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Ancestral commemorative head: A 500-year-old brass bust depicting an African king
Science News

Ancestral commemorative head: A 500-year-old brass bust depicting an African king

This brass head depicts an "oba," or ruler of the Kingdom of Benin. (Image credit: Cleveland Museum of Art (Public Domain))Quick factsName: Ancestral commemorative headWhat it is: A copper-alloy sculpture of an African ruler's headWhere it is from: Edo, NigeriaWhen it was made: Mid-1500sIn the Kingdom of Benin, one of the oldest monarchies in West Africa, a traditional ruler known as an oba would commission a brass or bronze bust of their predecessor upon taking the throne. The bust of the past oba would then be set on an ancestral altar in the palace. But when the British Empire annexed the Kingdom of Benin into colonial Nigeria in 1897, the British looted thousands of African artifacts spa...

📅 2026-09-14 10:00:00    •    Live Science
Improved climate forecasts alone won't protect Africa's poorest farmers
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Improved climate forecasts alone won't protect Africa's poorest farmers

As Africa prepares for the arrival of a powerful El Niño weather event, an international team of researchers led by the University of Sydney and Imperial College London has found that access to improved forecasts alone will not protect many of the region's poorest livestock farmers from the impacts of climate change.

📅 2026-09-14 09:00:01    •    Phys.org
Does estrogen protect against dementia? And if so, who should take it?
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Does estrogen protect against dementia? And if so, who should take it?

In women's reproductive years, their brains are exposed to high levels of sex hormones, and their neurons may come to depend on those hormones to function optimally. But leading up to and after menopause, the ovaries produce far less estrogen and progesterone, raising concerns that this drop in hormones may contribute to women's dementia risk."We think that the loss of those hormones at menopause renders those neurons more vulnerable to age-related cellular decline and pathologies like Alzheimer's," said Karyn Frick, a neuroscientist and professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.So, if falling hormone levels are a risk factor for dementia, could r...

📅 2026-09-14 09:00:00    •    Live Science
Japan's biomass energy boom threatens further deforestation in Indonesia
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Japan's biomass energy boom threatens further deforestation in Indonesia

A surge in Indonesia's wood pellet and chip production is driving a new wave of deforestation, threatening the vast archipelago's remaining tropical forests, vital biodiversity hot spots and the land of Indigenous peoples, according to new satellite analysis from environmental nongovernmental organizations.

📅 2026-09-14 07:53:33    •    Phys.org
Scientists find how “zombie” cells fuel inflammation as we age
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Scientists find how “zombie” cells fuel inflammation as we age

Scientists discovered that aging cells can use malfunctioning mitochondria to unlock inflammatory genes and keep the immune system stuck in a prolonged state of alert. Blocking one part of this process reduced inflammation and improved healthy aging in mice, suggesting a promising new strategy for fighting age-related decline.

📅 2026-09-14 03:48:19    •    ScienceDaily
One Mount Etna eruption took weeks. Another happened in hours
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One Mount Etna eruption took weeks. Another happened in hours

Mount Etna’s ancient eruptions followed radically different paths, with some magma lingering near the surface for weeks while other magma raced upward from nearly 30 kilometers deep in just hours. Scientists traced the difference to volcanic gases such as carbon dioxide and water, offering a powerful new way to understand and potentially anticipate explosive eruptions.

📅 2026-09-14 03:18:35    •    ScienceDaily
Back-to-back Arctic storms can double sea ice loss
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Back-to-back Arctic storms can double sea ice loss

Scientists have found that Arctic cyclones become especially destructive when several strike one after another. These storm clusters cause about twice as much sea ice loss as isolated cyclones, with impacts that persist roughly two and a half times longer. As Arctic ice becomes thinner and weaker, the damage from these storms appears to be increasing, potentially creating a feedback loop that accelerates future ice loss.

📅 2026-09-14 02:38:47    •    ScienceDaily
Popular sweetener byproduct damages DNA in human cells
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Popular sweetener byproduct damages DNA in human cells

Sucralose, the artificial sweetener used in Splenda, came under scrutiny after a study found that a related chemical damaged DNA and weakened the gut barrier in laboratory experiments. But later findings have complicated that alarming picture.

📅 2026-09-14 01:41:03    •    ScienceDaily
Consumers demand transparency, but is it rewarded?
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Consumers demand transparency, but is it rewarded?

Transparent supply chains boost consumer trust—if the results are positive. But what if they aren't? A new paper by Kühne Logistics University (KLU), in collaboration with the University of Tennessee and Tilburg University, published in the Journal of Business Logistics, reaches a surprising conclusion. The researchers advise companies: It's better to publish mixed results than none at all.

📅 2026-09-14 00:30:04    •    Phys.org