arnhem land, new discoveries, rock art

New Analysis Unlocks the Hidden Meaning of 15,000-Year-Old Rock Art in Arnhem Land

Rock art is one of the most intriguing records of the human past — it directly represents how our ancestors viewed their world. This provides a fundamentally different perspective compared to other archaeological items, such as stone artifacts. Despite this beguiling potential, rock art research can be highly challenging. Different researchers can have contrasting interpretations ...

Troy Oakes

Australia's Arnhem Land.

People Once Lived in a Vast Region in Northwestern Australia – and It Had an Inland Sea

For much of the 65,000 years of Australia’s human history, the now-submerged northwest continental shelf connected the Kimberley and western Arnhem Land. This vast, habitable realm covered nearly 390,000 square kilometers, an area one-and-a-half times larger than New Zealand is today. It was likely a single cultural zone, with similarities in ground stone-axe technology, styles ...

Troy Oakes

Two people on a large beach.

The Sun’s Activity Cycle Is Reaching Its Peak Early

Our Sun is a steady and everlasting companion. Reliable like a clock, its apparent passage across the sky allows us to measure time. The Sun and its path is also the source of Earth’s seasons. But in many respects, our Sun is far from calm and unchanging. Close up, the Sun shows extensive variation and ...

Troy Oakes

Image of the Sun releasing a solar flare, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

We Built a ‘Brain’ From Tiny Silver Wires That Learns in Real Time

The world is infatuated with artificial intelligence (AI), and for good reason. AI systems can process vast quantities of data in a seemingly superhuman way similar to your brain. However, current AI systems rely on computers running complex algorithms based on artificial neural networks. These use huge amounts of energy, and use even more energy ...

Troy Oakes

A circuit board.