Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers used dendrochronology and a radiocarbon spike from 5,259 BC to date a prehistoric Greek settlement to over 7,000 years ago. This new method enables precise dating for other Southeast European archaeological sites.

Researchers at the University of Bern have, for the first time, precisely dated a prehistoric settlement of early farmers in northern Greece to over 7,000 years ago. They achieved this by combining annual growth ring measurements on wooden building elements with a significant spike in cosmogenic radiocarbon dating to 5,259 BC. This method provides a reliable chronological reference point for numerous other archaeological sites in Southeast Europe.

Dating finds plays a key role in archaeology. It is always essential to find out how old a tomb, settlement, or single object is. Determining the age of finds from prehistoric times has only been possible for a few decades. Two methods are used for this: dendrochronology, which enables dating on the basis of sequences of annual rings in trees, and radiocarbon dating, which can calculate the approximate age of the finds by the decay rate of the radioactive carbon isotope ¹⁴ C contained in the tree rings.

Washi: the traditional Japanese paper, known for its beauty and strength, has been used in bookbinding, art, furniture, and architecture for hundreds of years. But, more recently, washi’s usage is on the decline, as people opt for more western style housing designs.

What influences mental health, academic achievement, and cognitive growth? A recent review published in De Gruyter’s Reviews in the Neurosciences indicates that poverty and low socioeconomic status (SES) are significant contributing factors. While previous research has explored the individual impacts of poverty on the brain and behavior, this review introduces the first integrated framework. It synthesizes evidence from various studies to directly connect brain alterations caused by low SES with behavioral, pathological, and developmental outcomes.

SES refers to the social standing of an individual or family, and involves factors such as wealth, occupation, educational attainment, and living conditions. As well as affecting day-to-day life, perhaps surprisingly SES can also have far-reaching consequences for our brains that begin in childhood and persist into adulthood.

So, how can poverty and low SES change the brain? The review examines the negative effects of poor nutrition, chronic stress, and environmental hazards (such as pollution and inadequate housing conditions), which are more likely to affect low-SES families. These factors can impair the brain development of children, which in turn can influence their language skills, educational attainment, and risk of psychiatric illness.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of space exploration, private companies are increasingly taking the lead. One company at the forefront of this commercial space revolution is Sierra Space. With its innovative inflatable habitat modules and ambitious plans, Sierra Space is poised to play a pivotal role in building the next generation of space stations and lunar habitats.

Previously seen mainly in rural areas, abandoned houses or “akiya” are now spreading to major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.

Jones’ family home sat to the south of Lake Livingston, in the river bottoms of Coldspring, the San Jacinto County seat. It was overtaken by water shortly after the family left and Jones found safe harbor for their animals, his neighbors told him.

Much of the county was still underwater Friday as crews pulled stranded residents from their homes and roadways.

His family sat among dozens of evacuees who rested on cots and sat around plastic folding tables in Dunbar Gym, a makeshift shelter in an old school building. Many were elderly or infirm, few spoke English or were comfortable telling their stories.

When facing a predator, single cells sometimes unite to defend themselves, paving the way for more complex multicellular life forms to evolve.

POTSDAM, Germany — One of the most lifeless places on Earth is actually hiding an underground biosphere teeming with microscopic life! Researchers have unearthed this amazing oasis under Chile’s Atacama Desert. The findings not only change our view of life on Earth, but they might prove that there is still life under the soil of dead alien worlds like Mars!

Despite being renowned as the driest desert on Earth, with some regions going decades or even centuries without a drop of rain, researchers from Germany discovered hardy communities of microorganisms that have managed to carve out habitats deep below the desert floor. Down here, totally isolated from the surface world, microscopic life finds a way to eke out an existence against all odds.

Study author Dirk Wagner and the team from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences explain that they detected signs of potentially viable microbial ecosystems as far as 13 feet underground. This remarkable discovery is upending our understanding of desert biodiversity, demonstrating that life can persist in even the most extreme subterranean environments on Earth.

Discover Menteebot, the headless AI-enabled household chore robot developed by Mentee Robotics.