10-Mile-Wide Ames Impact Crater Linked to 372-Million-Year-Old Violent Extinction Event
The 10-mile-wide Ames impact crater in Oklahoma likely formed during a violent extinction event 100 million years later than believed.
Fossils
A Single Jawbone From Egypt Is Changing How Scientists Think About Ape Origins
For much of the past century, fossils from East Africa have shaped our understanding of ape evolution. Now, a jawbone found in the Egyptian desert adds a new dimension to that story.
Mystery Fossils Reveal the First Known Ankylosaur Hatchling
For over two decades, paleontologists have puzzled over a set of unusually small dinosaur fossils from northeastern China.
Deep Within a Cave in Central Texas, Scientists Have Made an Unexpected Discovery
Within an unexplored cave in Central Texas, scientists have made an ancient discovery never previously documented in the region.
Fossilized Bones Can Reveal Chemical Traces of Ancient Biology, New Research Demonstrates
A new study in Nature led by scientists at New York University reports that fossil bones as old as 3 million years still contain thousands of preserved metabolic molecules.
Scientists Reveal How Dinosaur Eggshells Can Function as Natural Clocks for Measuring Deep Time
New research shows that fossilized dinosaur eggshells can be used to help scientists more precisely date prehistoric nesting sites.
Giant Marine Predators Once Hunted in Freshwater Rivers, New Study Suggests
Large prehistoric marine reptiles known as mosasaurs dominated the oceans until their extinction 66 million years ago.
Mysterious Magnetic Fossils Left Behind by An Unknown Ancient Creature Offer Clues to the Origins of Nature’s “Sixth Sense”
Ninety-seven-million-year-old magnetic fossils, left behind in sea beds by an unknown creature, may have been a biological GPS.
Life on Earth Began About One Billion Years Earlier than Previously Thought, New Research Finds
Scientists have detected signatures in ancient rocks that push back the timeframe for the discovery of early life by billions of years.
Discovery of Ancient Amber in Ecuador Reveals the Tiny Inhabitants of an Ancient Gondwanan Forest
A team of scientists recently identified the first deposits of amber in South America to contain ancient insects, providing a window into biological life 112 million years ago.
“It Literally Leapt Out of the Rock at Us”: 150 Million-Year-Old Baby Pterosaur Fossils Stun Paleontologists
A recent study provides fresh details about how two small 150 million-year-old pterosaurs met their end during intense tropical storms.
Rare Discovery of Complete Plesiosaur Skeleton is Unlocking the Evolutionary Secrets of Jurassic Europe
Researchers found a new fossil of a marine dinosaur, Plesiopterys wildi, which gives clues to early life during ancient times.
22,000-Year-Old Evidence of Transport Technology Reshapes Our Understanding of the Ancient Americas
Archeologists say they have discovered evidence of 22,000-year-old transport technology used in the ancient Americas.
Ancient Interactions with an Enigmatic “Lost” Species Profoundly Shaped Early Human History, New Data Reveals
New data is revealing deeper insights into how early humans interbred with Denisovans in several distinct events that significantly shaped our early history.
Transmissions into Deep Space
This week on The Debrief Weekly Report...
This week on The Debrief Weekly Report...
SUBSCRIBE TO ‘THE DEBRIEF WEEKLY REPORT’: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY On this week’s episode, Kenna and Stephanie root around the swamp...
Ancient Remains of a Previously Unknown “Swamp Dweller” Have Been Discovered in Colorado
Paleontologists have discovered a previously unrecognized hairy "swamp dweller" in Colorado that thrived during the dinosaur era.
Dentist Makes an Unsettling Discovery in the Floor of His Parents’ Newly Renovated Home
An unsettling discovery in a renovated home reveals how evidence of the ancient past may quite literally be hidden right under our noses.
Mystery of HLD 6: Unearthed Ancient Remains Could Challenge Everything We Know About Human Evolution
Discover the enigma of HLD 6: Newly found remains in China that are reshaping our understanding of human evolution.
Science Textbooks May Be Wrong? Fossil Mystery Has Scientists Scrutinizing Brain Evolution
Half a billion years ago, an ancient wormlike animal was preserved in a seabed, whose fossil remains are now challenging our current theories about brain evolution.
Jurassic Bark: Evidence for Dinosaur Respiratory Infections
A new study from Ohio University has the first fossil to show evidence of a dinosaur respiratory infection.
Finding Alien Fossils Is NASA’s Goal on Mars, says Astrobiologist
NASA Astrobiologist Dr. Svetlana Shkolyar Hopes The Mars Perseverance Rover Captures Evidence of "Dead Stuff in Rocks."
NASA Astrobiologist Dr. Svetlana Shkolyar Hopes The Mars Perseverance Rover Captures Evidence of "Dead Stuff in Rocks."
NASA's Perseverance rover will collect and store soil samples that could contain fossils and evidence of alien life, and NASA is ready.