Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
U.S. researcher makes Atlantis claim
HARTFORD, Conn., March 15 (UPI) -- The latest claim of "finding" the legendary lost island of Atlantis comes from a U.S. researcher who pinpoints it in a vast marsh...
Neanderthals were nifty at controlling fire, says CU-Boulder-led study
A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication...
Humans froze a long time before mastering fire
New archeological evidence shows it took humans longer than thought to learn how to use fire
Remarkable Creatures: For Whom the Cell Mutates: The Origins of Genetic Quirks
While the origins of the cats at Hemingway’s longtime home in Key West, Fla., remain murky, the cause of their polydactyly is no longer a mystery.
A Candidate For A Darwin Award: A 370Ma Placoderm
Everyone's heard of the Darwin Awards, right? It's where some poor soul dies in such a monumentally stupid way that it can be considered that they have done the human...
How the Slime Mold Gets Organized
The so-called cellular slime mold, a unicellular organism that may transition into a multicellular organism under stress, has just been found to have a tissue structure that was previously thought...
Seedlings thrive with distant relatives, seeds with close family
A variety of plant seedlings suffer most from competition when planted with close relatives, and grow best when planted alongside distant relatives in field soils, researchers from Case Western Reserve...
Bilinguals see the world in a different way, study suggests
Scientists have found that regularly speaking in a second language makes you literally see the world in a different way. Color perception is an ideal way of testing bilingual concepts...
The Creature Connection
Our love for animals can be traced to our capacity to infer the mental states of others, which archaeological evidence suggests emerged more than 50,000 ago.
Whales 'scared' by sonars, but scientist say its not just sonars that could cause problems
(PhysOrg.com) -- Beaked whales are frightened by sonars used to hunt for submarines, according to new research.
No reason to be mardy about Americanisms | Alison Flood
British pronunciation is diverging from American, according to a project capturing spoken English across the world"Mr Tickle munched his biscuit. He looked out of the window. 'Today looks very much like a tickling...
VIDEO: Extinct creatures back on display
One of the world's oldest natural history collections, the Grant Museum of Zoology, re-opens in London this week.
Award Renamed for Mary R. Dawson, Renowned Paleontologist
In honor of one of its most acclaimed members, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has renamed one of its most prestigious awards. Given every year, the Mary R. Dawson...
Science Weekly podcast: Why scientists love Germany
We've been let out of the studio, and the UK, as part of the Guardian's New Europe month. The team has been tracking down some of the most exciting science in Germany....
Mystery bird: crab plover, Dromas ardeola
This AfroAsian mystery bird species is peculiar for many reasons, but I am most impressed by its unique breeding habitsCrab plover, Dromas ardeola, photographed at the Indian Ocean. Image: Peter Wächtershäuser, October 2007...
Chilly times for Chinese dinosaurs: Abundance of feathered dinosaurs during temperate climate with harsh winters
Dinosaurs did not always enjoy mild climates. New findings show that during part of the Early Cretaceous, north-east China had a temperate climate with harsh winters. They explain the abundance...
Mystery bird: Christmas Island frigatebird, Fregata andrewsi
This is the largest and rarest of the frigatebirds and it faces multiple threats to its continued existence Christmas Island frigatebird, Fregata andrewsi, also known as the Christmas frigatebird, Andrews' frigatebird or Andrews's...
Mouse nose nerve cells mature after birth, allowing bonding, recognition with mother
PHILADELPHIA - For rodent pups, bonding with mom isn't hard-wired in the womb. It develops over the first few weeks of life, which is achieved by their maturing sense of...
New Species Found: Thai Fossils Reveal Ancient Primate
A handful of fossil jaws from a Thai coal mine belong to a new member of the group of nocturnal primates called tarsiers, scientists say.
Deep thinker: Harvard biologist driven by mysteries of the sea
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are advancing in their understanding of the biology of the deep sea, which still remains largely unexplored and mysterious, according to Associate Professor Peter Girguis.
New View of How Humans Moved Away From Apes
Anthropologists say early human groups would have been more cooperative and willing to learn from one another than the chimpanzees from which human ancestors split about five million years ago.
Study: Human hands evolved by tool use
KENT, England, March 10 (UPI) -- U.K. researchers say they've confirmed the evolution of unique features in the human hand was influenced by increased tool use in our ancestors.
Shipwreck exhibit coming under fire
WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Archaeologists say they are opposed to a planned Smithsonian Institution exhibit of shipwreck artifacts on ethical grounds because of how they were obtained.
Scientist at Work: After the Field: Stones, Bones and Sherds
For every two to three months in the field, archaeologists spend six to 12 months analyzing the excavated materials in the lab.
Vandals loot unguarded Egyptian antiquities
Concerned archaeologists called Thursday on Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to return police to archaeological sites. The move is required to put an end to illegal excavations and wild looting...
Best 'sweet spots' on the backboard
According to Larry Hunter, the act of banking a basketball off the backboard and into the hoop is becoming a lost art.
Celebrating 400 years of sunspot observations
(PhysOrg.com) -- In March of 1611, a German medical student named Johannes Fabricius left school at Leiden in Holland carrying several of the new-fangled telescopes that were beginning to appear...
'Killer Shrimp' Shreds Prey
A crustacean nicknamed "killer shrimp" is a vicious predator, shredding and maiming its sowbug prey without eating it.