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DNA From Ancient Grape Seeds Shows Spain’s Wine Came From the Phoenicians, Not the Romans

14 September 2026 at 11:20
One grape variety still grown in Spanish vineyards, hebén, has never gone out of cultivation for at least the last 1,100 years, according to the new study. That takes its lineage back to roughly the year 929, around when the Caliphate of Córdoba was proclaimed in southern Spain. Eleven centuries of unbroken agriculture, and the […]

The Last Battle of America’s Indian Wars Wasn’t Fought by the Sioux or the Apache — It Happened in 1918

11 September 2026 at 09:14
In the United States, the phrase Indian Wars conjures a specific set of images: the Battle of Little Bighorn, the massacres at Wounded Knee and Sand Creek, the forced marches of the Trail of Tears, the decades-long manhunt for Geronimo. All of it is generally remembered as a 19th-century story, closed out by the early […]

Neanderthals Returned to This Spanish Cave Every Year for Generations — Long Before Homo Sapiens Ever Set Foot Inside

8 September 2026 at 09:14
Deep inside Ojo Guareña, one of the largest cave systems in Europe, in the northern Spanish province of Burgos, archaeologists have spent eleven consecutive summers digging through a single Neanderthal layer. This year’s season, which wrapped up in late August 2026, pushed the excavated area of that layer — known as level 4D — to […]

Women Also Organized Banquets: Epigraphy Reveals the Leading Role of Females in Public Celebrations in Roman Hispania

14 August 2026 at 07:37
When we think about Roman society, the image that usually comes to mind is that of a world dominated by men: senators, magistrates, generals, and emperors. According to the traditional narrative, women occupied a secondary place, confined to the domestic sphere and excluded from public life. However, a recent study based on the analysis of […]

The Sons of Míl: The Science Behind the Irish Legend That Traces the Origins of the Celts to Northern Spain

13 August 2026 at 11:58
In 2006, geneticist Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, published the results of a study that had taken him a decade to complete. His team had collected and analyzed the mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome of 10,000 volunteers from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, with the aim of reconstructing the […]

The Foundations of the Lost Hospedería of the Catholic Monarchs Found in Guadalupe

11 August 2026 at 08:01
Excavations carried out during the past month of July in the monumental complex of Guadalupe (Extremadura, Spain) have brought to light the foundation remains of the former Hospedería of the Catholic Monarchs (Guesthouse of the Catholic Monarchs), a lost historic building that has nothing to do with the current Hospedería del Real Monasterio that operates […]

The Neanderthals of a Cave in Northern Spain Were Already Making and Reusing Bone Tools in a Standardized and Planned Way

A team of researchers from the University of Burgos and the Atapuerca Foundation has published the first detailed analysis of the bone retouchers found in the Valdegoba cave, in the municipality of Huérmeces (Burgos). This site, occupied by Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic, has yielded 38 bone fragments that were used as tools to retouch […]

Spain commits up to $2.3 billion for national military communications for IRIS²

31 July 2026 at 16:57

WARSAW, Poland — The Spanish government announced it will allocate between 1.6 billion and 2 billion euros ($1.8 to $2.3 billion) to develop a national military satellite communications constellation that […]

The post Spain commits up to $2.3 billion for national military communications for IRIS² appeared first on SpaceNews.

Apple pledges support as wildfires ravage southern Europe

30 July 2026 at 16:00

Apple logo

Apple’s outgoing CEO Tim Cook expressed solidarity with communities hit by the ongoing wildfires across southern Europe and confirmed the company will donate to on-the-ground relief efforts.

In a post on X late Wednesday, Cook wrote: “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the devastating wildfires in southern Europe. Thank you to the first responders, and to everyone still in harm’s way, please stay safe. Apple will be donating to relief efforts on the ground.”

Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the devastating wildfires in southern Europe. Thank you to the first responders, and to everyone still in harm's way, please stay safe. Apple will be donating to relief efforts on the ground.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 30, 2026

The statement comes amid one of Europe’s most severe wildfire seasons in recent years. Intense heatwaves, dry vegetation, and strong winds have fueled major blazes in France, Spain, Greece, and other areas, burning hundreds of thousands of hectares, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, and claiming lives including multiple firefighters.

In southwestern France, a large fire near Bordeaux has scorched around 42,000 hectares of pine forest, prompting the evacuation of roughly 220,000 residents and vacationers at its peak (with many later allowed to return as conditions eased somewhat). France has already recorded its highest wildfire-burned area in years, surpassing previous full-year totals with summer still underway.

Spain has faced its largest wildfire on record west of Madrid (in the Ávila region and surroundings), with total burned area across the country exceeding 200,000 hectares according to European data. Evacuations affected tens of thousands, and new outbreaks continued in provinces including Zamora, León, and Castellón.

In Greece, fires on Crete and elsewhere killed three firefighters and forced tourists and residents to flee, some by boat. Broader European Forest Fire Information System figures show far-above-average burned area and number of fires so far in 2026, driven by successive heatwaves that have left vegetation highly flammable.

Cook’s message follows Apple’s established pattern of offering financial support after major disasters without publicly disclosing exact donation amounts. Similar statements and aid have been issued after other recent crises.

MacDailyNews Note: As temperatures remain elevated and fire weather risks persist (particularly shifting eastward toward Italy and Greece in coming weeks) emergency crews continue battling the blazes while residents and responders face ongoing threats. Apple’s planned contribution aims to assist those recovery and relief operations already underway.


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The post Apple pledges support as wildfires ravage southern Europe appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The Oldest Library in the Iberian Peninsula and the Westernmost in the Entire Empire Found in a Roman Villa in Córdoba

A team from the University of Granada has confirmed that a room in the Roman villa of Fuente Álamo, in the municipality of Puente Genil, functioned as a library, making it the oldest documented in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the best-preserved in the entire Empire. The study, published in the Journal of Mediterranean […]

Discovery Shows Lead Was Worked in the Iberian Peninsula During the Bronze Age 1,800 Years Before the Phoenicians Arrived

A discovery at the Minferri site, in the town of Juneda in Lleida, has completely upended the established chronology for lead metallurgy in the Iberian Peninsula. The research carried out at this Bronze Age site, whose results have just been published in the scientific journal Antiquity, places the production of lead objects between 1900 and […]

Archaeologists Discover 120 Roman Inscriptions in Spanish Cave that Reveal the Role of Women in the Goddess’s Rituals

The archaeological campaign carried out during May and June 2026 in Cova Dones, located in the Valencian municipality of Millares in southeastern Spain, has completely transformed the previously known scope of this underground site. The work, led by researchers from the Universities of Alicante and Zaragoza, has documented a total of 120 Latin inscriptions on […]

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