This week’s science news was full of discoveries of archaeological treasures, starting with the revelation that a foundation stone for a Czech garden barn was actually a spearhead shape from the Bronze Age.
The shape, carved into ancient volcanic rock and dated to about 1350 BC, is a relic of the ancient Urnfield culture, a late Bronze Age culture from central Europe known for burying their cremated dead in urns across the Carpathian Basin and beyond. Making uniform weapons with molds like these made armed conflicts easier to sustain, while also strengthening the political and commercial influence of the peoples of the region.
The Gulf Stream drives the AMOC
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) brings warm weather to Europe and is a conveyor belt of carbon and nutrients across the globe. But while fresh water flowing from Greenland’s melting ice sheet is expected to drain this vital ocean current of its strength, and potentially even push it to collapse, scientists have yet to find a direct signal that this is happening.
That may have changed this week, however, with news of a new modeling study pointing to a clear smoking gun for weakening the AMOC — the deflection of the Gulf Stream’s path farther north along the U.S. coastline. Worryingly, satellite data shows that this shift may have already begun.
Discover more news about planet Earth
—California’s wildfire season is changing, with more fires burning after the traditional high-risk window, study finds
—‘Black water’ lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are now releasing old carbon into the atmosphere
—Gem-filled river and striated mountain ridges form massive “Y” in China’s revitalized desert – Earth from space
Life’s little mysteries
Anything that blocks light casts a shadow, and that includes the earth itself. But where can we spot the planet’s umbra? We asked some astronomers, and it turns out that under the right conditions, you can see the earth’s shadow every day.
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The sun’s migration across the Milky Way saved life on Earth
Our Sun was born 4.6 billion years ago near the bustling center of our Milky Way, but new research suggests that the existence of life on our planet is linked to a 10,000 light-year migration from our star to its current galactic suburbs.
The new study used the Gaia space telescope to analyze the age, temperatures and composition of our Sun and map more than 6,000 stellar “twins”. The results showed that our solar system’s move to more sedate environments – away from energetic events such as supernovae – may be what gave life a chance to flourish on Earth.
Discover more space news
—‘Interstellar messenger’ 3I/ATLAS may be nearly as old as the universe itself, James Webb telescope observations reveal
—The universe-shattering collision of black hole and neutron star could increase our understanding of monster cosmic mergers
—Exceptionally rare sightings of planets colliding could shed light on the crash that formed the Moon
Also in the science news this week
—Scientists use ‘negative light’ to send secret messages hidden in heat
—Generative AI can enhance and enhance our delusions, findings show
—Scientists squeezed microbes into a steel ‘sandwich’ – and made a profound discovery about life in space
—‘Garlic rectal insertion for immune support’: Medical chatbots confidently give disastrously misguided advice, experts say
—Falling meteorite smashes hole in roof of German house after spectacular ‘fireball’ explosion over Europe
—Gigantic 10-person ‘flying taxi’ passes first flight test in China
The spotlight of science
Oil is back in the news this week. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most vital oil transit bottleneck – in response to the US-Israeli war with the Middle Eastern country has sent oil prices above $100 a barrel.
As the global economy shrugs off what the International Energy Agency warned is set to be “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” Live Science just investigated how the world can free itself from the politically and environmentally disastrous fossil fuelsand found out that it could one day go the way of whale blubber.
Something for the weekend
If you’re looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best features, crosswords and opinion pieces published this week.
—Live Science Crossword #33: ‘E’ in E =mc^2 — 2 down (crossword)
—AI just confirmed a proof that won one of mathematics’ most prestigious prizes. Mathematics will never be the same (Opinion)
Science news in pictures
It might not look like much, but that’s because, at least physically, it isn’t.
This is the world’s smallest QR code, measuring just 3.07 × 10⁻⁹ square inches (1.98 square micrometers) and created by etching a grid onto a ceramic film using an ion beam. It is captured here by an electron microscope (the wavelengths of visible light are too thick to resolve it).
And if you’re asking what the point is, rest assured that the scientists who created it aren’t trying to create the most annoying restaurant menu in the world. Instead, they believe their tiny codes could be an attractive alternative to using single-overwrite magnetic tapes for long-term data storage.
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