New research on a vast fossil site in Patagonia shows that some of the earliest dinosaurs lived in herds and suggests that this behaviour may have been one of the keys to the success of dinosaurs. The discovery, at the ESRF, of embryos of the same species inside fossilized eggs contributed to the results. The findings are published today in the journal Scientific Reports.

Peter Turchin from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna and an interdisciplinary team of colleagues set out to test competing theories about what drove the evolution of war machines throughout world history. Their study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, sees the strongest influence on the evolution of military technology coming from world population size, the connectivity between geographical areas, and advances in critical technologies such as iron metallurgy or horse riding.

The Vikings were active in North America in the year 1021 AD. This now represents the earliest – and only – known year in which Europeans were present in the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1492 AD. It also represents a definitive point in time by which the Atlantic Ocean had been traversed and human migration had finally encircled the globe.

Archaeological sites like the Great Wall of China and the pyramids can be seen from space, but for ancient societies that did not build, their traces on the landscape are more difficult to find. Now Penn State researchers have used satellite data to identify areas in coastal southwest Madagascar where indigenous foragers altered their surroundings.

A new study reconstructs the path of frozen trees as they made their way across the Arctic Ocean over 500 years, giving scientists a unique look into changes in sea ice and currents over the last half millennium. By dating and tracing pieces of driftwood on beaches in Svalbard, Norway’s archipelago in the Arctic Circle, scientists have determined where these fallen trees floated.