sciencehabit writes: The cupboards of the Natural History Museum in London hold spectacular dinosaur fossils, from 15-centimeter, serrated Tyrannosaurus rex teeth to a 4-meter-long hadrosaur tail. Now, researchers are reporting another spectacular find, buried in eight nondescript fossils from the same collection: what appear to be ancient red blood cells and fibers of ancient protein. Using new methods to peer deep inside fossils, the study in this week’s issue of Nature Communications backs up previous, controversial reports of such structures in dinosaur bones. It also suggests that soft tissue preservation may be more common than anyone had guessed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Signs of Ancient Cells and Proteins Found In Dinosaur Fossils
Researchers in fields from epidemiology to genetics are studying mummies, using the latest imaging technology. Now we know more than ever before about what lies beneath the mummies’ wrappings — and these long-dead people are telling us a lot about ancient lives and cultures. Read more… 
An anonymous reader writes: An archaeologist has discovered liquid mercury at the end of a tunnel beneath a Mexican pyramid, a finding that could suggest the existence of a king’s tomb or a ritual chamber far below one of the most ancient cities of the Americas. Mexican researcher Sergio Gómez … has spent six years slowly excavating the tunnel, which was unsealed in 2003 after 1, 800 years. Last November, Gómez and a team announced they had found three chambers at the tunnel’s 300ft end, almost 60ft below the the temple. Near the entrance of the chambers, they a found trove of strange artifacts: jade statues, jaguar remains, a box filled with carved shells and rubber balls. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
Fifteen years ago, Luciano Faggiano of Lecce, Italy sent his sons out digging for a broken sewer line. They didn’t find the pipe, but they did find “a Messapian tomb, a Roman granary, a Franciscan chapel and even etchings from the Knights Templar, ” writes Jim Yardley in a story for the New York Times. Read more… 
Archaeologists have excavated a house in Nazareth, Jesus’ home town, that dates back to the first century. Local Christians have long believed it was Jesus’ childhood home, but scientists say that’s impossible to know for sure. What the house reveals about life during Jesus’ childhood, however, is fascinating. Read more… 
It’s been 60 years since a viking settlement was discovered, leading historians to assume that we’d uncovered everything there is to uncover. But this weekend, Danish and English archaeologists announced they’ve unearthed evidence of a new fortress that’s been sought after for years. Read more… 
Remember that nutso Exosuit—basically a wearable submarine—we showed you back in February ? The Exosuit is about to embark on its first real mission : the hunt for one of the world’s oldest computers in the Aegean Sea. It’s a quest that has paralyzed and, in one case, even killed divers in the past, but the Exosuit will let humans safely dive deeper and longer than ever before. Read more… 
