Anthropology

The Baltic's Gradual Transition To Agriculture

When domesticated agriculture was invented, it took off and revolutionized human expansion but a study of ceramic pots from 15 sites dating to around 4,000 B.C. shows h umans may have undergone a gradual rather than an abrupt transition from fishing, hunt ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 25 2011 - 6:31am

Human Violence From 124,000 B.C.?

An East Asian human fossil from Maba, China and dated to the late Middle Pleistocene age has provided evidence of interhuman aggression and human induced trauma occurred 126,000 years ago. A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sug ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 30 2011 - 6:31am

Females Choose To Hang Out With Sexier Friends?

A common belief among club-going men is that women choose less attractive friends to make themselves look better. See this clip from that important anthropological documentary "Hall Pass" for context: Not so, says a group of scientists who have o ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 8 2011 - 12:01pm

Midwife Rituals: Anti-Science Or Just Symbolism?

A number of midwives believe modern births rely too heavily on medication and technological intervention and they instead have created 'birthing rituals' to send the message that women's bodies know best and that birth is about female empowe ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Dec 19 2011 - 3:36pm

On Nymphs and Satrys: Orchids

Photo:  Michele Pokrandt Orchidaceae get their name from the Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), which literally means "testicle", a nod to the naughty nub shape of their roots. In Greek mythology, Orchis was the son of an ugly nymph and a satyr who came upon ...

Blog Post - Heidi Henderson - Apr 5 2012 - 7:33pm

Myomancy and the FDA

  The FDA puts a lot of stock into studies done on mice and many a warning label has been the outcome. Seems most of the really bad side effects hit pregnant rats the hardest. So, you can feel pretty safe as long as you are not pregnant or an upset rodent ...

Blog Post - Heidi Henderson - Jan 9 2012 - 10:38pm

Real-Life Viking Version Of An American Tail?

Mus musculus, the common mouse, can happily live wherever there are humans. When populations of humans migrate the mice often travel with them and apparently that has long been the case. New research used evolutionary techniques on modern day and ancestra ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 18 2012 - 10:24pm

Gadget Social Classes For The 21st Century: Geek, Entertainer Or Socialite?

New surveys show distinct differences in kids online behavioral trends: Gadget Geeks are more likely to be boys while girls dominate online Socialite groups and Entertainers are excited by online gaming activity.  British children divide into these three ...

Article - Anna Ohlden - Mar 19 2012 - 10:55am

Understanding Social Science Speak- A Tuesday Puzzle

New York University cultural anthropologist and  Associate Professor Allen Feldman is visiting the University of Sydney, notes the blog site of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI)- they named the site SOPHIstry, which may be a little ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Mar 20 2012 - 10:36am

Time Warped: The Mystery Of How We Perceive The Past

We created clocks and calendars to give people a common way to communicate about the future and the past and about when to have dinner.  But time is, as they say, relative.  A clock on top of a mountain moves differently than one at sea level- that's ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 15 2012 - 3:30pm