Ancient food scraps in rockshelter clarify shift to farming

Botanical macrofossils, such as maize cobs, avocado seeds, and rinds, from the El Gigante rockshelter in Honduras offer clues to Holocene life.

Shelly Leachman-UCSB • futurity
June 28, 2023 ~6 min

First hominin muscle reconstruction shows 3.2 million-year-old ‘Lucy’ could stand as erect as we can

Digital modelling of legendary fossil’s soft tissue suggests Australopithecus afarensis had powerful leg and pelvic muscles suited to tree dwelling, but knee

Cambridge University News • cambridge
June 14, 2023 ~5 min


Drawing, making music and writing poetry can support healing and bring more humanity to health care in US hospitals

Art, music and poetry therapy can help patients feel more optimistic and less isolated as well as to embrace the uncertainty that comes with illness.

Marlaine Figueroa Gray, Assistant Investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, University of Washington • conversation
June 9, 2023 ~10 min

'From Magic Mushrooms to Big Pharma' – a college course explores nature's medicine cabinet and different ways of healing

An anthropology course explores how peoples and cultures around the world use nature-based medicines to heal.

Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Professor of Anthropology, Western Illinois University • conversation
June 9, 2023 ~6 min

Bringing the social and ethical responsibilities of computing to the forefront

The inaugural SERC Symposium convened experts from multiple disciplines to explore the challenges and opportunities that arise with the broad applicability of computing in many aspects of society.

Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing • mit
June 8, 2023 ~12 min

Thriving in the face of adversity: Resilient gorillas reveal clues about overcoming childhood misfortune

In many animals, including humans, adverse events in youth have lasting negative health effects over the life span. But new research suggests something different is going on in mountain gorillas.

Robin Morrison, Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Behavior, University of Exeter • conversation
May 15, 2023 ~9 min

Bringing Stone Age genomic material back to life

Scientific breakthroughs will enable exploration of Earth’s biochemical past, with hopes of discovering new therapeutic molecules.

Christy DeSmith • harvard
May 4, 2023 ~6 min

Enigmatic human fossil jawbone may be evidence of an early *Homo sapiens* presence in Europe – and adds mystery about who those humans were

Scientists had figured a fossil found in Spain more than a century ago was from a Neandertal. But a new analysis suggests it could be from a lost lineage of our species, Homo sapiens.

Rolf Quam, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
May 2, 2023 ~12 min


DNA shows poorly understood empire was multiethnic with strong female leadership

Biomolecular archaeology reveals a fuller picture of the Xiongnu people, the world’s first nomadic empire.

Christy DeSmith • harvard
April 28, 2023 ~7 min

Oldest bone weapon in Americas is stuck in a mastodon rib

"This is this the oldest bone projectile point in the Americas and represents the oldest direct evidence of mastodon hunting in the Americas."

Texas A&M University • futurity
Feb. 3, 2023 ~6 min

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