One of the early pioneers of computer science, Alan Turing is best known for his work on breaking the Nazi Enigma code during the Second World War. His work for the British code-breaking outfit Bletchley Park during that time are considered fundamental to modern cryptography — so much so that some of his work has remained under wraps for nearly 70 years. Now, in celebration of what would have been Turing’s 100th birthday, two of his foundational essays on code breaking have been released by the U.K. government.

After performing an analysis on materials found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa — a site that past excavations have shown were occupied by humans — scientists found evidence of charred bone fragments and plant ash, which in turn is evidence for the use of fire. One might suggest that the fire could have been accidental, but scientists found the plant and bone evidence next to tools in a layer that dates to one million years old, which the scientists feel is evidence that fire was used by the humans who used the tools, one million years ago. This would push the earliest thought use of fire by humans back by around 300,000 years.

A new analysis of bones found in southern China say the remains could actually be from a new species. The skull seen pictured to the left was found in Longlin cave, Guangxi Province, in 1979, but has only now received a full analysis, which has found that the skull is anatomically unique among all members of known human species.

Due to the digital age in which we live, Encyclopedia Britannica will be ending its print operation after 244 years, with the last entry in said print operation being the 2010, 32-volume set. Encyclopedia Britannica won’t be giving up its existence, however, as it will focus on its online encyclopedias and its school curriculum.

Generally, fossils are used to learn about the preserved species they represent. However, a fossilized flying pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus pinned in the jaws of a carnivorous Aspidorhynchus fish may have quit the story to tell. Researchers Eberhard Frey and Helmut Tischlinger believe that this fossil represents a hunt gone horribly wrong, ending with both animals dead on the sea floor.

The Tyrolean Iceman, or Ötzi to his friends, was discovered in the Alps back in 1991 and has since then given scientists a window onto humans some 5,300 years ago. Over two decades after his shockingly well preserved remains were found, scientists are still discovering more about Ötzi. Most recently, DNA analysis has revealed what he looked like, where his descendants are now, and what he ate. Or rather, what he didn’t eat.

About 298 million years ago near the modern day city of Wuda, China, a volcano erupted. Over the course of several days it rained down volcanic ash with such ferocity that branches were torn from plants and enormous trees were felled in a nearby forest. The forest plants were completely buried in a layer of thick ash, and was in turn buried over eons of new growth. Now, scientists have unearthed this lost forest, giving them a glimpse into a long forgotten time.

In the early afternoon of February 20, 1962, John Glenn climbed inside the cramped confines of Frienship 7. The spacecraft sat atop a modified Atlas missile, originally designed to ferry nuclear weapons towards targets toward the Soviet Union. However, in what might be the greatest triumph of the military-industrial complex, the rocket blasted off and made Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth, putting this country on the path to becoming a leader in space sciences.

Valentine’s Day is a great excuse for awful puns, but artist Ben Kling takes it a step further with his historical figures series of Valentine cards. You Kant believe you went all day without seeing these. On his cards, Kling has taken the likenesses of famous dictators, philosophers, U.S. statesmen, and a few surprising additions to create a set of truly charming and somewhat educational Valentines that you can print out and give to your sweety. And should he or she fail to recognize the significance of the featured historical figure, you can politely inform that they failed the test. See the rest, after the break.

On this day, 16 years ago, a major blow was delivered to the ego of humanity when IBM’s chess playing computer Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in the first of the legendary series of games. This was the first time that a computer had defeated a reigning chess world champion in a standard tournament game. Though Kasparov would come out ahead of Deep Blue in the overall match — two draws and three wins — it was short lived. When the two next met over a chessboard in 1997, Deep Blue won the match. Deep Blue was a demonstration to the world what modern computing was capable of, and paved the way for other headline grabbing computers like Watson. I, for one, welcome our chess-playing computer overlords.