The MetaboloMips group applied experimental archaeology to find out whether lanolin (a wax usually found in wool) was present on prehistoric tools made of flint and obsidian as that would indicate that the humans of that time sheared their sheep, and thus reveal when textile making started. The analytical strategy developed by the EHU will enable degradation compounds of lanolin to be detected in archaeological samples.

Researchers have examined a mummy from a small Austrian village and found a mix of unusual materials has been used to preserve the body. Stuffed with twigs, wood chips, and treated with zinc chloride, the mummy’s torso showed little signs of decay. It is the first report on this embalming method. Further sophisticated examination also allowed the team to identify the mummy as a local parish vicar who lived in the region around 300 years ago.

Imagine trying to tell identical twins apart just by looking at their fingerprints. That’s how challenging it can be for scientists to distinguish the tiny powdery pollen grains produced by fir, spruce and pine trees. But a new artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Nevada and Virginia Tech is making that task a lot easier—and potentially bringing big relief to allergy sufferers.

A new book by Dr. Robert Spengler tackles one of the biggest questions in biology and the social sciences: domestication – what it is, how it occurred, and the role that humans really played in developing the first crops and livestock.