African Humid Period

Over the last sixteen years I've spent blogging, one of my most reliable sources of amusement is the experience of being condemned as a hopeless pessimist by some readers and denounced as a clueles…

Researchers analyzed the ancient DNA of two mummies from what is now Libya to learn about people who lived in the "Green Sahara" 7,000 years ago.

With its low quantities of rain and soaring high temperatures, the Sahara Desert is often regarded as one of the most extreme and least habitable environments on Earth. While the Sahara was periodically much greener in the distant past, an ancient society living in a climate very similar to today's found a way to harvest water in the seemingly dry Sahara—thriving until the water ran out.

Most scholars take Atlantis as Plato's invention to promote his political ideal articulated in his masterwork The Republic. This paper points out that the green Sahara period encompasses the time of Atlantis according to Plato's records. The transitions between the green Sahara and desert Sahara were controlled by the water cycle stability in the Atlas Basin, an area fitting all the features of the Atlas Empire as…

Currently a harsh, arid sandscape, it's hard to believe the Sahara was once studded with sparkling water bodies that nourished lush green savannas.

Ancient DNA sheds light on a fleeting, lush interlude of North African prehistory

Humans did not accelerate the decline of the 'Green Sahara' and may have managed to hold back the onset of the Sahara desert by around 500 years, according to new research led by UCL.

One of the harshest environments on Earth, the Sahara is most famous for its sprawling sand dune fields.

This ancient people lived in the Sahara when it was a much more welcoming environment.

Satellite images show areas of the Saharan desert have surprisingly turned green, with scientists racing to fully understand why after unusual weather activity.

Landlocked Niger is home to stunning dinosaur fossils. Scientists aim not only to find them but also to build homegrown research expertise.

Findings may help solve a key mystery about the construction of the pyramids

The river's Khufu branch may have flowed next to the site, helping transport rocks for construction. Sorry, no aliens involved.

April 5, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

An international team of scientists has generated the highest quality reference genome to date of the world's most popular coffee species, Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica).

Algeria's Tassili N'Ajjer plateau is Africa's largest national park. Among its vast sandstone formations is perhaps the world's largest art museum. Over 15,000 etchings and paintings are exhibited there, some as much as 11,000 years old according to scientific dating techniques, representing a unique ethnological and climatological record of the region.

The "Great Green Wall," a tree-planting project to stop desertification in northern Africa, could alter climate patterns in the region and beyond.