Ancient Skull Shows Signs of Lethal Combat

Medicine & Technology May 28, 2015

Scientists have discovered what may prove to be the oldest example of intentional violence among humans. In fact, the individual who died of apparent head wounds over 430,000 years ago is not exactly "human," but one of our close cousins, a Neanderthal. And what his skull may prove is that violence predates the rise of modern humans.

Inflection Critical to How Dogs Understand Human Speech

Mar 26, 2015

Understanding How Dogs Understand Us

Ancient Man May Have Been More Tactile Than We Thought—Stone-Age Brains & Modern-Day Hands

Jan 23, 2015

Anthropologists now believe that some of the earliest human ancestors who lived 3.2 million years ago had hand structures much like our own and were able to grasp and use tools, even if they had not invented them yet.

Chatty Zebra Finches May Slur Their Speech When Drunk, But Then Again Who Doesn’t?

Dec 31, 2014

Well, they may not be the normal bar hoppers you’re likely to spot out on New Year’s Eve, but a new study shows that when zebra finches imbibe even just a bit, they won’t likely pass a sobriety test no matter how high their tolerance. Spiking the drinks of the small Darwinian subjects, researchers with the Oregon Health & Science University found that after drinking even small amounts of liquor the birds were less inclined to fly around but certainly slurred their songs and chirps with a distinct drunken vibe.

Early Man and the Issue of Weak Bones: How Sedentary Lifestyle Led to Now

Dec 25, 2014

The age of agriculture brought stable food supply to the human population―but it also brought weak bones.

In Chimpanzee Sexual Selection, Nice Guys Finish Last

Nov 15, 2014

Behavioral studies of our close relatives the chimpanzee often reveal origins of what we believe to be distinctly “human” interactions. Grooming behavior, child rearing and even gang formation have all been identified in chimpanzee populations, but in a recent study conducted in Tanzania, researchers from Arizona State University say that they may have found the origins or far more disturbing behavior—bullying and male-on-female violence.

Penguin-Friendly Rover Finds Its Place Amongst the Crowd

Nov 03, 2014

It’s a story, much like the ones you’ve heard before. An orphaned bird must stand alone within its flock, to find its own place amongst its peers. But this isn’t the story of an ugly little duckling that turns into a swan, or one of a tap-dancing emperor penguin with a knack for hip hop. This is a tale of a remote-operated rover that brought researchers into the fold of a penguin colony, for a view unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Taking A Bite Out of Sunlight—US Expects A Partial Solar Eclipse

Oct 19, 2014

Predicted to occur this Thursday, Oct. 23, the off-center new moon will pass in front of the sun creating a partial solar eclipse seen across the United States. Though the predicted visibility will range anywhere from twelve to seventy percent of clarity, researchers at NASA expect that the event will be widely visible across the entire continental US.

How A Parasite Became a Power House—The Tale of Mitochondria

Oct 17, 2014

Through the use of simple components, sugar, oxygen and transfer molecules, the mitochondria are able to create and store energy through the simple movement of electrons from one bond to another. And in spite of conflicting theories describing their possible origins, a new study at the University of Virginia is proving that the energy creators weren’t always self-sustaining components.