Both Razib and John Lynch, of Science Blogs, have pulled a fast one on us about an interesting new study published recently in PNAS. The paper is titled, "Hotspots for copy number variation in chimpanzees and humans " and it comes from some people at ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change. The abstract... Continue Reading →
A NOVA special on the Turkish Family that walks on all fours
This maybe a little to late to announce, but I just flipped on my PBS channel here in Northern California, after my friend Andrew clued me in, and low and behold there's a special on that group of siblings who walk on all fours. So far the NOVA special has outlined the origins of bipedalism... Continue Reading →
The tiny magnetite compass in the human nose
Stephen Juan, an anthropologist from the University of Sydney answers Lee Staniforth of Manchester, UK question, "Do humans have a compass in their nose?" He writes about some scientists at California Institute of Technology discovered that humans possess a tiny, shiny crystal of magnetite in the ethmoid bone (pink bone to the image on your... Continue Reading →
Another example of using Google Earth to survey for archaeological sites
I'd like to share news on how archaeology is growing to use non-traditional tools like Google Earth to find sites. See nearly one year ago, I passed on the news that an Italian man accidentally discovered the outline of an ancient Roman villa while looking at his house on Google Earth. Since then, UNC-Chapel Hill... Continue Reading →
An introduction to and anatomical evidence supporting Neandertal introgression (Part 1)
PNAS has released a one-two sucker punch of information regarding Neandertal and human evolution. The first piece of information came from an anatomical and carbon dating reanalysis of ‘early modern humans’ from Pestera Muierii. Erik Trinkaus conducted this research, and here is the DOI link to the paper. The second piece of information comes from... Continue Reading →
The Phoenix virus fossil resurrected from human genome
If you think HIV is a nasty virus, then wait to you hear about the "Phoenix virus," a fossil virus that has been dormant in the human genome. The retrovirus infected hominins for millions of years, and while this isn't exactly anthropological in nature, this study does help us understand selective pressures of the past... Continue Reading →
