Science & Technology - Jun 18, 2010 12:46 - 0 Comments

Ancient bite marks reveal taste for bones

YALE (US)—Prehistoric mammals likely gnawed on bare bones for minerals, rather than meat, according to paleontologists who have discovered the oldest mammalian tooth marks yet on bones of ancient animals, including several large dinosaurs. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jun 1, 2010 16:06 - 0 Comments

Forget the forest. Prehumans lived in savannas

JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—Prehumans in East Africa 4.4 million years ago lived among grassy, tree-studded plains, not in the forests, according to a new study. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 24, 2010 23:43 - 1 Comment

Chimps mimic high society to get ahead

EMORY (US)—When attempting to solve a problem or adopt a new behavior, chimpanzees, like humans, follow the example of their more experienced higher-status betters, new research finds. (more…)

Society & Culture - May 17, 2010 17:14 - 3 Comments

Urban kids view the world in human terms

NORTHWESTERN (US)—The way children develop reasoning about the natural world is largely influenced by how and where they are raised, a new study finds. (more…)

Society & Culture - May 17, 2010 16:23 - 7 Comments

Brawn beats beauty to get the girl

PENN STATE (US)—Male physical competition, not attraction, was central in winning mates among human ancestors, according to a Penn State anthropologist. (more…)

Earth & Environment - May 11, 2010 11:34 - 1 Comment

Australia’s burned desert more biodiverse

STANFORD (US)—A research team is exploring what makes aboriginal hunting grounds molded by fire more biologically diverse than lands untouched by humans. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 5, 2010 12:35 - 1 Comment

Pressurized water feature in maya plumbing

PENN STATE (US)—A water feature found in the Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the new world, according to a collaboration between an archaeologist and a hydrologist. (more…)

Society & Culture - Mar 23, 2010 7:47 - 2 Comments

Formula for fighting crime hot spots

UC IRVINE (US)—A new mathematical model reveals how urban crime hot spots form and spread, and suggests that two distinct types of high-crime areas respond differently to suppression tactics. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Mar 11, 2010 11:11 - 0 Comments

How early humans adapted to climate change

U. BUFFALO (US)—Siberia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula, a rough and extremely volcanic wilderness region the size of California, is the current site of an international effort to understand how humans living 4,000 to 6,000 years ago reacted to climate changes. (more…)

Society & Culture - Feb 19, 2010 11:44 - 0 Comments

Carthage infant sacrifice debunked as myth

U. PITTSBURGH (US)—New research refutes the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Feb 2, 2010 23:11 - 3 Comments

Ancient teeth show effects of early stress

EMORY (US)—Ancient human teeth are telling secrets that may relate to modern-day health: Some stressful events that occurred early in development are linked to shorter life spans. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Feb 1, 2010 16:03 - 0 Comments

Unselfish apes live in ‘Peter Pan world’

DUKE (US)—For bonobos, sharing just comes naturally. In fact, unlike humans and chimpanzees, they seem incapable of being selfish—both as youngsters and as adults. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 21, 2009 11:39 - 1 Comment

Phone records predict malaria’s next move

U. FLORIDA (US)—Researchers at work on a malaria elimination study in Africa have become the first to predict the spread of the disease using cell phone records. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Dec 18, 2009 17:18 - 18 Comments

Like humans, wild chimps ‘get’ fire

IOWA STATE (US)—Humans were thought to process a unique ability to use fire, but now anthropologist Jill Pruetz reports that savanna chimpanzees in Senegal have a near human understanding of wildfires and change their behavior in anticipation of fire’s movement. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 11, 2009 10:05 - 4 Comments

Let kids get dirty. It’s good for them

NORTHWESTERN (US)—Are hyper-hygienic parents getting too worked up over germs? A new study suggests exposure to common germs early in life may actually protect against cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. (more…)

Science & Technology - Nov 13, 2009 18:15 - 1 Comment

New twist in dinosaur debate

WASHINGTON-ST. LOUIS (US)—Recent evidence suggests many dinosaurs may have been “warm-blooded” like present-day mammals and birds rather than cold-blooded like lizards. If true, their internal furnace would have enabled them to live in colder habitats, such as high mountain ranges and the polar regions, allowing them to cover the entire Mesozoic landscape. (more…)

Society & Culture - Nov 9, 2009 13:10 - 2 Comments

Reincarnated Day of the Dead

RUTGERS (US)—The Day of the Dead, a well known ritual in many parts of Latin America, is gaining popularity in the United States. New fieldwork suggests the ceremony has become a forum for political statement. (more…)

Society & Culture - Oct 27, 2009 15:41 - 0 Comments

What are you laughing at?

RUTGERS (US)—Laughing at funny things is universal, but what individuals find funny is not. An anthropologist studying the evolutionary function of laughter has found that for something to be funny, it must ring true. (more…)

Posts Tagged ‘anthropology’