Egyptologist Reveals Mysterious Messages Hidden in the Hieroglyphics on a 3,000-Year-Old Obelisk
Jean-Guillaume Olette-Pelletier says he has identified seven sets of crypto-hieroglyphs on the 75-foot-tall structure, which France received as a gift in 1836
Google Is Training a New A.I. Model to Decode Dolphin Chatter—and Potentially Talk Back
The company says its new model, called DolphinGemma, will be made open source this summer. Researchers are also trying to train dolphins to mimic made-up names for certain objects
There Might Be Something Human in the Way Bonobos Communicate—Their Calls Share a Key Trait With Our Language, Study Suggests
Researchers attempted to decode bonobo calls by recording their social context, then analyzed how the primates string together these vocalizations
Can Parrot Brains Teach Us About Human Speech? Study Finds Budgies Have Language-Producing Regions That Resemble Our Own
The parakeets commonly kept as pets could offer fresh clues about vocal learning and potential treatments for speech disorders
Huh? Interjections Are Critically Important to Communication
Utterances like “um,” “wow” and “mm-hmm” aren’t garbage—they keep conversations flowing
Scientists Identify a Gene Linked to Spoken Language, and It Makes Lab Mice Squeak Differently
A new study suggests the unique human version of the NOVA1 protein developed after our ancestors split from Neanderthals on the evolutionary tree, and it might have given us a competitive edge over our relatives
A Proposed Translation Hints at the Origins of the Mysterious Galloway Hoard
Discovered in a field in Scotland in 2014, the Viking Age “community property” is now the focus of a new exhibition in Australia
The Mystery of the World’s Oldest Writing System Remained Unsolved Until Four Competitive Scholars Raced to Decipher It
In the 1850s, cuneiform was just a series of baffling scratches on clay, waiting to spill the secrets of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia
Humpback Whale Song Shares a Key Pattern With Human Language That Might Make It Easier for the Animals to Learn
Despite humans and whales being separated by millions of years of evolution, our vocalizations follow the same principle outlined in Zipf’s law
Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Origins of Indo-European Languages
New research suggests that the first Indo-European speakers lived in southern Russia 6,500 years ago, challenging long-standing debates about the language family’s origins
Using A.I., Researchers Peer Inside a 2,000-Year-Old Scroll Charred by Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption
For the past two years, citizen scientists and scholars have been working to reveal the previously hidden texts of the Herculaneum scrolls
Researchers Have Deciphered a Nearly 2,000-Year-Old True Crime Papyrus
The Greek document details a court case in ancient Palestine involving tax fraud and provides insight into trial preparations in the Roman Empire
Officials Are Offering $1 Million to Anyone Who Can Decode This Ancient Script
The enigmatic Indus Valley civilization left behind a script that today’s historians haven’t yet deciphered. While amateur theories abound, scholars are increasingly relying on computer science to crack the code
Archaeologists Say This Tiny Amulet Is the Oldest Evidence of Christianity Found North of the Alps
Discovered in central Germany, the 1,800-year-old silver artifact held a tiny scroll, which researchers have now deciphered using high-resolution scans
‘Polarization’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024
The winning word beat out finalists such as “demure,” “pander,” “totality,” “fortnight,” “allision” and “democracy”
The Ten Best Science Books of 2024
From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year
‘Brain Rot,’ the Scourge of the Chronically Online, Becomes Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year
The term refers to “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state” that’s linked to spending extensive stretches of time scrolling through low-quality content
Listen to the Resurrected Voice of Richard III—Who Speaks With an Unexpected Accent
A team of experts has created a digital avatar of the maligned monarch, who speaks with a Yorkshire accent. The 15th-century king was born in Northampton, but he spent much of his life in northern England
‘Demure’ Is Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2024
The term’s popularity skyrocketed after content creator Jools Lebron used it in a now-viral TikTok video, in which she described being “very demure, very mindful”
Archaeologists Say These Mysterious Markings Could Be the World’s Oldest Known Alphabetic Writing
Found etched into clay cylinders in Syria, the strange symbols date to around 2400 B.C.E.—500 years before other known alphabetic scripts
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