Anthropology

Dogs And Humans: A 35,000 Year Partnership

A new genomic analysis of an ancient Taimyr wolf bone reveals that dogs and humans may have been a match far longer than previously believed. Earlier genome-based estimates have suggested that the ancestors of modern-day dogs diverged from wolves no more t ...

Article - News Staff - May 21 2015 - 12:24pm

The Culturally Subjective Nature Of Good Acoustics

Acoustics would seem to be primarily science- make sure sound waves are not piling up on each other in strange places and that everyone can hear what they are supposed to hear-  but a new study says it is not so objective and the response of audiences and ...

Article - News Staff - May 22 2015 - 6:01pm

CSI 430,000 B.C.- A Murder Mystery?

Lethal wounds identified on a human skull may indicate one of the first cases of murder in human history, according to a new paper. The archaeological site, Sima de los Huesos in northern Spain, is located deep within an underground cave system and contain ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2015 - 10:20am

Evolutionary MasterChef: Our Ancient Obsession With Food

Amateur cook-offs like the hugely popular MasterChef series now in its seventh season in Australia have been part of our TV diet for almost two decades. These shows celebrate the remarkable lengths we humans will go to to whet the appetite, stimulate the ...

Article - The Conversation - Jun 9 2015 - 10:00am

Why Some Girls Don't Study Math-Intensive Science

Though women are the majority in the life sciences and men might need outreach programs to counteract potential bias against them in the social sciences, in math-intensive fields like physics women still lag. Sociologists believe that it may be due to mis ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 10 2015 - 9:30am

Skin Color, Lactose Tolerance: Mapping Population Changes In Bronze Age Eurasia

Wide-scale population migrations and changes took place in Europe and Asia during the Bronze Age that shaped the demographic structure of present-day Europeans and Asians, as revealed by an analysis of 101 genomes from ancient Eurasian humans. A new study ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 10 2015 - 12:00pm

'Yes' And 'No' Are Common To Every Language, But They Mean Different Things

The words 'yes' and 'no' may seem like two of the easiest expressions to understand in any language, but their actual behavior and interpretation are surprisingly difficult to pin down. In a paper published earlier today in the journal ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 22 2015 - 8:30am

Almost One In Three US Adults Owns A Gun But Murder Rates Have Plummeted

There is a paradox when it comes to guns in America. In states like California, gun ownership has doubled in the last 15 years while murder rates dropped substantially in that time. Today, almost one in three US adults owns at least one gun, and owners ar ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 3 2015 - 1:14pm

Milk-Based Paint Of 47,000 B.C.

A milk-and ochre-based paint dates that may have been used by inhabitants to South Africa to adorn themselves or decorate stone or wood slabs has been dated to 49,000 years ago.  While the use of ochre by early humans dates to at least 250,000 years ago i ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 4 2015 - 10:00am

Almost 80 Percent: Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant Is Common Outside The U.S.

Though drinking alcohol while pregnant is considered a cultural no-no in the United States, that is not the case for other current and former British subjects.  Data of almost 18,000 women in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand finds that 20% all t ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 12 2015 - 12:48pm