Science Daily

• Ancient ape fossil in Egypt challenges the story of human origins

  A newly identified fossil ape from northern Egypt is reshaping ideas about where the ancestors of modern apes first emerged. Analyses place it closer to living apes than any known East African species of the same age, pointing to North Africa and the Middle East as a possible birthplace and crossroads for the ape lineage that eventually produced gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans.

• Sweden’s hidden rare earth deposits could help break China’s grip

  Sweden could become an important source of rare earth elements needed for magnets and green technologies. Instead of extracting one target metal, researchers are cataloging everything contained in Swedish mineral deposits. They will then develop magnets using those naturally available combinations, potentially reducing pollution, waste, and reliance on China.

• Orcas filmed smashing giant sunfish into thousands of pieces

  Researchers in the Gulf of California have documented a dramatic orca behavior never described before. In two separate encounters, one orca gripped a dead sunfish by the fin while another charged into it at high speed, blasting the carcass into thousands of pieces.

• Antarctica may give the world decades to prepare for rising seas

  Scientists may be able to reliably forecast Antarctic ice loss through the middle of this century, offering governments a vital head start on sea level rise. After that, unstable ice retreat could accelerate dramatically, making the future much harder to predict.

• New giant salamander species discovered in 3.5-million-year-old fossils

  Fossils discovered in Japan more than two decades ago have finally been identified as a new genus and species of giant salamander. Limnospondylus ajimuensis lived around 3.5 million years ago in a warmer, wetter Kyushu and may have reached 1.1 meters in length. Its discovery hints that many more unknown giant salamanders could be hiding among fossils previously given the wrong classification.