All Stories
- Genetics
Modern hunter-gatherers’ guts host distinct microbes
A healthy collection of gut bacteria depends on the environment in which people live and their lifestyle, research shows.
- Anthropology
Laetoli footprints show signs of unusual gait
Contrary to prior study, 3.6-million-year-old hominids in Tanzania did not walk like humans.
- Anthropology
Earliest case of a battered child found in Greece
A baby living in Athens around 2,200 years ago was probably beaten to death.
- Earth
Huge space rock rattled Earth 3 billion years ago
An asteroid almost as wide as Rhode Island may have plowed into Earth 3.26 billion years ago, leaving a trace in South Africa’s Barberton greenstone belt.
- Anthropology
Ancient boy died surprisingly young
Imaging analysis reduces age of Australopithecus sediba youngster from 9 to 7.5 years old.
- Climate
Reef fish act drunk in carbon dioxide–rich ocean waters
In first test in the wild, fish near reefs that bubble with CO2 lose fear of predators’ scent.
- Oceans
The surprising life of a piece of sunken wood
Timber and trees that wash out to sea and sink to the bottom of the ocean hold a diverse community of organisms.
- Anthropology
Turkana Boy sparks row over Homo erectus height
Estimating the adult height and weight of an ancient youth from his skeleton has proven tricky.
- Climate
Ocean bacteria may have shut off ancient global warming
Ocean-dwelling bacteria may have helped end global warming 56 million years ago by gobbling up carbon from the CO2-laden atmosphere.
- Health & Medicine
Hepatitis C treatment appears extremely effective
A mix of four medications has provided the most effective way to date to counter the hepatitis C virus in humans.
- Climate
IPCC calls for swift switch to alternative power
Rapid adoption of green power production will be necessary to avert a climate crisis, latest IPCC report says.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum experts discuss the measurement problem: A transcript from 1994
A fairly complete transcript of a discussion about quantum physics on May 19, 1994, the last day of a workshop in Santa Fe, N.M., evolves into a more general discussion of the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the quantum measurement problem.
