Ancient

The Lost Art of Jewish Herbalism: How Plants, Memory and Diaspora Kept a Living Tradition Alive

Jewish herbalism is experiencing a revival as educators like Naomi Spector uncover centuries of plant knowledge preserved through the diaspora. Blending the wisdom of Maimonides, Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions, and remedies passed from generation to generation, this forgotten ecological heritage reveals how Jewish communities adapted to new landscapes while keeping their cultural identity rooted in the natural world.

Dead Sea Scroll mystery may be solved by a calendar that lost touch with the seasons

The 364-day calendar did not disappear entirely. Instead, it may have survived as an ideal: a memory of perfect time at Creation and perhaps a calendar to be restored in the End of Days.

NuCicer — Chickpeas Move to the Center of the Plate

NuCicer has developed Nuchi, a new class of chickpea with 50% more protein and 25% less fat than conventional varieties. Co-founder Kathryn Cook explains how wild chickpea genetics, AI-guided breeding, and centuries-old biodiversity could transform the future of sustainable protein.

AI will crack the codes from the Dead Sea Scrolls

Artificial intelligence is opening a new chapter in Dead Sea Scrolls research. By combining machine learning with chemical analysis, scientists hope to uncover where the ancient manuscripts were produced, identify connections between scribes, and reveal hidden patterns across more than 25,000 fragments that have remained unsolved for decades.

Iron age folks made tools from dead peoples’ bones

Scientists have uncovered evidence of an Iron Age funerary tradition involving the deliberate removal of human brains and the fashioning of long bones into sharp tools.

10 Amazing Facts About the Sidr Tree

Most people in the West have never heard of the Sidr tree. That's strange when you think about it. This tough, thorny desert tree has fed people, bees, birds, and camels for thousands of years. It appears in Islamic tradition. Its honey sells for astonishing prices.

Why wombats have cubed poop – with photos

Why is wombat poop cubed? Plus great photos.

Hidden Archives Reveal Amazing Roman Artifacts

16,000 boxes of archaeological finds are stored in the Valkhof Museum at Nijmegen, the Netherlands. They contain a wealth of Roman artifacts left undisturbed...

Ancient Chinese medicine might heal spinal cord injuries

In the study, the scientists didn’t just test one plant compound at a time. They tested two traditional Chinese medicine compounds together — luteolin (from flowers like honeysuckle and chrysanthemum) and astragaloside IV (from astragalus root, Huang Qi). These plants have been combined in Chinese herbal formulas for centuries to help the body recover from injury and inflammation.

Ancient Roman strategy game figured out with AI

Two thousand years ago, someone scratched a web of lines into stone in a Roman settlement on the empire’s northern edge. Soldiers, traders, or locals passing time in Coriovallum—now Heerlen in the Netherlands, moved small counters across those lines in a tactical duel of blockade and entrapment.

The Christ’s thorn (sidr tree) is also a well-known folk medicine

Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.

Dubai developer uproots ancient Italian olive trees, $270,000 USD each for “eco” project

Flying centuries-old trees across continents via specialized cargo burns enormous fossil fuels. Replanting them in a desert climate—no matter how advanced the irrigation or “heritage preservation techniques”—places immense stress on organisms that evolved for Mediterranean seasons, soils, and rainfall patterns. And we've seen that the UAE is not capable of taking care of trees so survival rates are uncertain.

UNESCO forest being developed in Iran

Environmental activists in Iran often face significant personal risk when speaking out about illegal land grabs, deforestation, or the destruction of protected areas. In recent years, several high-profile environmentalists have been detained, interrogated, or imprisoned on broad national-security charges, sometimes without transparent legal proceedings.

Iran’s rarest forest is on fire

It's full of rare and endemic species, and it's a UNESCO heritage site. Iran's natural treasure, a 1000-kilometer forest, the Hyrcanian forest has been on fire for several days. It stretches from the Caspian Sea and into neighboring Azerbaijan and is home to more than 3,200 kinds of plants. 

Take me home, Roman roads

Two thousand years ago, all roads led to Rome. Now, thanks to modern data science, they finally do again — this time in high...

Hot this week

Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals revived with global campaign against factory farming

Jewish Vegan Life has launched a global campaign celebrating the New Year for Animals, with synchronized events in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Montreal and Jerusalem, alongside an international livestream on August 9 featuring partners including Mercy for Animals, The Good Food Institute and Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.

The Space Orchestra, and the search for extraterrestrial life, to eclipse celebration

The event will livestream eclipse views from Iceland and northern Spain, where the eclipse will be total, while the 35-member International Space Orchestra, made up of astronauts, scientists, engineers, and researchers—performs a new orchestral interpretation of Voyager by PJ Harvey.

Canada’s healthcare became the world’s digital health laboratory. Now Europe is taking notice

Canada's healthcare system may be under pressure, but its decades-long experience with digital transformation is becoming a model for Europe and beyond. In an interview with Nordic's Alison MacDonald, Green Prophet explores why successful AI in healthcare depends less on software than on empowering clinicians, improving workflows and building resilient systems.

Jewish Climate Network founded so innovators don’t leave their identity at the door

Rather than retreating from climate change work, the Jewish Climate Trust organization has backed a new initiative designed to strengthen both climate action and Jewish community.

The Hidden Components Powering the Renewable Energy Revolution

A rooftop solar system looks simple: panels, an inverter, a battery and a few cables. But beneath that simplicity lies a bill of materials thousands of lines long, where tiny current sensors, magnetic cores, gate drivers, capacitors and connectors quietly determine efficiency, safety and lifespan. These overlooked components—not the solar panels themselves—are why today's residential solar systems are smaller, smarter and far more reliable than those of a decade ago.

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Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals revived with global campaign against factory farming

Jewish Vegan Life has launched a global campaign celebrating the New Year for Animals, with synchronized events in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Montreal and Jerusalem, alongside an international livestream on August 9 featuring partners including Mercy for Animals, The Good Food Institute and Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.

The Space Orchestra, and the search for extraterrestrial life, to eclipse celebration

The event will livestream eclipse views from Iceland and northern Spain, where the eclipse will be total, while the 35-member International Space Orchestra, made up of astronauts, scientists, engineers, and researchers—performs a new orchestral interpretation of Voyager by PJ Harvey.

Canada’s healthcare became the world’s digital health laboratory. Now Europe is taking notice

Canada's healthcare system may be under pressure, but its decades-long experience with digital transformation is becoming a model for Europe and beyond. In an interview with Nordic's Alison MacDonald, Green Prophet explores why successful AI in healthcare depends less on software than on empowering clinicians, improving workflows and building resilient systems.

Jewish Climate Network founded so innovators don’t leave their identity at the door

Rather than retreating from climate change work, the Jewish Climate Trust organization has backed a new initiative designed to strengthen both climate action and Jewish community.

The Hidden Components Powering the Renewable Energy Revolution

A rooftop solar system looks simple: panels, an inverter, a battery and a few cables. But beneath that simplicity lies a bill of materials thousands of lines long, where tiny current sensors, magnetic cores, gate drivers, capacitors and connectors quietly determine efficiency, safety and lifespan. These overlooked components—not the solar panels themselves—are why today's residential solar systems are smaller, smarter and far more reliable than those of a decade ago.

Teen Farmerettes were Canada’s answer to Victory Gardens during wartime food shortages

It is a wake-up call to teen girls on TikTok planning their next Coachella outfit or trip to Sephora: During the Second World War, thousands of young men left family farms to enlist, but the crops still needed planting and harvesting. Ontario's government answered by recruiting high school girls, from ages 16 to 18, to spend parts of spring, summer and fall to fill in for the labor shortage. 

The Early Believers: Investors Who Backed SpaceX Long Before Its Record IPO

SpaceX’s 2026 IPO didn’t just mint billionaires—it revealed the many forms of conviction behind one of the most doubted bets in venture history.

From eco city experiment to global clean energy giant: How Masdar became the UAE’s renewable energy powerhouse

Masdar began as an ambitious eco city in the Abu Dhabi desert. Two decades later, it has become one of the world's largest renewable energy developers, financing billions of dollars in solar, wind and battery storage projects across the globe.
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