Anthropology
Why menstrual taboos matter: Camilla Power
Menstrual seclusion was once about giving women a safe space – hunter gatherer cultures can teach us how women’s blood is potent, not polluting<p>These days we tend to assume that menstrual seclusion, menstrual taboos, menstrual huts and pollution beliefs, which are prevalent in some developing …
GenderWe Didn’t Start the Fire (Until Much Later Than We Thought We Did)
02/09/2017 · by carylsue · in Classroom Ideas, Current Event Connection, geography, Main. ·<p><b>SCIENCE</b><p>Humans’ ability to control fire is among the most important technological advances in our evolutionary history. Research on Neanderthal cave sites is offering new insights on this old enigma. Maybe not …
HumanityHorse evolution bucks evolutionary theory
A cautionary tale in evolutionary theory is coming straight from the horse’s mouth. When ancient horses diversified into new species, those bursts of …
BiologyBroken pebbles offer clues to Paleolithic funeral rituals
Researchers at Université de Montréal, Arizona State University and University of Genoa examined 29 pebble fragments recovered in the Caverna delle …
ArchaeologyTree adaptation of Australopithecus sediba confirmed by arm bone analysis
<i>Australopithecus sediba</i> is represented by well-preserved fossilized remains from the locality of Malapa, South Africa. Recent work has shown that the …
HumanityHunting tools tell how first people in Denmark lived
A Danish town says archaeologists have found some 13,000-year-old hunting tools that give "a fantastic insight" into how some of the first people in …
ArchaeologyIrish Travellers 'split socially' in 1600s - study
A study of Irish Traveller genetics has revealed for the first time that they split socially from the settled population here much earlier than …
News (Ireland)Ancestry.com analyses user DNA samples to build migration maps of North America
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers at Ancestry, the people behind Ancestry.com, has used genotype data gathered from user kit samples and family tree …
BiologyKey friendships vital for effective human social networks
Close friendships facilitate the exchange of information and culture, making social networks more effective for cultural transmission, according to …
HumanityFrom The Lab: Can Archaeologists Do DNA Analysis On Cremated Bones To Tell Where They Came From?
Vital evidence: a 4,000 year old cremated human petrous bone found inside the Morecambe urn. Photo by Sam Walsh.It’s time to start getting forensic …
ArchaeologyAfter 9,000 Years, 'Kennewick Man' Remains To Be Laid To Rest
Found in 1996, the remains were estimated to be more than 9,000 years old, and the discovery set off a long legal battle.
HumanityAncient landslide took a 'massive bite' out of Australia, say scientists
An ancient seismic event may be responsible for shaping the coastline of the Australian continent.<p>February 8, 2017 —A team of international …
Great Barrier ReefGenomic Variation of Inbreeding and Ancestry in the Remaining Two Isle Royale Wolves
Inbreeding, relatedness, and ancestry have traditionally been estimated with pedigree information, however, molecular genomic data can provide more …
Ancestry.com Inc.Stonehenge Was An Ancient Database And 'Memory Code' - Intriguing Theory Suggests
<b>MessageToEagle.com</b> – The 5,000-year-old Stonehenge monument, in Wiltshire, UK has fascinated scientists for centuries and it still remains unclear …
Ancient HistoryWe're Just One Of Several Different Human Species
Don't be so vain, we're not even the first humans to walk on Earth. Though the exact number is debated, some scientists believe as many as six human …
HumanityMost Early Europeans Learned Farming From Middle Eastern Migrants, Study Finds
Baltic hunter-gatherers, however, learned how to farm by trading, not marrying, with farmers migrating from the Middle East.<p>A new study analyzing …
HumanityHundreds of ancient earthworks similar to Stonehenge found in the Amazon
For hundreds of years, the Amazon rainforest concealed over 450 massive, mysterious earthworks similar to those in Stonehenge. As a result of …
HumanityDNA Suggests Baltic Hunter-Gatherers Learned to Farm
DUBLIN, IRELAND—<i>Genome Web</i> reports that researchers from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Cambridge, and University College Dublin analyzed …
HumanityStudy shows Pre-Columbian builders managed Amazonian forests
A new study* published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the Amazonian forests in the Acre state of Brazil were …
HumanityDear Science: Why do we love our pets?
(iStock illustration)<p><i>Dear Science,</i><p><i>Why do we humans love our pets so much?</i><p>Here's what science has to say:<p><b>“</b>It really is an amazing question,” said Clive Wynne, director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University.<p>Wynne has devoted his career to studying animal behavior and the …
DogsThe Neolithic transition in the Baltic region
Through ScienceDaily, I have just come across an interesting open access paper in <i>Current Biology</i> The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not …
HumanityHow human beings evolved from this disgusting creature
Meet the Saccorhytus, your oldest ancestor and your newest nightmare.<p>This week a team of paleontologists described a new link in the chain of human …
HumanityDNA points to millennia of stability in East Asian hunter-fisher population
In a remote corner of eastern Russia, where long winters bring temperatures that rarely flicker above freezing, the genetic legacy of ancient …
HumanityThe future is mixed-race and that’s a good thing for humanity – Scott Solomon
In the future, a lot of people might look like Danielle Shewmake, a 21-year-old college student from Fort Worth, Texas. Shewmake has dark, curly …
HumanityKoreans, Vietnamese and Taiwanese inherited traits from Russian Far East
Research project shows people in Asia have inherited more of ancestors’ genetic heritage than Europeans<p>Research shows that modern Koreans inherited traits of the ancient people from the Russian Far East in the north and from places like Vietnam and Taiwan in the south.<p>“We’ve been working in …
HumanityScientists Discover Ancient Continent Lurking Under Mauritius
The continent likely broke off from a supercontinent hundreds of millions of years ago.
Australian UniversitiesA Beak Boom Millions of Years Ago Created the Diversity of Bird Bills We Know Today
Birds sing with them, eat with them, and fight with them: Long, needle-like projections that wrangle worms from the muck, sharp hooks that rip …
PaleontologyThese Bronze Age Humans Were History's Biggest Weed Dealers - Motherboard
About 5,000 years ago, a mysterious tribe poured into Europe and Asia from the steppes of modern-day Russia and Ukraine. With them, they brought valuable knowledge of metalworking, horseback riding, and technology such as the wheel.<p>But historians believe these ancient migrants were also packing …
CannabisAncient Women Found in a Russian Cave Turn Out to Be Closely Related to the Modern Population
Time stood still here.<p>The 7,700-year-old remains of two hunter-gatherer women found in a Russian cave have been genetically analysed, and the results …
HumanityPeople's genetics in far eastern Russia haven't changed much since the Stone Age
Analysis of 7,700-year-old human remains found in Russia has shown that modern East Asian people have a similar genetic make up to their Stone Age …
Humanity