Cadaver dogs are helping archaeologists uncover decaying history

When is it OK to dig up the dead?

Human bones tell stories that would otherwise be lost to history. But archaeologists are increasingly confronted with demands to let past generations rest in peace, according to this article.

Searching for the history of cancer in ancient human bones

Nestled under archaeology lies bioarchaeology, which involves the study of bones, human or animal. This subfield recently birthed another field of study: paleo-oncology. Paleo-oncology looks for cancer and related biomarkers in bioarchaeological remains. This TED article explains how this nascent multidisciplinary field challenges the idea that cancer is modern.

Why is there an archaeologist in my trash can?

Archaeologists have always been interested in rubbish—sites such as waste heaps, middens, and latrines can be some of the richest places to learn about the human past. But the type of rubbish we're leaving behind is changing, and much of it now...

Recreating ancient faces: where art meets archaeology

Artistic renderings and reconstructions of ancient people are one way to bring the past to life, providing viewers with insights into and empathy for those who came before. This article details how modern artists and archaeologists work together to...

The Dog Aging Project uses information from over 50,000 dogs to explore longevity

The study gathers health, lifestyle, and genetic data to understand what helps dogs live longer, healthier lives. Findings could also provide human health insights due to our shared surroundings and biology.

How lasers have become a go-to in archaeology

Archaeological teams now have another item to pack with their trowels: Lasers. Researchers' approach to unsurveyed land has been transformed by light detection and ranging technology. LiDAR has helped archaeologists break new ground and uncover...

Some medical schools have phased out human cadavers for digital alternatives

AI-based anatomy tools and digital cadavers are increasingly used to teach students, bypassing the ethical and consent concerns around the use of real bodies. Digital cadavers have also become less expensive than real ones, though the tactile and sensory experiences of real dissection may be irreplaceable.

Investigating the death of a 5,300-year-old mummy

Authorities generally consider a case to have gone cold once they've run out of leads or the ability to collect and consider new evidence, usually within a few years of the instigating event. Now imagine being a detective charged with investigating a death that happened more than 5,000 years ago. This article details how Alexander Horn, a then-detective inspector, attempted to solve the mystery of Ötzi the Iceman's death.

Why are archaeologists brewing ancient beers?

Archaeologists have managed to brew beer from yeast found inside jugs abandoned thousands of years ago. This article explores why scientists are recreating these ancient beverages and what they hope to learn. People have been drinking beer for...

How paleos dig up dinosaurs

Follow Kelsie Abrams and the dig team from the field to the lab, as they unravel mysteries from the end of the age of dinosaurs.

Scientists are reconstructing ancient smells—including a 3,500-year-old ancient Egyptian mummy

Researchers explain how they have recreated the scent of ancient Egyptian mummies and enabled museum-goers to experience that scent on specialized cards. The exhibit will be at the Royal BC Museum in Canada in June 2026.

A deep dive into how a body decomposes

Dead bodies are, understandably, scary and unsettling. Learn about the fascinating process of decomposition that takes place in every human, and how its teeming with life.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii

Excavations revealed stunning finds—a wooden bed, a horse's saddle, and vivid frescoes—while also suggesting the eruption may have occurred in October, not April. See the discoveries from the EU's $140M Great Pompeii Project.

A Roman-era cemetery in York may hold the remains of gladiators

A burial ground in York, used from the 1st to the 4th centuries CE, contained around 80 skeletons of unusually tall and muscular young men. Many show fatal combat wounds, including one with a bite mark from a large predator.

Two dogs were able to detect prostate cancer in 98% of patients in one study

In this small study published in 2015, two highly trained German Shepherd dogs sniffed hundreds of urine samples and were able to accurately detect prostate cancer—sniffing out certain volatile organic compounds—in almost every single case. One dog was correct 98% of the time and the other correctly identified patients 100% of the time. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Scientists can suck animal DNA from the air

A look at how researchers filtered the air around two zoos and identified genetic material from dozens of species, a technique that could help track and conserve wildlife.

A history of belly buttons, from dinosaurs to modern dogs

Could dinosaurs have had belly buttons, just like you and me? Some researchers believe they've found evidence the ancient reptiles had the cute scar, a common feature among placental mammals (but which is also found in many more kinds of animals). Dive into their peculiar findings with this fascinating video.

Advanced forensic science has helped identify killed sailors decades later

When the USS Oklahoma capsized amid the attacks, hundreds of sailors were buried within the ship's hull. Officials have used advances in forensic science to analyze DNA and dental evidence to help identify nearly 400 sailors decades after the fact.

Fossils form in environments where dead organisms can be rapidly buried

Such landscapes enable corpses to be encased by terrain before significant decay occurs. They are most commonly found in river deltas and sinking coastal regions, where sediments accumulate over time until geological forces expose the areas to erosion, revealing embedded fossils.

Santa Barbara's Channel Islands revealed the oldest skeletal remains in North America

IN 1959, archaeologists found a human femur jutting out from a rock face on Santa Rosa Island. Using the then-new technology of radiocarbon dating, they measured the age of the remains at 13,000 years—the oldest in the continent.

Research advances suggest death takes much longer than we realized

Recent research indicates that organs, including the brain, are better at handling a lack of oxygen after the heart stops beating than previously known. Such findings may open up possibilities that include someday reversing certain death processes and expanding the availability of organs available for organ donations. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

A thousand medieval dog names

In the Middle Ages, hunting was more than a sport—it was a vocation. Hounds were a crucial element of hunting, and wealthy landowners owned hundreds of them. A scribe in the late 15th century recorded more than 1,000 authentic names given to dogs, prompting a historian to speculate this showed just how well dog-handlers knew their animals. See the names here.

Egypt's 'Books of the Dead' helped the dead pass through the underworld

During the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, elaborate burial rites included the incantation of magic spells to help those who had died navigate the underworld. Texts of these spell-binding funerary guidelines, widely known as the "Books of the Dead," have survived intact.

Ghost hunting in the 19th century

This 40-minute podcast explores what it meant to hunt ghosts during the 19th century, when studying the paranormal was considered a mainstream scientific field. In 1847, a pair of sisters reportedly communicated with the spirit of a dead man...

Your pet might eat you if you die

Cats and dogs can eat their deceased owners. Experts say it typically occurs after days without food and reflects basic survival instincts, rather than aggression, affection loss, or a sudden behavioral shift.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable