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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for week 09: Mysterious Greek inscription reignites debate on whether a Syrian mosque stands atop Roman Emperor Elagabalus' Temple A Greek inscription discovered beneath a column in the Great Mosque of Homs provides new evidence supporting the theory that the mosque was built atop the Roman Temple of Elagabalus. The inscription, with epic and militaristic language, suggests continuity between pagan, Christian, and Islamic religious structures at the site, highlighting Emesa’s layered religious and urban history.   40,000-year-old Stone Age symbols may have paved the way for writing, long before Mesopotamia Analysis of over 3,000 geometric signs on Paleolithic artifacts dating back 34,000–45,000 years indicates that Stone Age humans used repeated symbols to encode information. The statistical complexity and information density of these sign sequences are comparable to early proto-cuneiform script from Mesopotamia, suggesting symbolic information encoding long predated formal writing systems.   Quantum computers go high-dimensional with a four-state photon gate A novel quantum logic gate enables computations using pairs of photons, each encoded as a four-level qudit rather than a two-level qubit. This approach utilizes the spatial waveforms of photons, allowing entanglement and controlled operations in a four-dimensional quantum space. The advancement increases information density and may enhance the efficiency and reliability of optical quantum computers.   Peatland lakes in Congo Basin release carbon that is thousands of years old Large blackwater lakes in the Congo Basin are releasing significant amounts of ancient carbon, with up to 40% of emitted CO2 originating from peat thousands of years old. The mechanisms driving this release remain unclear. Climate change and deforestation may intensify carbon and methane emissions from these lakes, potentially amplifying their impact on the global carbon cycle and climate.   Curiosity rover captures Martian spiderwebs up close Curiosity rover's close-up study of Martian boxwork formations reveals evidence of ancient groundwater flow, with mineralized ridges and fractures supporting the hypothesis of prolonged water activity. Clay and carbonate minerals, as well as nodules linked to groundwater, were detected, suggesting habitable conditions may have persisted longer than previously thought.   Ant queen frozen in time: New ant species found in Dominican amber A new ant species, Hypoponera electrocacica, has been identified from Dominican amber, marking the first fossil record of the Hypoponera genus in the Western Hemisphere. The fossil, a winged queen from the Miocene (~16 million years ago), confirms the genus's ancient Caribbean presence and morphological similarity to modern species. Its rarity in amber highlights preservation bias against leaf litter-dwelling ants.   Global greening: Study shows Earth's green wave is shifting northeast Satellite and model data show that Earth's center of vegetation greenness, a key indicator of plant activity, is shifting consistently northward and eastward across all seasons. This trend is attributed to longer growing seasons and increased greening in regions like India, China, and Russia, reflecting the influence of rising CO2 and warming temperatures on global vegetation patterns.   Globe-trotting ancient 'sea-salamander' fossils rediscovered from Australia's dawn of the Age of Dinosaurs Fossils from northwestern Australia, dating to around 250 million years ago, reveal a diverse marine amphibian community, including at least two trematosaurid species: Erythrobatrachus and Aphaneramma. These findings indicate early Mesozoic marine tetrapods rapidly diversified and dispersed globally soon after the end-Permian mass extinction.   Iron Age massacre targeted women and children, new research reveals Archaeological analysis of a 2,800-year-old mass grave at Gomolava, Serbia, indicates deliberate targeting of women and children, most of whom were unrelated, in a large-scale act of violence. Careful burial practices and grave goods suggest a symbolic ritual followed the killings. Isotopic and genetic data imply victims came from diverse communities, likely reflecting conflict over land during a period of social upheaval.   Twisting optical fiber creates a robust new pathway for light Introducing a controlled twist during the fabrication of multi-core optical fiber creates topologically protected pathways for light, enabling robust signal transmission that resists scattering from defects and disorder. This approach, compatible with standard telecom materials and manufacturing, allows flexible, low-loss fibers suitable for advanced communications, sensing, and quantum technologies.   Earth's mantle may have been cooler than thought before Pangea's breakup Analysis of early oceanic crust thickness indicates that mantle temperatures beneath Pangea during its breakup were only modestly elevated or near average, rather than extremely hot as previously thought. This challenges the idea of a global thermal insulation effect and suggests that regional tectonic processes and lithospheric variations played a greater role in supercontinent fragmentation.   Quantum algorithm beats classical tools on complement sampling tasks A quantum algorithm efficiently solves the complement sampling problem by transforming a single quantum sample into a uniform superposition over the complement set, enabling exact sampling with just one quantum state. In contrast, classical algorithms require a number of samples proportional to the universe size, demonstrating a provable quantum advantage in sample complexity rather than computational speed.   Forget flatfooted lumbering T. rex. New research shows it walked on tiptoes Tyrannosaurus rex likely walked and ran on its tiptoes rather than flat-footed, as indicated by fossil footprint analysis and biomechanical modeling. This tiptoe gait, similar to that of modern ground birds, would have enabled faster movement, improved stability, and allowed the legs to act as shock absorbers, challenging previous assumptions about T. rex locomotion.   How a one‑eyed creature gave rise to our modern eyes All vertebrates evolved from an ancestor with a single median eye atop its head, which later became the pineal gland in the brain. This median eye, originally used for light detection, was retained after the loss of paired eyes and eventually gave rise to the paired, image-forming eyes of modern vertebrates. The retina’s brain origin distinguishes vertebrate eyes from those of other animals.   Astronomers discover rare super-Jupiter orbiting distant star A massive exoplanet, TIC-65910228 b, about 1.08 times Jupiter’s radius and 4.78 times its mass, has been detected orbiting a metal-rich F-type star 864 light years away. With a 180.53-day period and a density of 4.69 g/cm3, it is among the longest-period transiting planets found by TESS and may host additional planets or exomoon/ring systems.   Engineers discover new physics principle to break sound absorption barriers in ventilated spaces A new physical principle, duality symmetry, has been identified as governing the absorption bandwidth in ventilated systems, enabling the design of materials that allow airflow while achieving high sound absorption. A novel structure using this principle absorbs over 86% of sound across 300 Hz–6,000 Hz, surpassing traditional foam panels, and introduces a new figure of merit for evaluating performance.   Exceptionally preserved 551-million-year-old site suggests Avalon biota lasted longer A newly discovered, exceptionally preserved Avalon-type fossil assemblage from 551 million years ago indicates that the Avalon biota persisted much longer than previously thought, overlapping with the White Sea Assemblage. This finding suggests that the late Ediacaran Kotlin Crisis extinction event resulted in an estimated 80% loss of known macroorganism diversity, marking it as a major extinction in early animal history.   How horses whinny: Helium tests reveal whistling while singing mechanism Horses produce whinnies containing both low and high frequencies through two distinct mechanisms: vocal-fold vibration generates the low tones, while a laryngeal whistle produces the high-frequency component. Helium tests confirmed the whistle's origin. This biphonation enables horses to convey multiple messages simultaneously and represents a unique vocal adaptation among large mammals.   Jupiter's Galilean moons may have gained life's building blocks at birth Complex organic molecules, essential precursors to life, could have formed on icy grains in the early solar system and been delivered to Jupiter's Galilean moons during their formation. Modeling indicates these organics originated both in the protosolar nebula and locally within Jupiter's circumplanetary disk, suggesting the moons likely incorporated significant amounts of prebiotic material at birth.   CT scans of Inca child sacrifices reveal new details about capacocha rituals CT scans of four Inca child mummies from capacocha rituals reveal varied causes of death, including blunt force trauma and pre-existing disease. One body showed evidence of post-mortem reconstruction with textiles, indicating ongoing ritual significance. Findings suggest children were not only sacrificed but also ritually transformed and maintained as sacred intermediaries after death.