Scientists think they finally know why Neanderthals vanished - Science Daily

Planetary researchers at the University of Sydney have proposed a new way to classify the soils of Mars, along with a new word for them: areth (the name comes from Ares, the Greek name for Mars). Classification of realms across the Martian surface. Image credit: McBratney et al., doi: 10.1016/j.catena.2026.110649.

AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the Yale Department of Pathology and Yale Pathology Tissue Services for technical and tissue-related support. FundingThe research is supported by Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA) for Early-Stage Investigators 1R35GM150838 (to Y. L.). The research is also supported, in part, by Grant #IRG-21-132-60-IRG from the American Cancer Society. We also acknowledge the support of Leslie H. Warner Postdoctoral Fellowship to D. W. Author informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally: Bo Tao, Deguang Song, Mingze Dong, Gaocai Li. Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USABo Tao, Mingze Dong, Gaocai Li, Shenjie Wang, Dejiang Wang, Xiangjun Di, Fu Gao, Liyun Lin, Xiaohui Yu, Junyi Xu, Mo Liu, Mariana Kelley, Anthony Y. Feng, Yu Jin, Yuval Kluger & Yang LiuDepartment of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USABo Tao, Gaocai Li, Shenjie Wang, Dejiang Wang, Xiangjun Di, Fu Gao, Liyun Lin, Xiaohui Yu, Mariana Kelley & Yang LiuDepartment of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADeguang Song & Noah W.

The holotype of Polyostiosphaera operculata gen. et sp. nov. from the early Cambrian Kuanchuanpu Biota (NIGP210977). (a, b) Light microscopy images. (c, d) Scanning electron microscopy images. (e–g, j) Surface renderings; the outer envelope, plug-like opercula, membrane and inner body are indicated by green, pink, blue and yellow, respectively. (h) Transparent model showing the inner body. (i, k) Virtual three-dimensional sections of (f) and (j), respectively. (l) Virtual slice of (f). (m) Close-up view of (a). (n, o) Close-up views of (c). (p) Close-up view of (l), showing the spatial relationships among the plug-like opercula, outer envelope, membrane and internal cells. White arrows, apertures; pink arrows, plug-like opercula. Yellow, blue and pink outline internal cells, the membrane and plug-like opercula, respectively. Scale bars: (a–i, l) 200 μm, (j, k) 180 μm, (m) 66 μm, (n) 60 μm, (o) 64 μm, (p) 37 μm. Credit: Chen et al. (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2026). The Cambrian explosion was a major diversification of animal life that unfolded early in the Cambrian period, which began around 538.8 million years ago.