Radiocarbon dating only works half the time – we may have found the solution

DNA dating could complement radiocarbon technology to help make archaeology more accurate.

Eran Elhaik, Senior Lecturer in Population, Medical and Evolutionary Genomics, Lund University • conversation
Sept. 7, 2022 • ~8 min

Meet _Qikiqtania_, a fossil fish with the good sense to stay in the water while others ventured onto land

The newly discovered species – Qikiqtania – highlights evolution’s twisty, tangled path.

Thomas Stewart, Assistant Professor of Biology, Penn State • conversation
July 20, 2022 • ~9 min

The high-speed physics of how bobsled, luge and skeleton send humans hurtling faster than a car on the highway

It may look like athletes in bobsled, luge and skeleton simply grab a sled and hang on until the bottom, but high-speed physics and tiny motions mean the difference between gold and a crash.

John Eric Goff, Professor of Physics, University of Lynchburg • conversation
Feb. 4, 2022 • ~8 min

From Black Death to COVID-19, pandemics have always pushed people to honor death and celebrate life

Halloween, with its mix of the macabre and the playful, provides a moment to reflect on how closely life and death are interwoven – especially in 2021.

Nükhet Varlik, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University - Newark • conversation
Oct. 26, 2021 • ~9 min

Giant 'toothed' birds flew over Antarctica 40 million to 50 million years ago

Paleontologists have discovered fossil remains belonging to an enormous 'toothed' bird that lived for a period of about 60 million years after dinosaurs.

Peter A. Kloess, Doctoral Candidate, Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley • conversation
Oct. 27, 2020 • ~7 min

What the archaeological record reveals about epidemics throughout history – and the human response to them

People have lived with infectious disease throughout the millennia, with culture and biology influencing each other. Archaeologists decode the stories told by bones and what accompanies them.

Michael Westaway, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland • conversation
June 15, 2020 • ~11 min

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