ExtantScience
@extantscience.bsky.social
Science magazine covering the living, breathing world of science: Extantscience.substack.com
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ExtantScience
@extantscience.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Newsletter 10/7/24 - Monday Science Update
Space bacteria, arctic cannibalism, Keanu Reeves endorses pseudo-archaeology, Neanderthal-Homo sapiens "interbreeding zones," and more!
open.substack.com
Space bacteria, arctic cannibalism, Keanu Reeves endorses pseudo-archaeology, and more! open.substack.com/pub/extantsc...
Reposted by ExtantScience
#Pollen records suggest that early #humans thrived in relatively open #landscapes. In PNAS Journal Club: https://ow.ly/yniE50XWMgs
#hominin #HumanEvolution #steppes #SavannaHypothesis
#hominin #HumanEvolution #steppes #SavannaHypothesis
January 14, 2026 at 6:02 PM
#Pollen records suggest that early #humans thrived in relatively open #landscapes. In PNAS Journal Club: https://ow.ly/yniE50XWMgs
#hominin #HumanEvolution #steppes #SavannaHypothesis
#hominin #HumanEvolution #steppes #SavannaHypothesis
Reposted by ExtantScience
📰 Discovery of traces of plant toxins on 60,000-year-old arrows from South Africa marks the earliest known evidence of humans using poisons to hunt, pushing back evidence tens of thousands of years.
🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
Archaeologists Just Discovered the Oldest Known Evidence of Poison Arrows, Which Hunters Used to Slow Down Their Prey 60,000 Years Ago
New research reveals traces of plant toxins on arrow tips in South Africa, suggesting that the technique was used tens of thousands of years earlier than scientists thought
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:35 PM
📰 Discovery of traces of plant toxins on 60,000-year-old arrows from South Africa marks the earliest known evidence of humans using poisons to hunt, pushing back evidence tens of thousands of years.
🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
Reposted by ExtantScience
In new research, scientists report a diminutive dino that was perfectly adapted to pilfer eggs.
Its bones were excavated from the Mongolian Desert and reveal a “bizarre” claw that enabled it to quickly filch eggs before fleeing.
🧪🏺
#Paleontology #EggSnatcher
New at @sciencenews.bsky.social
Its bones were excavated from the Mongolian Desert and reveal a “bizarre” claw that enabled it to quickly filch eggs before fleeing.
🧪🏺
#Paleontology #EggSnatcher
New at @sciencenews.bsky.social
This dino’s fossil claw suggests it snatched eggs, not insects
A 67-million-year-old claw fossil reveals a new dinosaur species that may have used its hand spikes to snatch and pierce eggs.
www.sciencenews.org
January 14, 2026 at 9:55 PM
In new research, scientists report a diminutive dino that was perfectly adapted to pilfer eggs.
Its bones were excavated from the Mongolian Desert and reveal a “bizarre” claw that enabled it to quickly filch eggs before fleeing.
🧪🏺
#Paleontology #EggSnatcher
New at @sciencenews.bsky.social
Its bones were excavated from the Mongolian Desert and reveal a “bizarre” claw that enabled it to quickly filch eggs before fleeing.
🧪🏺
#Paleontology #EggSnatcher
New at @sciencenews.bsky.social
Reposted by ExtantScience
Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes. https://scim.ag/4qxojow
Deep-sea earthquakes fuel huge plankton blooms in Antarctica
Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes
www.science.org
January 12, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes. https://scim.ag/4qxojow
Reposted by ExtantScience
Ooo! New followers! 🤗 Hello everyone! (and thanks @themerl.bsky.social 😘)
We're a mahoosive roman site on the south coast of England. If you like mosaics then you'll love us. We also have a golden retriever called Huxley.
Everything else, you'll find online.
We're a mahoosive roman site on the south coast of England. If you like mosaics then you'll love us. We also have a golden retriever called Huxley.
Everything else, you'll find online.
January 9, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Ooo! New followers! 🤗 Hello everyone! (and thanks @themerl.bsky.social 😘)
We're a mahoosive roman site on the south coast of England. If you like mosaics then you'll love us. We also have a golden retriever called Huxley.
Everything else, you'll find online.
We're a mahoosive roman site on the south coast of England. If you like mosaics then you'll love us. We also have a golden retriever called Huxley.
Everything else, you'll find online.
Reposted by ExtantScience
Juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters are social and are attracted by the scent of larger conspecifics to dens also occupied by predatory red grouper, which can’t eat larger lobsters. The result is a rare natural ecological trap for the juveniles. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/UuAs50XTxvP
January 8, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters are social and are attracted by the scent of larger conspecifics to dens also occupied by predatory red grouper, which can’t eat larger lobsters. The result is a rare natural ecological trap for the juveniles. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/UuAs50XTxvP
Reposted by ExtantScience
This Fossil Is Rewriting the Story of How Plants Spread across the Planet www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
This Fossil Is Rewriting the Story of How Plants Spread across the Planet
An enigmatic group of fossil organisms has finally been identified—and is changing the story of how plants took root on land
www.scientificamerican.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
This Fossil Is Rewriting the Story of How Plants Spread across the Planet www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Reposted by ExtantScience
Sixty-six million years ago, a cataclysmic asteroid impact triggered a global mass extinction. New research suggests that, contrary to prior thinking, some members of an ancient group of mollusks managed to survive the initial carnage after it struck. https://scim.ag/4994w9k
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid
Coil-shelled mollusks called ammonites staved off extinction for thousands of years
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Sixty-six million years ago, a cataclysmic asteroid impact triggered a global mass extinction. New research suggests that, contrary to prior thinking, some members of an ancient group of mollusks managed to survive the initial carnage after it struck. https://scim.ag/4994w9k
Reposted by ExtantScience
Scientists find new Moroccan fossils might represent the oldest ancestor to Homo sapiens yet.
Remarkably, they were able to date the specimens by identifying Earth’s magnetic pole reversal in the surrounding sediments.
#Paleoanthropology #Archaeology
🧪🏺
New for #NationalGeographic
Remarkably, they were able to date the specimens by identifying Earth’s magnetic pole reversal in the surrounding sediments.
#Paleoanthropology #Archaeology
🧪🏺
New for #NationalGeographic
This ancient human may be the root of the Homo sapiens family tree
New fossils unearthed in Morocco could help solve the mystery of how Homo sapiens diverged from other ancient humans like Neanderthals.
www.nationalgeographic.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Scientists find new Moroccan fossils might represent the oldest ancestor to Homo sapiens yet.
Remarkably, they were able to date the specimens by identifying Earth’s magnetic pole reversal in the surrounding sediments.
#Paleoanthropology #Archaeology
🧪🏺
New for #NationalGeographic
Remarkably, they were able to date the specimens by identifying Earth’s magnetic pole reversal in the surrounding sediments.
#Paleoanthropology #Archaeology
🧪🏺
New for #NationalGeographic
Reposted by ExtantScience
A genomics-informed study of endangered marsh fritillary butterflies suggests that moving individuals between populations could help the species survive, with minimal outbreeding depression risks. The approach could help other species as well. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/VRXi50XStzn
January 6, 2026 at 8:01 PM
A genomics-informed study of endangered marsh fritillary butterflies suggests that moving individuals between populations could help the species survive, with minimal outbreeding depression risks. The approach could help other species as well. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/VRXi50XStzn
Reposted by ExtantScience
Scientists report that a hardy group of ammonites survived the dino-killing asteroid for over 68,000 years.
Once considered a “textbook victim” of the calamity, the new research shows mass extinctions aren’t always as tidy as portrayed.
#Paleontology #MassExtinctions
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Once considered a “textbook victim” of the calamity, the new research shows mass extinctions aren’t always as tidy as portrayed.
#Paleontology #MassExtinctions
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid
Coil-shelled mollusks called ammonites staved off extinction for thousands of years
www.science.org
January 6, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Scientists report that a hardy group of ammonites survived the dino-killing asteroid for over 68,000 years.
Once considered a “textbook victim” of the calamity, the new research shows mass extinctions aren’t always as tidy as portrayed.
#Paleontology #MassExtinctions
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Once considered a “textbook victim” of the calamity, the new research shows mass extinctions aren’t always as tidy as portrayed.
#Paleontology #MassExtinctions
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Reposted by ExtantScience
Miyazato et al have revealed, via μ-CT scans of Belonostomus longirostris skulls from Alberta, fused cranial bones, hidden sensory canals, and features that challenge its placement in Teleostei—reshaping views on aspidorhynchid evolution. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
January 5, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Miyazato et al have revealed, via μ-CT scans of Belonostomus longirostris skulls from Alberta, fused cranial bones, hidden sensory canals, and features that challenge its placement in Teleostei—reshaping views on aspidorhynchid evolution. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by ExtantScience
A remade USGS diagram codifies a enduring truth about Earth's water cycle: Humans play a central role. From our archives💧 eos.org/articles/not...
Not Your Childhood Water Cycle - Eos
The USGS just debuted a complete remaking of the water cycle diagram—with humans as headliners.
eos.org
January 5, 2026 at 4:15 PM
A remade USGS diagram codifies a enduring truth about Earth's water cycle: Humans play a central role. From our archives💧 eos.org/articles/not...
Reposted by ExtantScience
An Antarctic phytoplankton bloom that can grow the size of New Zealand is nourished by a surprising source—underwater earthquakes.
Researchers find the seismic activity triggers deep-sea vents to burp up vital nutrients like iron that then fuel giant blooms at the surface.
🧪🏺
New at @science.org
Researchers find the seismic activity triggers deep-sea vents to burp up vital nutrients like iron that then fuel giant blooms at the surface.
🧪🏺
New at @science.org
Deep-sea earthquakes fuel huge plankton blooms in Antarctica
Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes
www.science.org
January 5, 2026 at 5:12 PM
An Antarctic phytoplankton bloom that can grow the size of New Zealand is nourished by a surprising source—underwater earthquakes.
Researchers find the seismic activity triggers deep-sea vents to burp up vital nutrients like iron that then fuel giant blooms at the surface.
🧪🏺
New at @science.org
Researchers find the seismic activity triggers deep-sea vents to burp up vital nutrients like iron that then fuel giant blooms at the surface.
🧪🏺
New at @science.org
Reposted by ExtantScience
An imagined conversation with a Stone Age priestess reframes ritual, gender and belief, showing how #storytelling can reshape #archaeology. Read the new blog and #openaccess article for the #SAA's @saa-aap.bsky.social here:
🔗 https://cup.org/49dofVb
#archaeogaming
🔗 https://cup.org/49dofVb
#archaeogaming
I just talked to a Stone Age priestess and it could change everything « Archaeology# « Cambridge Core Blog
In our new, game-based dissemination experiment, you can enter a mysterious Stone Age world with megalithic graves where life and death are more fluent concepts than today. But whatever you do, don't go into the woods! You can hold a button and speak fr...
www.cambridge.org
December 31, 2025 at 7:36 PM
An imagined conversation with a Stone Age priestess reframes ritual, gender and belief, showing how #storytelling can reshape #archaeology. Read the new blog and #openaccess article for the #SAA's @saa-aap.bsky.social here:
🔗 https://cup.org/49dofVb
#archaeogaming
🔗 https://cup.org/49dofVb
#archaeogaming
Reposted by ExtantScience
In this issue: Tropical cyclone activity in the 17th century, vitamin C deficiency and protection from parasitic worms, and sand accumulation by rolling raindrops. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/7SJA50XQGkH
December 31, 2025 at 10:01 PM
In this issue: Tropical cyclone activity in the 17th century, vitamin C deficiency and protection from parasitic worms, and sand accumulation by rolling raindrops. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/7SJA50XQGkH
Reposted by ExtantScience
Small samples of fossilized materials contain molecular signatures that correspond with those animals’ diets and habitats.
A new study uses those biomarkers to reconstruct the environments where ancient hominins lived in Africa more than 1 million years ago. https://scim.ag/3N6W2Xv
A new study uses those biomarkers to reconstruct the environments where ancient hominins lived in Africa more than 1 million years ago. https://scim.ag/3N6W2Xv
Chemicals in million-year-old fossils reveal animals’ lives in detail
Ancient meals and infections reconstructed from preserved metabolic markers
scim.ag
January 1, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Small samples of fossilized materials contain molecular signatures that correspond with those animals’ diets and habitats.
A new study uses those biomarkers to reconstruct the environments where ancient hominins lived in Africa more than 1 million years ago. https://scim.ag/3N6W2Xv
A new study uses those biomarkers to reconstruct the environments where ancient hominins lived in Africa more than 1 million years ago. https://scim.ag/3N6W2Xv
Reposted by ExtantScience
Too many limbs.
#MosaicMonday - Mosaic pavement from Sepphoris (Diocaesarea), Israel, depicting a centaur draped in a leopard-skin cloak and holding a large bowl inscribed with the Greek phrase "Helpful God". Dated to the 5th century AD.
December 29, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Too many limbs.
Reposted by ExtantScience
#Oceans: "Humans have never witnessed such an event, but these megaslides are apt to damage undersea infrastructure like communications cables and trigger tsunami"
eos.org/articles/new...
eos.org/articles/new...
New Eyes on One of the Planet’s Largest Submarine Landslides - Eos
Researchers have mapped the ancient Stad Slide off the coast of Norway to better understand what triggered it, and the hunt is on for the tsunami it might have unleashed.
eos.org
December 29, 2025 at 3:44 PM
#Oceans: "Humans have never witnessed such an event, but these megaslides are apt to damage undersea infrastructure like communications cables and trigger tsunami"
eos.org/articles/new...
eos.org/articles/new...
Reposted by ExtantScience
A Roman mosaic in the @romanpalace.bsky.social. The palace is the largest known Roman residence north of the Alps, and has an unusually early date of 75 AD. The colourful mosaics date to the second and third centuries AD. #MosaicMonday
December 29, 2025 at 5:20 AM
A Roman mosaic in the @romanpalace.bsky.social. The palace is the largest known Roman residence north of the Alps, and has an unusually early date of 75 AD. The colourful mosaics date to the second and third centuries AD. #MosaicMonday
Reposted by ExtantScience
In new research, scientists find fossilized bones and teeth can contain metabolites—tiny byproducts of internal chemical processes.
These metabolites can reveal unprecedented insights into an ancient animal’s age, diet, and environment.
#Paleometabolomics #Paleontology
🏺🧪
New for @science.org
These metabolites can reveal unprecedented insights into an ancient animal’s age, diet, and environment.
#Paleometabolomics #Paleontology
🏺🧪
New for @science.org
Chemicals in million-year-old fossils reveal animals’ lives in detail
Ancient meals and infections reconstructed from preserved metabolic markers
www.science.org
December 29, 2025 at 6:21 PM
In new research, scientists find fossilized bones and teeth can contain metabolites—tiny byproducts of internal chemical processes.
These metabolites can reveal unprecedented insights into an ancient animal’s age, diet, and environment.
#Paleometabolomics #Paleontology
🏺🧪
New for @science.org
These metabolites can reveal unprecedented insights into an ancient animal’s age, diet, and environment.
#Paleometabolomics #Paleontology
🏺🧪
New for @science.org
Reposted by ExtantScience
Tiny life-forms with bright colors might point the way to big dinosaur bone discoveries.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
This bright orange life-form could point to new dino discoveries
Colorful lichen living on dinosaur bones reflect infrared light that can be detected by drones, which might lead to finds in remote areas.
www.sciencenews.org
November 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Tiny life-forms with bright colors might point the way to big dinosaur bone discoveries.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
Reposted by ExtantScience
Today, the deserts of the Arabian peninsula are inhospitable – but 100,000 years ago, the area was full of animals and ancient humans
Ancient human artefacts found near caves in Arabian desert
Today, the deserts of the Arabian peninsula are inhospitable – but 100,000 years ago, the area was full of animals and ancient humans
www.newscientist.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Today, the deserts of the Arabian peninsula are inhospitable – but 100,000 years ago, the area was full of animals and ancient humans
Reposted by ExtantScience
Springer Nature tells @jacksonwryan.com that Scientific Reports paper about autism with the nonsensical figure will be retracted.
nobreakthroughs.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Springer Nature tells @jacksonwryan.com that Scientific Reports paper about autism with the nonsensical figure will be retracted.
Reposted by ExtantScience
Monument from the mountain of Cerro Patlachique, south of Teotihuacan, depicting a jaguar clutching a bleeding heart #JaguarDay
A common depiction throughout Teotihuacan, it suggests the mountain was sacred to the powerful Mesoamerican city-state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
A common depiction throughout Teotihuacan, it suggests the mountain was sacred to the powerful Mesoamerican city-state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
November 29, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Monument from the mountain of Cerro Patlachique, south of Teotihuacan, depicting a jaguar clutching a bleeding heart #JaguarDay
A common depiction throughout Teotihuacan, it suggests the mountain was sacred to the powerful Mesoamerican city-state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
A common depiction throughout Teotihuacan, it suggests the mountain was sacred to the powerful Mesoamerican city-state.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology