theSIGNAL SCIENCE
2 November 2026
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
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Science

An Ape Turns Up Where Apes Weren't Supposed to Be

A newly named fossil from the Egyptian desert is forcing scientists to ask whether our deep family story began much farther north.

Five years of searching. That is how long Hesham Sallam and his team looked for one particular kind of fossil in the dry valleys of northern Egypt. What were they hoping to find? An ape, in a place where, according to the textbooks, there should not have been one.

They found it. Masripithecus moghraensis, as the creature has now been named, lived roughly 17 to 18 million years ago, during the Early Miocene. Its remains came out of Wadi Moghra, and the study describing them, published in Science on March 26, 2026, calls it the first definitive fossil ape ever discovered in North Africa. The team came from Mansoura University in Egypt and the University of Southern California in the United States.

Why does one animal matter so much? Because absence can be misleading. North African sites from this period had already produced ancient monkeys, but never a convincing ape. That gap helped to shape a popular idea: that early apes and their relatives were concentrated farther south on the continent.

Photo: Azzedine Rouichi / Unsplash
Fossil hunters search the arid valleys of northern Egypt, where an ancient ape species was found.
Discuss
  • Why might scientists have assumed early apes lived only in southern Africa when northern fossil sites had produced monkeys?
  • How can a single fossil change a theory that researchers have accepted for decades?
  • The team searched for five years before finding this ape. Is that persistence or stubbornness, and where is the line?
Science

Bubbles, Sound Waves and a Brain Tumor

How do you sneak medicine past the brain's own bodyguard? Virginia scientists, led by Roger Abounader, pair focused ultrasound with microscopic bubbles to briefly loosen the blood-brain barrier. Nanoparticles then slip through, carrying microRNAs that can silence several glioblastoma-driving genes at once. The disease kills over 13,000 Americans yearly.…
  • If microRNAs can silence many genes at once, what new risks might appear?
∞
We spent five years searching for this kind of fossil because, when we look closely at the early ape family tree, it becomes clear that something is missing, and North Africa holds that missing piece.
Hesham Sallam, paleontologist at Mansoura University and senior author of the study
Science

A Tiny Screw Spins on Electricity

Around 250 BC, a Greek thinker was credited with a spiral that lifted water uphill. Now a version a few millionths of a millimetre long turns when current flows through it. Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute held single spiral molecules, made in Copenhagen, between two atom-sharp gold tips. Flip the voltage, and the spin reverses.…
  • If ancient inventions can inspire molecular machines, which other old ideas might shrink usefully?
GLOBAL · Science
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AMERICAS · Science
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theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
1VOCABULARY
definitiveEarly Miocene
crown Hominoideamisleadingconcentrated
blood-brain barriernanoparticles
2GRAMMAR FOCUS
Participle clauses — present (-ing) and past (-ed)
Use a present participle (-ing) for an active meaning and a past participle (-ed) for a passive meaning to shorten a clause, e.g. 'Found in Egypt, the fossil...' or 'Searching for years, the team...'. The participle's subject must be the same as the subject of the main clause.
searching · published · describing · carrying · named · pairing · held
  1. the dry valleys of northern Egypt for five years, Hesham Sallam's team finally found the fossil they wanted.
  2. Masripithecus moghraensis, the ape lived roughly 17 to 18 million years ago.
  3. The study the fossil appeared in Science on March 26, 2026, and calls it the first definitive ape found in North Africa.
  4. in Science, the study has drawn attention from researchers around the world.
  5. The Virginia scientists, focused ultrasound with microscopic bubbles, can briefly loosen the blood-brain barrier.
  6. Nanoparticles slip through the loosened barrier, microRNAs that can silence several tumor-driving genes at once.
3COLLOCATIONS
Match the verb on the left with the noun phrase it best collocates with on the right.
  1. turn up
  2. shape
  3. bear on
  4. slip through
  5. silence
4CRITICAL THINKING
The Egyptian team's discovery was announced in a peer-reviewed journal, while the brain tumour and nanoscale screw stories are described only in brief summaries. How much trust should a general reader place in a short news item about a scientific breakthrough, and what questions would you ask before treating a claim like 'one molecular package could replace many failed drugs' as good news? Consider who benefits from announcing such results and what details are usually missing from short reports.
5CREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
6WRITING
Imagine you are a member of the Wadi Moghra team on the day the fossil is finally identified. Write a short diary entry (120-150 words) describing the moment and what you feel, using at least three of the collocations from the exercise above.
7DEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • surprising→→
  • a bit patchy→→
  • relevant to→→
  • a long search→→
  • a promising idea→→
  • a bit risky→→
8SPEAKING
  1. Which unsolved mystery would you most like scientists to crack in your lifetime?
  2. Is it ever wise to ignore expert consensus when you feel certain?
  3. Should funding for pure research be protected from demands for practical results?
  4. How do you decide when a long-term project deserves more time?