Study coordinated by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice opens new perspectives on the complex behaviour of prehistoric human populations. It’s the first time that the indigotin molecule has been found on such ancient artefacts, demonstrating the processing of Isatis tinctoria L., a non-edible plant: hypotheses are open on its use as a dye or medicine.

Underwater optical imaging plays an irreplaceable role in fields such as marine exploration, resource development, environmental monitoring, and underwater archaeology. However in the underwater environment, light is affected by scattering and absorption, which not only leads to blurred image details and reduced contrast, but also severely limits the imaging range, and further makes it difficult for traditional technologies to acquire scene depth information. Since underwater scattered light inherently exhibits partial polarization characteristics, polarization technology can separate the target light and reflected light by analyzing the polarization state of light, thereby effectively suppressing the scattering effect of turbid water. Nevertheless, existing polarization underwater imaging methods mostly focus on "enhancing image clarity" and neglect the hidden depth cues in polarization images. Although binocular imaging is suitable for underwater 3D perception due to its simple hardware and low energy consumption, in turbid water, objects with low texture are prone to failure in feature point matching, resulting in wrong depth information. To address this, this study focus on the depth cues contained in underwater polarization imaging, integrates polarization features into the binocular imaging framework, and improves the accuracy and stability of depth estimation in turbid water, filling the research gap of polarization in underwater three-dimensional imaging utilizing polarization imaging technology.

A newly-discovered species of a large, crocodile-relative predator has been described via a remarkably well-preserved fossil from Argentina, according to a study published August 27, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Fernando Novas from Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Argentina, and colleagues.

New research published in Nature reports that world's oldest dinosaur Spicomellus afer had a tail weapon more than 30 million years before any other ankylosaur, as well as a unique bony collar ringed with metre-long spikes sticking out from either side of its neck.

Spicomellus is the world’s oldest ankylosaur, having lived more than 165 million years ago in the Middle Jurassic near what is now the Moroccan town of Boulemane. It was the first ankylosaur to be found on the African continent.

Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms that fossilized marine invertebrates serve as a powerful tool for understanding long-term ecological change and informing modern conservation efforts.