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Ancient hominins selected basalt sources for specific tools nearly 800,000 years ago, study reveals

A new study finds that ancient hominins nearly 800,000 years ago deliberately selected specific basalt sources for different stages of tool production rather than simply using whatever stone was available nearby. By tracing the geochemical "fingerprints" of stone tools to both exposed and now-buried basalt flows, the researchers demonstrated that these hominins possessed detailed environmental knowledge, advanced planning abilities, and long-term technological traditions that were maintained and repeated across generations.

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Need for early, institution-wide AI literacy education highlighted in study

Along with researchers from James Madison University, three collaborators in the Office of the Provost recently published in Research & Practice in Assessment. Jaime Miller, Stuart Miller and Rachel Whitman Rotch began gathering data in the summer of 2025, investigating students' artificial intelligence (AI) literacy levels using the Generative AI Literacy Assessment Test (GLAT).

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Headless skeletons offer new insights into farming societies 7,000 years ago

Dozens of human skeletons, lying apparently randomly on and next to each other, with their skulls missing, present a terrifying sight at first glance. Since 2022, this is what researchers have been excavating in a 7,000-year-old settlement near the present-day town of VrΓ‘ble in Slovakia. Are the headless skeletons the remains of a Neolithic massacre, representing gruesome evidence of a crisis in ancient society?

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X-ray scans uncover Nazi symbols hidden beneath postwar painting

Erich Mercker (1891–1973), a painter from Munich, was quite successful in his day. Between 1933 and 1945, he painted works containing Nazi symbolism, including "Die StΓ€tte des 9. November," which depicts the Feldherrnhalle monument in Munich commemorating the NSDAP's failed coup in 1923. After the war, Mercker, like many other German artists, simply continued his career.

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Luxury brands turn memes into more shares, clicks and laughs across four experiments

Luxury brands have increasingly embraced internet memes in their social media advertising campaigns. For example, Gucci's #TFWGucci campaign demonstrated how luxury brands can incorporate memes into their digital communication strategies to capture consumers' attention. Memesβ€”digital content that spreads rapidly through sharing, imitation and adaptation across online communitiesβ€”have become a popular way for brands to engage consumers.

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Technology used to monitor conservation efforts at Rome's Colosseum to be used at the Ipiranga Museum

The same three-dimensional laser scanning technology used to monitor the Colosseum in Rome will be used in a conservation project at the Ipiranga Museum in SΓ£o Paulo, Brazil. Beatriz Kuhl, a professor at the University of SΓ£o Paulo's Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU-USP), presented the initiative, which is scheduled to begin in July, during FAPESP Week London, held June 2–4.

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Ancient dental calculus uncovers regional and historical shifts in Japan's oral microbiome

Researchers have characterized the oral microbiomes of the Japanese population across time by analyzing the DNA preserved in dental calculus of human skeletal remains. The researchers compared microbial composition in dental calculus primarily from Edo-period individuals with that of modern dental calculus, and identified differences associated with time period, region, and the phylogeny of several oral bacterial species. The findings show that dental calculus can provide new avenues for examining human history and the relationships between humans and microorganisms. The work appears in Scientific Reports .

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