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History
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We are makers of history, yet we are also molded by it. The line connecting us to our ancestors spans decades, centuries, and millennia; the lessons learned from our progenitors are passed down the generations through timeless stories and discovered remnants of our enigmatic yet beautiful past. Modern Sciences recounts the passage of time, how humanity has shaped it, and how it has shaped humanity.
What a list of Black Death survivors reveals about the way people recovered from plague
The Dance of Death by John of Kastav (1490). National Gallery of Slovenia Alex Brown, Durham University and…
We found a lost copy of the earliest surviving English poem in a medieval manuscript in Rome
Elisabetta Magnanti and Mark Faulkner with a copy of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Courtesy of…
The human body isn’t a masterpiece of design – it’s a patchwork of evolutionary compromise
Our bodies are a living archive of evolution. ZCOOL HelloRF/ Shutterstock Lucy E. Hyde, University of Bristol The…
Rock art, dance and ritual: what we learned from paintings in Zimbabwe
Joshua Kumbani, University of Tübingen and Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Universitat de Barcelona Rock paintings are found throughout Zimbabwe. They…
An extinct echidna the size of a small child once roamed Victoria, new fossil shows
Giant long-beaked echidna (Megalibgwilia owenii). Chris Edser/Museums Victoria, CC BY-NC Tim Ziegler, Museums Victoria Research Institute Those who…
The revolution in dinosaur science started 50 years ago – here’s what we have learned
Michael J. Benton, University of Bristol and Emily Rayfield, University of Bristol The study of dinosaurs has been…
How medieval chess created a space in which players – regardless of race – could engage as equals
An illustration from the Libro de Axedrez showing two players immersed in a game. Libro de Axedrez Krisztina…
Ancient bones show dogs have been woven into human life for nearly 16,000 years
Reconstruction of 14,300-year-old dog jawbone from Gough’s Cave, England. Tom Anders & Longleat Andrew Fairbairn, The University of…
Who was St Patrick?
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Meaghan McEvoy, Australian National University The patron saint of Ireland was not, in fact,…
The first modern rocket launched 100 years ago, beginning a century of both innovations and challenges for spaceflight
Robert Goddard, considered the father of modern rocketry, standing with a rocket in 1935. Esther Goddard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images…