This week’s science roundup serves up a mix of intrigue and cosmic detective work. First, researchers are piecing together the identity of "Dragon Man," a mysterious ancient hominin whose skull might rewrite parts of human evolution. Meanwhile, astronomers are closing in on the universe’s "missing matter"—the elusive stuff that’s been hiding in plain sight but defying detection for decades. Plus, a few quirky reads to spice up your weekend.

Editor’s Note: Science isn’t just about lab coats and equations—it’s about solving real-life mysteries, from our own origins to the fabric of the cosmos. The "Dragon Man" story could shake up what we know about early humans, while finding the universe’s missing matter would finally plug a gap in our understanding of how everything fits together. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you go, "Huh, the world’s weirder (and cooler) than we thought."

A new study reveals that around 70,000 years ago, early humans in Africa began pushing into harsher, more extreme environments—think deserts, mountains, and dense forests—before eventually spreading across the globe. This adaptability might have been the key to our species' survival and dominance.

Scientists think the secret to our big brains might be hiding in the womb—specifically, in the flood of placental sex hormones human fetuses are bathed in. Unlike other primates, we get a much heavier dose of these hormones during pregnancy, and that could’ve turbocharged our brain evolution. It’s a fascinating twist on the "why are we so smart?" question, suggesting our cognitive edge might start with biology before birth.