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Differences between the fireplaces indicate ingenious use Whether for cooking, heating, as a light source or for making tools - it is assumed that fire was essential for the survival of people in the Ice Age. However, it is puzzling that hardly any well-preserved evidence of fireplaces from the coldest period of the Ice Age in Europe has been found so far.

From a tiny electric jolt when touching a doorknob to styrofoam peanuts that cling to a mischievous cat's fur-the well-known and seemingly simple phenomenon of static electricity has puzzled people since antiquity. How could this ubiquitous effect, frequently demonstrated to bedazzled children by rubbing a balloon on their hair, still not be completely understood by scientists? Static electricity goes by multiple names, but scientists prefer to call it 'contact electrification'.

New insights into our linguistic roots via ancient DNA analysis Where lies the origin of the Indo-European language family? Ron Pinhasi and his team in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna contribute a new piece to this puzzle in collaboration with David Reich's ancient DNA laboratory at Harvard University.

CSI methods show: Skull from the collection of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology is not from Arsinoë IV An interdisciplinary research team led by anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna, together with experts from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has analysed a skull that was found in the ruins of Ephesos (Turkey) in 1929.

Ice cores from the Arctic made it possible to reconstruct lead pollution in ancient Rome An international team of scientists with the participation of the University of Vienna examined three ice cores to determine lead pollution between 500 BCE and 600 CE in the Roman Empire. Lead has many negative effects on human health, one of which is a reduction in the intelligence quotient - the scientists focused on this in this study and were able to determine that lead pollution led to a reduction in IQ of 2 to 3 points among people in ancient Rome.

Genetic study also reveals long-distance travelling in Neolithic societies An international team of researchers led by Pere Gelabert and Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna and David Reich of Harvard University has produced the most complete set of Early Neolithic genetic data from Central Europe to date.

Since the summer of 2016, archaeologists from Innsbruck have been carrying out excavations in a late antique hilltop settlement in the municipality of Irschen in southern Austria. Two years ago, they made a sensational discovery: a Christian reliquary was still hidden in a previously unknown church.

Ancient grave find in Wels provides new insights through interdisciplinary research. When a grave was discovered in Wels 20 years ago, the find was thought to be the early medieval double burial of a married couple together with a horse due to its unusual characteristics. Only now has it been possible to clarify the biological sex and relationship of the buried persons using the latest archaeological technologies.

Researchers from TU Graz and the University of Graz have digitised a broken altar stone from Lavant so that citizens can put it together on the internet. The aim is to achieve what generations of archaeologists have failed to do. The Bishop's church at Kirchbichl in Lavant in East Tyrol is one of the most important early Christian monuments in Austria.

The Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV), first described in 1944, is also spreading rapidly in Europe due to global warming and is included in the WHO list of infectious agents with epidemic or pandemic potential as a top priority. There are currently no therapeutic or preventative measures available against the disease, which is mainly transmitted by ticks and is fatal in 40 per cent of cases.

New archaeological discoveries at the tomb of Meret-Neith in Abydos A German-Austrian team led by archaeologist Christiana Köhler from the University of Vienna is investigating the tomb of Queen Meret-Neith in Abydos, Egypt.

Researchers in Vienna have obtained the world's first gene sequences of the human roundworm from the Bronze Age, as well as the first gene sequences from prehistoric parasites in Austria. The analysis was conducted on human faeces from prehistoric miners in Hallstatt. The findings were published by a team from the Medical University Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and the Natural History Museum Vienna in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Analysis using X-ray computed tomography and 3D reconstructions An international research team led by Faviel A. López-Romero of the University of Vienna investigated how the jaw shape of sharks has changed over the course of evolution.

A team of geologists from the University of Innsbruck examined the sediments of Carinthian lakes for traces of past earthquakes. The results show that the earthquake of 1348 caused the strongest shaking in the Carinthian region since the end of the last cold period. Earthquakes with potential building damage are rare there, but can occur in temporal clusters .

Research at the University of Vienna could solve mystery of human evolution Using the latest scientific methods, Tom Higham and Katerina Douka from the University of Vienna want to solve a great mystery of human evolution: Why are we the only humans left? Higham and Douka were the first ones to find a first-generation offspring of two different types of human.

New research method shows that the material likely comes from northern Italy The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called "oolite" which is not found in or around Willendorf.

Human childbirth is comparatively difficult because our babies' heads are large relative to our birth canals. This tight "fetopelvic" fit increases the risk of obstructed labor, which in turn has potentially dire outcomes for both mother and child. It has long been thought that bipedalism prevents further widening of the human pelvis.

With a total length of up to 5.5m, the tiger shark is one of the largest predatory sharks known today. This shark is a cosmopolitan species occurring in all oceans worldwide. It is characterized by a striped pattern on its back, which is well marked in juveniles but usually fades in adults.

An international team of scientists reveals the genetic makeup of the people who lived in the Caribbean between about 400 and 3,100 years ago-at once settling several archaeologic and anthropologic debates, illuminating present-day ancestries and reaching startling conclusions about Indigenous population sizes when Caribbean cultures were devastated by European colonialism beginning in the 1490s.

A major international research project led by TU Wien (Vienna) shows for the first time that flooding characteristics in recent decades are unlike those of previous centuries Overflowing rivers can cause enormous problems: Worldwide, the annual damage caused by river floods is estimated at over 100 billion dollars - and it continues to rise.