In 1973, an excavator pulled out a pile of soggy wood chips and discovered the world's oldest birthday invitation |

In 1973, an excavator pulled out a pile of soggy wood chips and discovered the world’s oldest birthday invitation |

Tablet 291, the world’s oldest known birthday invitation, written around 100 AD by Claudia Severa to her friend Sulpicia Lepidina. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons Imagine yourself as an archaeologist digging through thick, black mud at a Roman fort in northern England, and you find what looks exactly like a handful of wet wood shavings. Most…

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7,000-year-old DNA in Morocco reveals origins of North African farming | World News

7,000-year-old DNA in Morocco reveals origins of North African farming | World News

The Neolithic Revolution has sparked debate for years: Did it arise from local developments or through large-scale migration? Recent research in paleogenomics, published in Nature, sheds light on this. Scientists examined DNA from Moroccan sites like Kaf Taht el-Ghar, which dates back over 7,400 years. The findings show that agriculture in the Maghreb developed through…

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Biological gold: The 46-million-year-old mosquito caught red-handed with a belly full of blood |

Biological gold: The 46-million-year-old mosquito caught red-handed with a belly full of blood |

Scientists discovered a 46-million-year-old mosquito fossil in Montana. This ancient insect was perfectly preserved in shale, not amber. Its abdomen held its last meal, confirmed by chemical tests. Image Credits: Hemoglobin-derived porphyrins preserved in a Middle Eocene blood-engorged mosquito study by PNAS Fig 1 For decades, the notion of a prehistoric mosquito entombed in a…

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