composed by a shy Northumbrian cowherd after a divine dream.

• Scientists warn that the world’s rivers are running out of oxygen

  Rivers around the world are quietly running out of oxygen — and climate change is emerging as the main culprit. A sweeping global analysis of more than 21,000 river systems found that nearly 80% have been steadily losing dissolved oxygen over the past four decades, threatening fish, biodiversity, and the overall health of freshwater ecosystems. Surprisingly, tropical rivers are being hit the hardest, even more than rivers in rapidly warming polar regions.

• Scientists discover hidden “brakes” that stop massive earthquakes

  A mysterious underwater fault near Ecuador has been producing nearly identical magnitude 6 earthquakes every five to six years, baffling scientists for decades. Researchers now believe the fault contains hidden “brake zones” where seawater and unusual rock structures work together to stop quakes from becoming even larger. The discovery came from ultra-detailed seafloor recordings that captured how the fault behaves before and after major earthquakes.