Researchers across disciplines continue to push the boundaries of understanding in February’s science landscape, from animal navigation and ancient mysteries to kitchen chemistry and the senses. This monthly digest gathers a series of standout stories that illuminate how we learn about the natural world, uncover hidden histories, and refine our everyday practices. In February, researchers teased apart the magnetic navigation of sea turtles, shed new light on a long-lost royal tomb in Egypt, probed the hidden imagery in Jackson Pollock’s paintings, demonstrated how fluids move and organize themselves, refined a novel method for boiling eggs, advanced the decipherment of a cache of ancient scrolls, and explored the distinctive scents of mummified remains. Each thread reveals how modern science leverages innovative methods—whether in controlled experiments, cutting-edge imaging, or sensory analysis—to reveal previously inaccessible details about the world around us. Below, we explore each story in depth, unpacking the methods, findings, and broader implications while keeping the original threads intact and expanding the context for deeper understanding and SEO-friendly clarity.
Dancing sea turtles
A growing body of evidence suggests that migratory animals, including certain turtles, birds, and some fish species, exploit the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation. Rather than relying solely on coarse cues like the sun’s position or coastal landmarks, these creatures may use the magnetic field as both a directional compass and a map, charting their migratory routes across thousands of miles. A recent paper published in a leading scientific journal provides compelling evidence for a mechanism by which loggerhead sea turtles could implement such a magnetically guided strategy, at least in part. The researchers describe a behaviorally distinctive response that resembles a “dance” when the animals align with magnetic fields toward a familiar feeding site. This dance is not merely ritualistic; it appears to be tied to the turtle’s assessment of the magnetic environment as it migrates toward resources.
The study centers on the remarkable long-distance migrations undertaken by sea turtles, which can cover as much as 8,000 miles across oceans. These movements are not random wanderings but are characterized by fidelity to specific feeding and nesting sites. The scientists hypothesize that turtles build a mental map of magnetic signatures associated with these important locations, enabling them to recognize and remember where to go when cues are ambiguous or dispersed by the vast sea. To test this hypothesis, the researchers conducted controlled experiments using juvenile sea turtles housed in two large water tanks. Each tank was equipped with substantial coils designed to generate magnetic signatures at predefined locations inside the tank. One of the signature locations was paired with a food reward, while the other matched the non-reward location, allowing researchers to isolate navigational responses to magnetic cues from simple exploratory behavior.
In the core experiment, sea turtles entered the first tank, where the magnetic signature corresponding to a food location produced notable, distinctive movements. The observed “dance” included tilting the body, dog-paddling strokes, spinning in place, and raising the head toward or above the water surface—behavior that signaled strong engagement with the food-associated magnetic cue. To probe the robustness of the magnetic cue’s role, the researchers conducted a second trial using different radio frequencies. The altered frequencies interfered with the turtles’ internal compass, and the animals could not maintain orientation as they swam. This outcome strongly suggests that magnetic fields influence the sea turtles’ navigation and that the magnetic map they rely on is at least partly dependent on a magnetoreception mechanism—an internal sensory process that translates magnetic information into navigational decisions.
The implications extend beyond the laboratory. If sea turtles and potentially other migratory species possess a magnetoreceptive system capable of encoding magnetic information into a cognitive map, this could explain their fidelity to distant feeding grounds and nesting beaches. It also highlights the intricate interplay between biology and physics in shaping animal behavior. The researchers emphasize that while magnetoreception likely exists, the precise cellular and chemical pathways remain an active area of inquiry. They point to chemical reactions within specialized sensory tissues as a plausible driver of magnetoreception, a hypothesis that aligns with broader theories about how living organisms detect weak magnetic fields. However, the map-like component—how magnetic cues translate into a spatial representation of location—may emerge from a distinct, additional mechanism.
This body of work adds to a growing consensus that magnetic navigation is a real and biologically meaningful behavior in certain migratory species. It underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches that combine behavioral experiments, physics-based manipulations of magnetic fields, and careful observation of movement patterns. While the exact neural pathways and molecular players require further elucidation, the evidence presented cultivates a clearer picture of how sea turtles may integrate magnetic information into purposeful migration. These insights have broader relevance for conservation biology, as understanding navigational cues can inform strategies to protect critical corridors and habitats for migratory species facing climate change and human disturbance.
To summarize, the study contributes strong behavioral and experimental evidence that loggerhead sea turtles can differentiate magnetic field cues, use them to locate food-associated zones, and modify their movement accordingly. Disturbing magnetic cues disrupts orientation, reinforcing magnetoreception as a functional basis for navigation. Yet it remains likely that a distinct map-sense mechanism resides alongside the compass-like magnetoreception, helping to anchor migratory routes to geographic memory. The findings invite further inquiry into how these dual systems collaborate to support the remarkable, many-thousand-mile journeys these sea turtles undertake every year, and how environmental changes could impact their magnetic navigation system over time. This line of research opens avenues for deeper understanding of magnetoreception across species and may help explain long-debated questions about animal migration patterns in a changing world.
Long-lost tomb of Thutmose II
Archaeologists have identified a tomb near Luxor that they now regard as the final resting place of Thutmose II, a pharaoh who governed Egypt roughly 3,500 years ago. This discovery marks a significant milestone in the ongoing exploration of the 18th Dynasty, an era that culminated in the famous tomb of Tutankhamun but has yielded relatively few royal burial sites compared with the dynasty’s storied history. The tomb’s location is notable for its hidden or less conspicuous placement, originally uncovered in 2022 beneath a waterfall in the mountains of Luxor. The growing consensus among researchers is that this tomb indeed belongs to Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the Tutankhamun lineage, who reigned for only about 13 years and was married to his half-sister Hatshepsut, who later became a prominent king in the dynasty.
Initial assessments suggested the tomb might belong to the king’s wife given its proximity to Hatshepsut’s tomb and to other royal burials from Thutmose III’s line. However, the presence of alabaster vases inscribed with Thutmose II’s name, along with fragments of religious burial texts and plaster fragments on a ceiling once painted blue with stars, strongly pointed toward a royal burial rather than a consort’s tomb. What remains unclear is the mummy’s precise location. The archaeologists found no intact mummy within the tomb or accompanying grave goods at this stage, prompting a long-standing scholarly debate about where Thutmose II’s physical remains truly lie.
The discovery adds a twist to the legacy of the 18th Dynasty: it is the last royal tomb from this dynasty to be located, following the monumental discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb more than a century ago. When the tomb was first excavated, some experts speculated that it might be the tomb of a king’s wife, given its close proximity to the burials of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III’s wives. Yet the unsentimental facts—the inscriptions, the royal insignia, and the artistic remnants—support the identification with Thutmose II. Archaeologists note that it is plausible the mummy was relocated, perhaps during ancient flooding or other disturbances, a hypothesis that aligns with previous scholars’ concerns about the safety and relocation of royal remains in the face of environmental pressures.
A British-led expedition under the direction of a senior archaeologist has been at the forefront of this work. The team’s analysis hinges on inscriptions, artifacts, and architectural context that collectively bolster the claim. The next phase involves more extensive excavation and careful stratigraphic study to locate a potential second tomb or burial cache that could house Thutmose II’s mummy and grave goods. Confirming the mummy’s whereabouts could settle a long-running question about where the pharaoh’s remains ultimately reside and whether any artifacts associated with him were moved or lost over the centuries.
This discovery has a profound impact beyond the immediate identification. It sheds new light on the practices surrounding royal burials in the late 18th Dynasty, illuminates the complex landscape of Luxor’s archaeological sites, and deepens our understanding of how ancient Egyptian burial traditions evolved in response to environmental and political pressures. The research team stresses that, while the current evidence is persuasive, final confirmation will come only after more extensive excavation and careful analysis of the surrounding context. The achievement underscores the enduring importance of careful fieldwork, robust stratigraphy, and careful interpretation of inscriptions and artifacts when piecing together the intimate biographical details of ancient rulers.
In short, the Luxor discovery represents a major milestone in Egyptology: it provides a more complete image of the dynastic era’s royal burial practices and presents a promising path to resolving the long-standing question of Thutmose II’s mummy location. The finding augments our view of the 18th Dynasty’s royal vaults and invites renewed attention to other near-site tombs that could still hold crucial clues about this powerful period in ancient Egypt’s history. As excavations continue, researchers anticipate not only confirming the identity of the tomb’s occupant but also enriching our broader narrative of how pharaohs were honored, preserved, and remembered thousands of years after their reigns ended.
Hidden images in Pollock paintings
In the realm of art history and psychology, scientists are revisiting claims that Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings housed hidden images—patterns and forms embedded within the abstract compositions. A growing interest in this area has led psychiatrists and researchers to examine whether Pollock’s works contained recurring motifs that surface repeatedly in his later drip paintings, potentially reflecting a subconscious imprint from his earlier, more representational works. A recent paper in a psychiatric-and-visual-studies journal argues that Pollock’s early paintings already included recognizable images, and these images appear again in his later abstract works. The authors suggest such persistence hints at a subconscious reservoir of imagery that Pollock may have drawn upon, whether consciously or not, as he evolved his signature drip technique.
The debate surrounding hidden or embedded imagery in Pollock’s paintings is long-running. Critics have long noted that viewers often report perceiving figures or recognizable forms within abstract drips, a phenomenon that some dismiss as the product of pareidolia—the mind’s tendency to see familiar patterns where none intentionally exist. The current discussion, however, places a more nuanced claim on the table: Pollock himself might have integrated specific images into his early pieces and allowed those motifs to echo, in various guises, throughout his later drip works. The paper’s authors analyze Pollock’s early painting Troubled Queen, highlighting multiple embedded images they contend are deliberately incorporated. They argue this could provide a foundation for their broader claim about repeated imagery in Pollock’s oeuvre, beyond mere chance associations.
To support their argument, the researchers cite the logic of visual perception. They point out that seeing an image once in a work of art could be a random occurrence, but seeing the same image multiple times across different paintings raises the odds that there is some underlying intentional or subconscious source. One co-author from a major American research institution notes that repeated appearance across a body of work is far less likely to be coincidental and may reflect a consistent cognitive or stylistic motif. This line of reasoning adds a new dimension to discussions about Pollock’s practice: rather than seeing images as artifacts of viewer interpretation, the study suggests that Pollock’s own process may have seeded recurring visual ideas that resurfaced in his later works.
Despite the provocative conclusions, the study’s supporters and critics acknowledge that interpreting Pollock’s imagery remains a challenging enterprise. Critics worry about overreading abstract forms or attributing intentional symbolism to random visual coincidences. Proponents contend that the research raises important questions about how artists’ earlier visual repertoires can reverberate through their later methods and how subconscious cognition can shape creative decisions. The authors emphasize that their claims do not aim to debunk Pollock’s abstract achievement; rather, they seek to illuminate how the artist’s prior experiences and repeated visual references could have contributed to the evolution of his distinctive style.
This discussion sits at the intersection of art, perception, and cognitive science. It invites us to reconsider how viewers engage with Pollock’s works and whether our interpretations might reflect the artist’s private vocabulary as much as our own perceptual biases. It also highlights the importance of rigorous methodology in studying highly interpretive subjects. If the proposed embedded imagery is confirmed through additional analyses and broader corpus studies, the finding could shift how scholars understand not only Pollock’s practice but also the broader question of how imagery can migrate across a painter’s career, influencing later abstractions in ways that readers and viewers might only begin to recognize after focused scholarly work. In this ongoing dialogue, the tension between subjective interpretation and empirical evidence continues to shape our grasp of modern art and its hidden patterns.
Solving a fluid dynamics mystery
Fluid dynamics continues to surprise as physicists explore how surface forces shape the movement of liquids in ways that resemble a spatial puzzle being solved. The annual Gallery of Fluid Motion, hosted by a major physics society, highlights artistic representations and videos derived from fluid dynamics research, reminding audiences that science can resemble a living art form. A few years back, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, submitted a striking visual: a pool of red dye propelled by a handful of soap droplets acting as surfactants, which appeared to navigate a maze painted by milk’s creamy suspension. Rather than diffusing uniformly, the dye carved a path through the maze in a manner that suggested an intrinsic knowledge of the layout. The observation sparked curiosity about the role of surface tension gradients, a phenomenon known as the Marangoni effect, in directing such flows.
A recent paper in a premier physics journal provides a detailed explanation for how the maze-solving behavior arises. The key lies in surface tension differences: when one part of the liquid surface has a different tension than another, the liquid experiences a driving force along the gradient. In the UCSB experiment, adding soap reduces the local surface tension around the red dye, creating a gradient that pushes the dye toward regions of lower tension and away from higher tension zones. The surrounding milk, already containing natural surfactants, interacts with the added soap to produce a complex resistance landscape that guides the dye along a preferred route to the maze’s exit. The researchers describe this as a direct demonstration of how a simple chemical perturbation can encode and reveal the geometry of a space through fluid motion.
Co-author Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz emphasizes that the experiment captures the elegance of the Marangoni effect in a tangible, observable system. The phenomenon is connected to familiar everyday observations, such as the “coffee ring effect,” where a droplet of liquid dries with a ring-like deposit at the edge, and the “tears of wine” phenomenon associated with surface tension differences in fluids. In the UCSB setup, the interplay between the dye, soap, and existing milk surfactants creates a dynamic where the flow responds to the maze’s topology in real time. The result demonstrates a powerful principle: surface tension gradients can act as a smart, responsive driver of fluid motion, effectively encoding the geometry of an environment into the movement of a liquid.
Beyond satisfying curiosity, these insights carry practical implications for microfluidics, coating processes, and material science, where controlling tiny flows with precision is essential. The work also reinforces the broader concept that seemingly simple fluids can display remarkably complex behavior when surface forces come into play. The study’s authors suggest that future research could explore how variable concentrations of surfactants, temperature gradients, or chemical additives might further tune Marangoni-driven flows to achieve targeted mixing, separation, or patterning in engineering applications. As the field advances, the interface between fluid physics and everyday phenomena continues to offer rich opportunities for discovery, innovation, and educational engagement through visually compelling demonstrations.
How to cook a perfectly boiled egg
Eggs have a simple exterior but a surprisingly intricate internal structure that presents a classic cooking challenge. The yolk and the white do not set at the same temperature, a phenomenon that chefs and physicists describe as a two-phase cooking problem. The yolk begins to solidify at about 65 degrees Celsius, while the white sets at around 85 degrees Celsius. This mismatch often yields overcooked yolks with undercooked whites when traditional boiling methods are used, leaving many home cooks frustrated with the end result. A team of physicists working with the Italian National Research Council has proposed a refined method that strikes a better balance and yields more consistent texture and nutrition. Their approach centers on a method they call periodic cooking, which relies on moving the eggs between two temperature regimes in a controlled sequence.
The researchers began with computer simulations of fluid dynamics to model heat transfer and phase changes within the egg. Based on these simulations, they designed a practical cooking protocol: place the egg in boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius and then transfer it to a bowl of cold water at 30 degrees Celsius every two minutes, repeating this exchange for a total of 32 minutes. They compared periodically cooked eggs with traditionally hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, and sous vide preparations. The results showed that periodically cooked eggs achieved yolks that were soft, akin to sous vide, while the whites achieved a firmer, more fully set texture than typical soft-boiled preparations. This combination appeared to offer the best of both methods: a creamy yolk with a properly set white.
In addition to textural outcomes, the study reported nutritional advantages. The periodically cooked eggs contained higher levels of polyphenols, compounds associated with antioxidant properties and potential health benefits. The researchers concluded that periodic cooking stands out as the most nutritionally advantageous cooking method among those tested. The method’s practicality depends on timing and temperature control, but the researchers emphasized that home cooks with careful attention to timing and water temperatures could implement this technique with common kitchen equipment. Their work suggests a path toward cooking optimization that preserves nutrient content while delivering desirable sensory qualities in both yolk and white.
The broader significance extends beyond culinary curiosity. The study illustrates how a rigorous combination of fluid dynamics modeling, controlled experiments, and sensory analysis can translate complex physical principles into practical techniques with real-world benefits. It also highlights how seemingly simple tasks—like boiling an egg—can reveal rich scientific insights when approached with a methodical, interdisciplinary mindset. As researchers continue to explore the boundaries between physics and food preparation, we can expect further refinements that make everyday cooking more precise, reproducible, and nutritious.
More progress on deciphering Herculaneum scrolls
The Vesuvius Challenge, a long-running project aimed at digitally unwrapping and deciphering the first lines of unreadable Herculaneum scrolls, has reached a notable milestone. The scrolls, preserved under volcanic mud in a Roman villa, were discovered centuries ago and are among the most fragile artifacts in the ancient world. The project employs digital unwrapping techniques and crowdsourced machine learning to reveal the first letters of inscriptions hidden within the tightly rolled scrolls. The collection consists of over 660 scrolls that, until recent advances, resisted practical attempts at reading due to their extreme fragility. The scrolls are believed to have belonged to the working library of an Epicurean philosopher named Philodemus, offering tantalizing glimpses into the intellectual milieu of ancient Rome.
In 2023, the Vesuvius Challenge announced its first award for deciphering the first letters of a scroll’s inscription, marking the beginning of a new era in non-destructive reading of ancient texts. The following year, the project awarded a grand prize of a substantial sum for producing the first readable text from a scroll fragment. The latest breakthrough centers on imaging technology: researchers successfully generated the first X-ray image of the interior of a scroll—PHerc.172—stored in Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries. This effort is a collaboration between the Vesuvius Challenge and Oxford scholars, leveraging X-ray imaging to detect ink presence from within the rolled parchments.
The nature of the breakthrough is diagnostic rather than deciphering. The ink used on these scrolls appears to contain a distinctive chemical composition, possibly including lead, which makes it more detectable by X-ray imaging than other scrolls that have been scanned in the past. The machine-learning component was primarily tasked with identifying the presence of ink on the scroll’s interior surfaces rather than recognizing specific letters or words. Once ink presence is established, human scholars can continue the decipherment process by interpreting the text. The first word translated was the Greek term for “disgust,” which appears in nearby columns of text, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the possible content of the scroll and the literary or philosophical works it may contain.
Collaborators are refining the imaging and analysis techniques to render the characters more legible and to push the unrolling process further toward revealing full texts. The overarching goal remains to reconstruct the scroll’s content without physically unrolling or damaging the fragile material. The Vesuvius Challenge and Oxford researchers are hopeful that continued improvements in imaging resolution, ink detection, and AI-assisted text reconstruction will bring earlier, unreadable passages into view. While the first readable text marks a watershed achievement, the path to fully unrolling and interpreting the scrolls is intricate and will require sustained, multi-disciplinary collaboration across archaeology, materials science, computer vision, and classical philology.
This progress underscores a broader shift in archaeological practice: when dealing with delicate artifacts, non-destructive imaging and computational reconstruction can unlock histories that were once deemed inaccessible. The collaboration between a citizen-science-inspired project and academic researchers exemplifies how modern technology can revive ancient documents without compromising their integrity. As researchers continue to refine their methods, the prospect of nearly reconstructing the original contents of the Herculaneum scrolls becomes ever more plausible. The work promises to enrich our understanding of ancient Rome’s intellectual landscape, including the teachings and ideas of Philodemus, and it reinforces the importance of integrating machine learning, imaging science, and classical scholarship in the study of fragile cultural heritage.
What ancient Egyptian mummies smell like
The scents associated with ancient Egyptian mummies are more than curiosities; they hold clues to the materials, processes, and conditions surrounding mummification. Our knowledge of embalming techniques in ancient Egypt has historically drawn largely from textual sources, but tangible details about the precise spices, oils, resins, and other ingredients used in the embalming process have remained elusive. Recent scientific work has begun to fill in those gaps by analyzing the organic residues left on mummified remains and by studying the volatile compounds that emanate from preserved bodies. A 2018 study laid groundwork by examining residues from mummy wrappings with advanced chemical techniques, revealing a combination of plant oils, aromatic extracts, gums or sugars, and heated conifer resins. Building on this foundation, researchers at University College London have now identified the characteristic smells associated with Egyptian mummies.
The study employed gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to measure the volatile molecules emitted by nine mummified bodies displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A panel of trained human “sniffers” then described the samples’ smells, rating them by quality, intensity, and pleasantness. This two-pronged approach allowed researchers to link specific odor signatures to distinct chemical sources, such as the mummy’s own body, conservation products used for display, pesticides, or natural deterioration over time. The work provides not only a richer sensory appreciation of mummies but also a better understanding of the materials used in their preparation and preservation. By distinguishing genuine mummification components from conservation additives, researchers can reconstruct the recipes and trade networks that supplied the oils, resins, and plant-based substances employed in ancient embalming practices.
The implications extend to museum experiences as well. By identifying characteristic odors and their sources, curators can design more authentic, immersive display environments that convey the sensory dimensions of ancient mummies alongside their visual and contextual narratives. The research suggests possibilities for developing interactive “smellscapes” that would enable visitors to experience scents tied to ancient mummification, thereby broadening public engagement with ancient Egyptian culture. While the practical implementation of smell-based exhibits requires careful consideration of visitor comfort and accessibility, the study demonstrates that olfactory data can be integrated with visual and textual information to create a fuller, multi-sensory interpretation of antiquity.
From a scientific perspective, the research advances our understanding of the materials and methods used in ancient embalming and the long-term behavior of organic compounds under display conditions. It also raises intriguing questions about how odors might inform archaeologists about the provenance of resins and resins’ processing techniques, the import networks that supplied ritual substances, and regional variations in mummification practices over time. The findings encourage further interdisciplinary collaboration among analytical chemistry, archaeology, and museology to refine our knowledge of ancient technologies. They also highlight the value of combining modern instrumentation with trained human perception to interpret complex chemical signals that travel through time and space, connecting the smells of the ancient world with contemporary scientific inquiry.
Conclusion
The February science roundup showcases a kaleidoscope of inquiry, from the tiniest molecular interactions to grand archaeological reconstructions. Across these stories, researchers demonstrate how innovative methods—whether exploiting magnetic fields to probe turtle navigation, unearthing royal tombs in Egypt, analyzing subtle motifs in modern art, elucidating fluid dynamics through everyday phenomena, refining egg cooking through physical principles, imaging fragile scrolls without unrolling them, or decoding the scents of ancient mummies—can illuminate previously hidden aspects of our world. Each thread underscores the value of curiosity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and careful experimentation in expanding our collective knowledge. As these studies progress, they will likely seed new questions, inspire further research, and challenge our assumptions about how nature, history, and human ingenuity intertwine in surprising ways.
