Although this is currently being billed as the oldest evidence yet of archaic mankind in Europe, there are other finds, especially from Murcia in the south of Spain which date back to 1.3 million years, and possibly (a disputed) 1.7 million years. Nevertheless, the find at Atapuerca is still remarkable, and is vivid testament to [...]
Before I forget, as I did last time round, Alun at Clioaudio (mentioned in the previous post regarding his podcast) is hosting the next edition of 4SH, and is calling for contributions - I quote from his site,
The Anthropology blog carnival Four Stone Hearth comes to Clioaudio on the 4th of July. I’ll [...]
Podcasting has arrived in a big way, as a cursory glance at the iTunes directory will confirm - if you can think of a science related topic, the chances are that someone somewhere will probably be talking about it. On that note, here’s a quick look at some which may be of interest to readers [...]
This is a link to the news from Craig Venter that he has succeeded in changing one species of bacteria into another, as described here…
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced the results of work on genome transplantation methods allowing them to transform one type of bacteria into another type dictated by [...]
NYT has this story, documenting the unstoppable rise and rise of the domesticated cat, whose only serious rival is the domesticated dog; both these creatures have become part and parcel of the human domestic experience over the last 10 to 15 millennia, although the reasons for their respective acceptance into the welcoming arms of mankind [...]
Michael Behe has recently published ‘The Edge Of Evolution: The Search For The Limits Of Darwinism‘, a descendant to his ‘Darwin’s Black Box‘, and as can be expected, there has been a fairly robust response to it from his many detractors within the scientific community, notably from Jerry Coyne, Sean Carroll, Michael Ruse and particularly [...]
Just a quick post to report on developments in the ongoing saga of the Hadza tribe in Tanzania, and their struggle to hang on to their lands, which look set to be handed over to the Abu Dhabi royal family, in a lease agreement with the Tanzanian government - the royals already use another area [...]
In a paper due to be published in the June 29th edition of ‘Science’, Tom Dillehay, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, claims to have found the oldest evidence yet of preceramic horticulture, specifically from the Ñanchoc Valley; here are some details of the discoveries from EurekAlert!
Anthropologists working on the slopes of the Andes [...]
This from BBC News, which details the discovery and subsequent archaeological excavation of two ‘Iron Age round houses’ dating back 2,000 years at Baile Sear, revealed by the erosional effects of a particularly heavy storm back in 2005, on the Hebridean island of North Uist. Other finds include what are thought to be salt pans [...]
Here’s a report on a paper published recently in PLoS Biology, namely Spontaneous Altruism By Chimpanzees And Young Children, in which it is shown that human children and chimpanzees display similar levels of altruism, a study which has raised questions once more about what makes humans different from all other animals, particularly those to whom [...]
