Rare 3.8-million-year-old skull recasts origins of iconic ‘Lucy’ fossil

The skull belongs to a species called Australopithecus anamensis, and it gives researchers their first good look at the face of this hominin. This species was thought to precede Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis. But features of the latest find now suggest that A. anamensis shared the prehistoric Ethiopian landscape with Lucy’s species, for at least 100,000 years.

Lightest neutrino is at least 6 million times lighter than an electron

By bringing two types of data together, physicists have established the first estimate of the mass of the lightest of the elementary particles called neutrinos. Their results show that the lightest of the three neutrinos has a mass of at most 0.086 electronvolts, meaning it is at least 6 million times lighter than an electron.

Neanderthals in cold, chilly environments

Palæoanthropologists have found an exceptionally high rate of bone growths in the ear canals of Neanderthals, which are caused by long-term exposure to cold water or wind chill. They say this is indirect evidence Neanderthals may have actively exploited aquatic environments for food and other resources.

Chemists make first-ever ring of pure carbon

Long after most chemists had given up trying, a team of researchers has synthesised the first ring-shaped molecule of pure carbon — a circle of 18 atoms. The chemists started with a triangular molecule of carbon and oxygen, which they manipulated with electric currents to create the carbon-18 ring. Initial studies of the properties of the molecule, called a cyclocarbon, suggest that it acts as a semiconductor, which could make similar straight carbon chains useful as molecular-scale electronic components.