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Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Case of mysterious medieval skeleton buried in Roman-era sarcophagus at Westminster Abbey finally solved
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Case of mysterious medieval skeleton buried in Roman-era sarcophagus at Westminster Abbey finally solved

In the late 1800s, Westminster Abbey clergy stumbled upon a mysterious sarcophagus. The lid was decorated with an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon cross, but the base had a fourth-century Roman funeral inscription. For nearly 150 years, the tomb has baffled experts, but the abbey's consulting archaeologist may have finally figured out who was buried there, according to a new study.Westminster's chief mason unearthed the stone sarcophagus in 1869, but when experts investigated it, they discovered that the burial had been looted earlier that century. Experts also noticed that the carved decoration on the side of the sarcophagus was stylistically Roman, with a Latin inscription that can be translated a...

📅 2026-10-20 23:01:00    •    Live Science
1 in 4 cases of depression may be caused by off-kilter body clocks
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1 in 4 cases of depression may be caused by off-kilter body clocks

Disturbed sleep is a common depression symptomchaiyan Anuwatmongkonchai / Alamy A quarter of depression cases are caused by people’s body clocks being out of whack, a large study suggests. This newly identified “circadian depression” responds poorly to standard antidepressants, but might be eased by taking melatonin or adopting behavioural strategies, like going outside in the early morning sun. “The coordination of [your body clocks] underpins your mood, your metabolism, your concentration, your sleep-wake cycle and many other key factors,” says Ian Hickie at the University of Sydney. “When it’s well, you feel really well, you get up in the morning full of energy. When it’s off, you feel je...

📅 2026-10-20 23:01:00    •    New Scientist
Like humans, some primates become cautious of germs in the wake of a viral outbreak
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Like humans, some primates become cautious of germs in the wake of a viral outbreak

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many households wiped down groceries with disinfectant before putting them away. Hand sanitizer was in short supply. With little information on how the virus spread, people became more cautious of germs from other people. A new University of California San Diego study suggests that humans may not be alone in changing behavior after experiencing a disease threat.

📅 2026-10-20 23:00:16    •    Phys.org
Caribbean islands were once the center of diversity for barn owls
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Caribbean islands were once the center of diversity for barn owls

Legend has it that a giant elfin, owl-like creature called the chickcharney haunts the islands of the Bahamas. Those who encounter this cryptid on cordial terms are said to be blessed with good luck. Those who disrespect the chickcharney, however, don't fare as well. "If you see one shoe in the field, it means that chickcharney came, picked up this person and took them away," said Jessica Oswald, recounting a story she was told in the Bahamas.

📅 2026-10-20 23:00:04    •    Phys.org
Could 'body clocks' play a role in depression? Study proposes a new 'circadian' subtype
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Could 'body clocks' play a role in depression? Study proposes a new 'circadian' subtype

Some people with depression sleep far more than average, wake up exhausted, habitually stay up late, and experience mood shifts with the seasons. A new study suggests that these symptoms may cluster in a distinct subtype of depression that's tied to the body's internal clock.While research has long linked a scrambled circadian rhythm to a risk of mood disorders, neuroscientists are now proposing that these disruptions define a specific form of depression that they call "circadian depression." First conceptualized in 2021, the body-clock subtype may affect about 1 in 4 people with severe, recurrent or persistent depression, the researchers estimate. In their new study, published Wednesday (Oc...

📅 2026-10-20 23:00:00    •    Live Science
Male seahorse pouch proteins may help remove toxic waste from developing embryos
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Male seahorse pouch proteins may help remove toxic waste from developing embryos

Male seahorses, fishes that belong to the Syngnathidae family, show a distinctive reproductive strategy in which males carry developing embryos in a brood pouch. Their most distinctive feature is the brood pouch on the ventral side of the male fish, into which the female fish transfers her eggs.

📅 2026-10-20 22:40:02    •    Phys.org
Will Tesla's 'flying car' ever hit the market, or is it a load of compressed air?
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Will Tesla's 'flying car' ever hit the market, or is it a load of compressed air?

Related storiesThe first flying taxis could start operating in 2026 — will this new form of transport actually take off?Watch four flying cars go toe-to-toe in new 'Formula One of the skies'Meet Sky Dragon, the giant 10-person 'flying taxi' that just passed its first flight test in ChinaFlying cars once seemed like the stuff of science fiction. But Tesla's recent demonstration, which showed the company's Rocket Roadster model briefly flying, has reignited the conversation about whether flying cars could soon become a reality. The technology behind flying cars is continuing to advance, with companies developing vehicles that combine elements of traditional cars, helicopters, electric aircraft...

📅 2026-10-20 22:32:17    •    Live Science
Diverse and sustained social activities may boost cognition in older age
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Diverse and sustained social activities may boost cognition in older age

Diverse and sustained social activities may boost cognitive performance and slow the decline in brain health associated with aging, suggest the findings of a large international study, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

📅 2026-10-20 22:30:16    •    Phys.org
Soybean waste yields 3D-printable material that could help repair skin
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Soybean waste yields 3D-printable material that could help repair skin

Transforming a soybean processing byproduct into a material for skin protection and repair is the prospect outlined by a study that used okara, a residue from the production of tofu and soy-based beverages, to obtain a bioactive, biodegradable, 3D-printable biomaterial.

📅 2026-10-20 22:20:12    •    Phys.org
A hidden rivalry between two quantum states at the heart of superconductors
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A hidden rivalry between two quantum states at the heart of superconductors

Transmitting electricity without losing any energy may sound impossible, yet this is precisely the promise of superconductivity. For nearly 40 years, scientists have been working to understand materials that exhibit this remarkable property at relatively high temperatures. Unlocking their secrets could one day help make power grids more efficient, enhance medical technologies and support the development of quantum computing.

📅 2026-10-20 22:00:07    •    Phys.org
How buying weapons can harm a country's economy
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How buying weapons can harm a country's economy

Some wars are predictable. There are conflicts past and present which have been more or less expected because of economic and social conditions, a country's history or that of its neighbors.

📅 2026-10-20 21:50:01    •    Phys.org
Machine learning reveals potential warning signal for polar vortex disruptions
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Machine learning reveals potential warning signal for polar vortex disruptions

The polar vortex, a swirling mass of cold air encircling the North Pole, is sometimes disrupted by sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events, unleashing waves of frigid air that penetrate farther south than usual. Temperatures across North America and Europe drop precipitously when this happens, but such events remain hard to predict, meaning we can't easily warn people when SSW is imminent.

📅 2026-10-20 21:40:16    •    Phys.org
'Terror of kings': Why the 1066 appearance of Halley's Comet terrified the medieval world
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'Terror of kings': Why the 1066 appearance of Halley's Comet terrified the medieval world

A sequence on the Bayeux Tapestry shows King Harold alongside a crowd gazing at the sky, beneath the embroidered caption Isti mirant stella ("those people marvel at the star"). Above Harold sits Halley's Comet, with ghostlike invasion boats in the border below—a Norman framing of Harold as a doomed usurper whose betrayal invited destruction.

📅 2026-10-20 21:30:01    •    Phys.org
New study reveals the high financial value of privacy in legal proceedings
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New study reveals the high financial value of privacy in legal proceedings

A new Management Science study provides rare real-world evidence that people are willing to give up thousands of dollars to prevent sensitive information about their health and income from becoming public. The research, developed over five years by an international team, has now also laid the foundation for a European research project led by Ehud Guttel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

📅 2026-10-20 21:20:11    •    Phys.org
Oxygen collisions show evidence of jet quenching, a signature of early-universe matter
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Oxygen collisions show evidence of jet quenching, a signature of early-universe matter

New results from the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provide strong evidence that smashing oxygen nuclei together at nearly the speed of light generates a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a type of matter that existed just after the birth of the universe. The data, just published in Physical Review Letters, show that energetic jets of particles lose energy as they traverse the hot, dense matter left in the collision's wake.

📅 2026-10-20 21:20:01    •    Phys.org