Uncovering the Past: Science's Big Reveals of 2025
In 2025, scientists played detective, cracking old mysteries that had puzzled people for ages. They dug up secrets from the ground and even from ancient bodies, giving us new clues about the past.
Easter Island's Giant Stone Heads
Researchers figured out how the Polynesians carved these massive statues by studying an old quarry.
Pompeii's Hidden Staircase
A new staircase was found, helping to rebuild what the city looked like before the big volcano eruption.
Peruvian Andes' "Band of Holes"
Scientists used drones and tiny plant analysis to guess who made the strange "band of holes" pattern.
Jane Austen's Mysterious Death
Experts are still trying to figure out how Jane Austen died by studying her writings.
Austria's Leaky Crypt
A well-preserved mummy was discovered, identified as an aristocrat named Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, not a clergyman as previously thought. The mummy was preserved using an unknown method, and scientists also found out what a mysterious glass object inside him was.
The Hjortspring Boat
New studies show it traveled farther than anyone thought, and a fingerprint found on it might belong to one of its crew members.
HMS Endurance's True Fate
The ship sank in 1915 due to structural weaknesses, not its broken rudder. Ernest Shackleton knew about these issues but set sail anyway.
Ice Age Wolf Pups
Two mummified wolf pups from the Ice Age were thought to be early dogs. But new research shows they were actually wild wolf cubs that never interacted with humans.
Napoleon's Disaster in Russia
Scientists found new clues about what caused so many soldiers to die. Besides battle, starvation, and disease, they discovered that two more bacteria, Salmonella enterica and Borrelia recurrentis, might have played a role.
Other Cool Discoveries
- Identifying the mystery volcano that cooled the Earth in 1831.
- Tracing the potato's origins to a wild tomato.
- Finding out that the Song of Wade, an old epic, wasn't full of supernatural creatures as people thought.
