Drone technology is poised for remarkable progress across multiple domains, with next-generation systems set to transform disaster response, healthcare, agriculture, logistics, archaeology, environmental management, farming, and numerous other fields vital for human development. Next-generation drones are expected to have far greater endurance, including extended flight ranges, longer operational duty cycles, and enhanced resilience. These capabilities will enable sustained, long-duration missions, such as long-distance medical or commercial deliveries, as well as wide-area surveillance across densely populated urban environments and expansive forested regions.

Several years ago, construction work for a new school in Frankfurt led to a discovery of regional importance: a large Roman sanctuary. This was followed by extensive excavations carried out by Frankfurt’s Monument Office. The findings can now be subjected to comprehensive scientific analysis by an interdisciplinary research team. Funding for this work has been jointly secured by the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, and the University of Basel.

3D scans show that smaller dinosaurs did not shy away from feeding their deceased relatives. This is the conclusion of a new study from Aarhus University, recently published in the scientific journal Evolving Earth. 

Ancient people transported a wild relative of the common potato across the southwestern U.S., likely expanding the range of the species, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Lisbeth Louderback from the University of Utah, U.S., and colleagues. This research provides new evidence that Indigenous people may have put the species on a path to domestication, while creating a unique cultural element in the Four Corners region.

The presence of S. jamesii starch on tools, combined with earlier genetic, ecological, and ethnographic research, indicates that Indigenous people intentionally transported, cultivated, and managed the plant across the Four Corners region. These activities define an “anthropogenic range” created through extensive trade networks and long-term use, a key indicator of early domestication.

A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analysed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London.

A hand stencil on the wall of a cave in Indonesia has become the oldest known rock art in the world, exceeding the archaeologists’ previous discovery in the same region by 15,000 years or more.