Artist’s reconstruction of a Palaeolithic woman making a digging stick from an alder tree trunk G. Prieto; K. Harvati The oldest known wooden tools have been found in an opencast mine in Greece. They are 430,000 years old and were made by an unidentified species of ancient human – perhaps the ancestors of Neanderthals. Prehistoric…
A few leftover donuts may not seem like a major problem, but for a fast-food operation with nearly 100 stores, unnecessary waste can add up to serious costs. To better predict donut demand, a Knoxville, Tennessee–based Dunkin’ franchisee, Bluemont Group, has rolled out an AI system called Do’Cast designed to cut waste while keeping popular…
YouTube Music has started putting lyrics — a previously free feature introduced in 2020 — behind a paywall, according to multiple users and 9to5Google. In the latest update, the “Lyrics” tab in the Now Playing screen displays a warning message: “You have [x] views remaining. Unlock lyrics with Premium.” Free users get lyrics for five…
We can usually agree what objects look like, but why? Martin Bond / Alamy Our world seems to be fundamentally fuzzy at the quantum level, yet we do not experience it that way. Researchers have now developed a recipe for measuring how quickly the objective reality that we do experience emerges from this fuzziness, strengthening…
Below, Kate Murphy shares five key insights from her new book, Why We Click: The Emerging Science of Interpersonal Synchrony. Murphy is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Texas Monthly, among other publications. What’s the big idea? Humans are instinctively wired to sync…
Apple’s iPhone lineup has grown more complicated over the years, with multiple models targeting different kinds of buyers. Some prioritize camera performance and display quality while others focus on design or price, and not everyone needs the most powerful option on the shelf. If you’re planning an upgrade, the challenge isn’t whether Apple makes a…
Christopher Michel/Contour RA by Getty Images Civilisations name their ages after materials. In school, we learn about the Stone Age, the Bronze Age – and we are currently in a silicon age characterised by computers and phones. What might define the next age? Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks a family of…
There is a type of business story that has become nearly cliché: A legacy brand is facing stagnating growth. Loyal customers are aging out, and new customers aren’t taking their place. So the brand reinvents itself to pull in a younger segment of the market, often by borrowing ideas from cooler competitors to seem more…
Whether you’re one of the few people still keeping up with New Year’s resolutions or just want an upgraded smartwatch, now is a good time to get an Apple Watch. Currently, the Apple Watch Series 11 is on sale for $299, down from $399. The 25 percent discount brings the 2025 model back down to…
A site on Isbjørne Island where Palaeo-Inuit people erected a circular tent Matthew Walls, Mari Kleist, Pauline Knudsen Humans were voyaging to remote islands off the north-west coast of Greenland 4500 years ago. This required them to cross over 50 kilometres of open water – one of the longest sea journeys made by Indigenous peoples…
