It's unfortunate that there is never enough time to cover all the fascinating scientific stories we encounter each month. Therefore, we choose a few standout stories that nearly go unnoticed. This January's highlights include a lip-syncing robot, the use of brewer's yeast in growing lab meat, the search for Leonardo da Vinci's DNA in his art, and fresh evidence suggesting that humans actually transported Stonehenge's stones from Wales and northern Scotland, rather than glaciers.
Humans, Not Glaciers, Moved Stones to Stonehenge
Stonehenge, a landmark of endless curiosity for both tourists and researchers, is under renewed scrutiny following recent chemical analyses that traced the origins of its stones. Many were found to have come from distant quarries, sparking debate over their transportation to Salisbury Plain in southern England.
Historically, one theory proposed that glaciers partly transported the bluestones from Wales, while others speculated that human effort was involved, though the precise method remained a mystery. Now, research from Curtin University offers compelling evidence that humans, not glaciers, were responsible, as detailed in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
Curtin's Anthony Clarke and his team used mineral fingerprinting to draw their conclusions. In 2024, they identified the Stonehenge Altar Stone as originating from Scotland's Orkney region, not Wales. Their latest analysis involved hundreds of zircon crystals from rivers near the monument, searching for sediment from the Pleistocene era. According to Clarke, if glaciers had indeed transported the stones from further north, a unique mineral signature should have been present as the stones weathered over time. The absence of this signature points to human ingenuity in transporting the stones.