In 2022, excavations at a cemetery in Pień, Poland, led by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology at Nicolaus Copernicus University, led to a mysterious discovery. In what they call Grave 75, they uncovered the 400-year-old remains of a young adult woman buried in a very unusual and unsettling way. A curved iron sickle was placed directly over her neck, with its blade pointing toward her throat, while a triangular iron padlock was attached to the big toe of her left foot.

What does a clean room smell like? Many people say citrus, pine, or flowers because these fragrances are common in cleaning products. A research team led by Brandon Boor found that scent compounds in cleaning products—conventional and botanical essential oil-based—quickly react in the air, forming nanoparticles that can travel deep into the lungs if inhaled. To reduce exposure to this invisible pollution, the team suggests using unscented products, running exhaust fans, and avoiding ozone-generating devices while cleaning.

Dark matter is known to make up roughly 85% of all mass in the universe, as evidenced by the way galaxies spin and how galaxy clusters are held together under gravity. Yet despite decades of searching, physicists have never managed to detect the elusive substance directly.

As rescue teams searched for missing people following catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-China border, Earth scientists reviewed satellite imagery for clues to the cause and assessed the devastation.

Researchers have discovered a thermal asymmetry deep beneath the surface across Mars' southern hemisphere. Based on gravitational measurements that provide clues to the Red Planet's interior structure, Mars' southern interior is around 200 to 400 degrees Celsius warmer than the planet's northern half and partially molten. The surprising finding adds context to Martian history and the periods during which it may have hosted conditions favorable for life.

Scientists have identified an unexpected source of genetic variation in human sperm that occurs earlier in sperm development than previously thought. Published in Nature, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and their collaborators found that one type of genetic recombination involving chromosomes, called non-crossover gene conversion, happens before the cell divisions that produce sperm.

Slithering across the ceiling of an Australian rock shelter is a giant snake with a crocodile-like head, razor-sharp teeth and a long tongue. It's more than 6 meters (20 feet) long, making it one of the largest Rainbow Serpent paintings ever recorded in Arnhem Land and adding to the curious repertoire of similarly giant paintings across the region.

When a 10,000-year-old prairie is plowed up to plant corn or a savanna is consumed by a strip mall, these once-grassy expanses, if left to regrow, can eventually look vaguely like they did before. But a growing body of research suggests that what comes back isn't the same as what was lost, even decades later. And now scientists are starting to understand why.

When an athlete swings upside down atop a 7-meter (23-foot) pendulum, it may seem like a feat of strength, courage or technique. A new study suggests it is something more fundamental: a striking demonstration of how intelligence emerges from the interaction of brain, body and environment.

Plastic might be the last ingredient you would ever add to a cookie recipe. But a team of researchers is looking to change that. They've programmed yeasts to turn plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins and flavoring molecules, creating a treat from trash. The technology not only offers a new upcycling method but could also sustain life in disaster zones or even deep-space missions with humans aboard.