Researchers reconstruct landscapes that greeted the first humans in Australia around 65,000 years ago

Phys.org— Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time—approximately 65,000 years ago—the first humans arrived in Sahul, a place previously devoid of any hominin species.

Daily Mail—Has the home of Rome's first emperor finally been found? Scientists discover a villa near Mount Vesuvius where Augustus may have died 2,000 years ago. The 'extravagant' villa contains huge elaborate pillars, ancient pots known as amphora that likely held wine and even a statue of Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility.

Boing Boing—What Neanderthals looked like 75,000 years ago. Basing their work on a skull unearthed in 2018, researchers reconstructed the head of a mid-forties Neanderthal woman who lived 75,000 years ago. Shanidar Z, as she has been named, was about 5ft tall and her sex determined via dental proteins. — Read the rest

Phys.org—How evolving landscapes impacted First Peoples' early migration patterns into Australia. New research led by the University of Sydney offers fresh understanding of the migration patterns of Australia and New Guinea's First Peoples, and where they lived in the 40,000 years following humanity's arrival on the then combined continent. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications.