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Mon, Aug 10, 2026

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Intricate Carvings in Ostrich Eggshells are 60,000 Years Old – and Reveal ‘Remarkable’ Human Thinking

Intricate Carvings in Ostrich Eggshells are 60,000 Years Old – and Reveal ‘Remarkable’ Human Thinking

Fragments of ancient etched ostrich eggshells from Diepkloof site -Courtesy of University of Bologna / Pierre-Jean Texier

Dating back more than 60,000 years ago, humans in southern Africa were engraving ostrich eggshells with intricate geometric patterns that—the longer we study them—look more organized than we previously realized.

A new analysis of the markings found on hundreds of eggshell fragments has revealed our ancestors' remarkable ability to organize visual space according to abstract principles.

Hundreds of the highly unusual egg fragments were found at several archaeological sites where, researchers believe, they were engraved by groups of Homo sapiens who lived in that region.

The investigation team from the University of Bologna concluded for the first time that these engravings on ostrich eggshells were not random or improvised, but followed recurring and surprisingly organized geometric rules, according to the study published in the journal PLOS One.

"We are talking about people who did not simply draw lines, but organized them according to recurring principles — parallelisms, grids, rotations and systematic repetitions: a visual grammar in embryo," says Professor Silvia Ferrara, from the University of Bologna's Department of Classical Philology and Italian

Cheese Lovers Unite: The Benefits of Full-Fat Dairy Documented in Study Without Cholesterol Rise or Weight Gain

Cheese Lovers Unite: The Benefits of Full-Fat Dairy Documented in Study Without Cholesterol Rise or Weight Gain

A display case at the Museum of Cheese in Paris – Credit: Musee du Fromage

A University of Toronto study is offering new evidence in support of full-fat dairy consumption.

The findings from a 12-week study demonstrate that three daily servings of full-fat dairy can be incorporated into a person's diet without negatively affecting their body weight (or composition), energy metabolism, or blood lipid levels.

In fact, the results, published recently in The Journal of Nutrition, show that participants who ate more dairy saw improvements in blood pressure and had higher intake of calcium, protein and vitamin D.

You may ask, why the literature keeps changing around the 'dangers' of dairy. It turns out, when the scientists reveal more, we all learn more.

Dairy products contain saturated fats, which contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which is why dietary guidelines around the world have traditionally recommended fat-free or low-fat dairy foods.

However, Professor Harvey Anderson, in the nutritional sciences field at the Toronto University's Faculty of Medicine, says despite these concerns, numerous human studies have found no association between full-fat dairy consumption and negative health outcomes.

Some

Woman’s Viral Video Raises More Than $174K for Disabled Veteran She Spotted Working at Airport

Woman’s Viral Video Raises More Than $174K for Disabled Veteran She Spotted Working at Airport

– credit, LaCinda Thackery via GoFundMe

A woman was able to help a partially disabled airport worker retire after she witnessed him hobbling across the tarmac on a flight out of Los Angeles.

Heartbroken watching him limp up to the plane she was sitting on, she captured a video of the man for her TikTok account and posted it with a caption asking if anyone knew who he was.

The footage went viral, and soon, a fundraiser did to.

James Blair is a Navy veteran, working in the military between 1980 and 1990 before reentering civilian life as a fuel mechanic. Since 2006 he's worked at John Wayne Airport despite hardly being able to walk from a pair of deteriorated knees.

Having recently turned 64, and therefore not far from social security and presumably a military pension, he cannot retire as his income helps support his elderly mother's hospice care.

Knowing none of this, Thackery proceeded to watch as comments piled up asking her how someone might be able to help the poor man, until finally a commentor identified him as Blair, at which point she was able to get in

The World’s First Giant Anteater Reintroduction Appears to Be Succeeding in Brazil

The World’s First Giant Anteater Reintroduction Appears to Be Succeeding in Brazil

A mother anteater carrying a baby on her back – credit, DJ Cooker, iNaturalist via CC 4.0. BY

It's been almost 20 years since Argentina launched what was at the time the world's first attempt at reintroducing the giant anteater to a landscape it had disappeared from.

19 years later, and the initiative has been nothing if not successful, with the local population growing from 0 to around 200 individuals.

La Fundación Rewilding Argentina initiated the project in 2007 in the Iberá Wetlands, in the province of Corrientes.

The species, locally known as yurumí, had disappeared from Corrientes in the mid-20th century due to poaching, fires, and habitat degradation.

Over the course of the operational stage of the project, 110 giant anteaters were rescued or rehabilitated for release into the wilds of Corrientes. These individuals might have been orphaned, or rescued after having wandered too close to civilization.

Of those 110 individuals, many procreated, leading to steady population growth and multiple generations of wild-born, wild-raised animals well suited to the wetlands. There are now 200 anteaters living wild there.

The Fundación said that the methodology applied

Good News in History, July 31

Good News in History, July 31

240 years ago today, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect by Robert Burns, the National Poet of Scotland, was published in Kilmarnock. It was a hit, and catapulted him to Scottish Stardom. Among the collection is one of his two most famous poems, To a Mouse, which is actually called To a Mouse, on turning up her nest, with the plough, November. Of Burns' reputation as the "ploughman poet" who writes about rural life, this title is typical, but not as dramatic as The auld Farmer's new-year-morning Salutation, to his auld Mare, Maggy, on giving her the accustomed ripp of Corn to hansel in the new year. READ some of these poems… (1786)

Robert Burns portrait by Alexander Nasmyth

To a Mouse includes the famous line "The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry." In the poem about Maggy the mare, he opens in his classic rhyming pattern, this one in Scotts:

A Guid New-year I wish thee, Maggie!
Hae, there's a ripp to thy auld baggie:
Tho' thou's howe-backit now, an' knaggie,
I've seen the day
Thou could hae gaen like ony staggie,
Out-owre the lay.

Other poems include To a Louse, proving there is no "beastie" so insignificant as to

Climate-Friendly Heat Pumps Are Becoming Dominant Home HVAC System in America

Climate-Friendly Heat Pumps Are Becoming Dominant Home HVAC System in America

Heat pump installation – Efficiency Maine

The rapid adoption of heat pumps in the United States is becoming little short of a revolution, such that these clever HVAC devices in a few years will effectively replace previous systems.

Indeed of all new homes built last year, 46% were completed with heat pumps, just 1% below other more recognizable systems like water boilers, gas furnaces, and air conditioners.

Heat pumps use the process of changing a liquid to a gas and back again to cool and heat air that's pumped into the house or building they service. They generate substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a gas furnace or burning heating oil, and because they rely on electricity, can take advantage of renewable energy.

Previous generations relied on the kinds of refrigerants that were 2,000-times more capable of creating a greenhouse effect than CO2, but modern EPA regulations are seeing that previous fluid exchanged for ones with lower global warming potential, or even propane.

In the first quarter of this year, there were 32% more heat pump sales in the US than older home heating systems, according to a new

Miracle as All 11 Onboard Survive Harrowing Seaplane Crash and Fire in Puget Sound’s Frigid Water

Miracle as All 11 Onboard Survive Harrowing Seaplane Crash and Fire in Puget Sound’s Frigid Water

The seaplane's wreckage – US Coastguard Northwest

Miraculously, all 11 souls walked away with their lives after a seaplane both crashed and caught fire in the Puget Sound.

Operator Kenmore Air said in a statement that one of its planes, a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter, was on route out of Seattle with 10 passengers and a pilot when "an accident" saw the seaplane go down at 5:15 p.m. local time last Thursday.

Going down on the water, the plane also caught fire, and had already sunk in the frigid water by the time the US Coast Guard first responders arrived on scene.

Again, as if by a miracle, all 11 souls on board were rescued alive; some having sustained injuries like broken bones, lacerations, and head injuries.

"The pilot probably did a really good job to set it down gently enough to give everybody a chance," Coast Guard Lt. Commander Marshall Burtt told CBS Evening News. "A lot of things went right to get everybody out of the plane."

3 air ambulances arrived to rush the injured, including one who was in critical condition, to safety.

MORE MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL

Scientists Develop Enzyme to Limit Environmental Impact of Mine Waste, Testing Underway

Scientists Develop Enzyme to Limit Environmental Impact of Mine Waste, Testing Underway

A research team member applies the enzyme solution on a mine waste deposit at the abandoned Cash Mine – credit, courtesy of Hamed

Arizona State University researchers are testing ways to neutralize mining's biggest environmental liabilities.

At present the mining sector is experiencing a surge in interest and investment, as America has seemingly woken up to the dearth of Western supply for various minerals critical to a modern economy.

At the same time, soaring precious metals prices have rapidly increased operating margins on gold and silver mines beyond 100%, turning dozens of tight operations into some of the most profitable businesses in the country.

As part of the ASU Mining Innovation Initiative, scientists and innovators are looking for ways to stabilize mine waste and reduce environmental contamination resulting from them as America prepares to enter a new mining boom.

The largest source of mine waste in the industry is known as tailings, or tails. Consisting of crushed and milled stone mixed with water from the process of separating the stone from the valuable mineralized ore, tailings often contain deleterious elements like arsenic and lead, or even residues from the process of using

Organizations Rally to Reunite Lost Pets with Owners Following Earthquake in Japan

Organizations Rally to Reunite Lost Pets with Owners Following Earthquake in Japan

– credit Kyushu Animal Academy

An inspiring story of solidarity between pet owners comes from Japan, recently rattled by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

In the wake of the disaster that destroyed homes and claimed over 3 dozen lives, an organization that acts as a digital hub for lost pet notices has amplified the signal of these notices, and worked to help reunite owners with their animals.

Maigo Ken no Keijiban or the Lost Dog Bulletin Board, has 150,000 members on social media, and is a registered equivalent to an American 501(c)3.

On Tuesday, a lost Chihuahua named Leo was successfully identified, located, and returned to his owner a mile away from where he was found, all through social media—a testament to how effective methods like this can be.

Japan Times, reporting on the aid movement, added that another dog—a Shiba Innu named Go—has been sighted by members of Bulletin Board's Kyushu island chapter. His owner, Yosuke Matsuda, is waiting eagerly for more news.

"We adopted him less than a year ago. We think he was abused before, so he's very easily frightened," Matsuda told the Times, adding that the

Good News in History, August 1

Good News in History, August 1

61 years ago today, Frank Herbert's epic science-fiction novel Dune was published. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefdoms, it tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "spice," a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Dune is a landmark in science fiction; a Hugo Award winner that has sold 20 million copies in dozens of languages. And was recently made into two incredible films. READ more… (1965)

Dune first edition cover (Copy)

There's a difficulty in measuring the exact impact of Dune, as it is considered perhaps the greatest science-fiction book ever written. Arthur C. Clarke the famous scientist and writer who co-wrote the screenplay for 2001: A Space Oddessey, said of Dune upon its release that "I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings."

Several planetary features are named after Dune, including plains on Saturn's moon of Titan, and a crater on our Moon.

Creators of beloved science fiction content of every degree, from the

Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny

Our partner Rob Brezsny, whose latest book is Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob's Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)

Here is your weekly horoscope…

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of August 1, 2026
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

 

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Neurologists say that when you vividly imagine performing an action like shooting a basketball or playing piano, your brain activates many of the same networks it uses in real practice. In other words, mental rehearsal can measurably improve your actual performance. Many athletes use this trick. But here's an interesting twist: Such visualizations work for emotional and social skills too. We can enhance our resilience and better regulate our moods if we practice doing so in the privacy of

Blowing Bubbles Allows Sperm Whales to Sleep Soundly Beneath the Waves, Reveals Study

Blowing Bubbles Allows Sperm Whales to Sleep Soundly Beneath the Waves, Reveals Study

Resting sperm whales – Credit: Stéphane Granzotto / SWNS

New research shows that blowing bubbles helps sperm whales to sleep soundly, hidden beneath the waves.

It actually stops them from floating to the surface during nap time.

While little is known about how sperm whales sleep, researchers believe that the ocean giants doze underwater for 10 to 15 minutes at a time with their heads facing upwards.

They keep away from the choppy waters of the surface while still remaining close enough to get a breath of fresh air if the need arises.

However, one issue has puzzled scientists. A sperm whale's head is massive—taking up nearly a third of its body—and filled with oil, wax and air.

Those materials float, so how does the species stay underwater without popping to the surface like a cork while they sleep?

Now we know, after researchers from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, dug into the question with high tech underwater equipment.

Resting sperm whales blowing bubbles Credit: Stéphane Granzotto / SWNS

They used devices that would allow them

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