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This article states that as a result of an internal representation of their bodies and parts, macaques “gradually come to mentally regard their hands and arms, and then their entire bodies, from a third-person perspective.” Isn’t that a good definition of self-awareness, one of the supposed differences between humans and other animals and between humans […]
By Science News -
Well-Tooled Primates
People may have leaned on ancient primate-brain capacities to begin making stone tools by 2.5 million years ago, a transition that possibly spurred the development of language and other higher mental faculties.
By Bruce Bower -
- Humans
From the January 30, 1937, issue
A new atomic gun, an old human skull, and making stronger rayon.
By Science News - Humans
Malaria Control
While you’re sending an e-mail or surfing the Web, your computer could be helping to tackle one of Africa’s major challenges: malaria. In a project coordinated by CERN, volunteer computers in homes and offices run a simulation program called MalariaControl.net, developed by researchers at the Swiss Tropical Institute. The program simulates how malaria spreads through […]
By Science News - Humans
Top Prospects for Tomorrow’s Labs: National competition yields a dream team of young scientific talent
Twenty young women and 20 young men aced an early challenge in their scientific careers by becoming finalists in the annual Intel Science Talent Search.
By Ben Harder - Physics
Waves from the Big Bang: Upcoming detectors may view newborn universe
Ripples in space-time may soon give scientists a glimpse of the universe as it looked a tiny fraction of a second after its birth.
- Animals
Bite This: Borrowed toad toxins save snake’s neck
An Asian snake gets toxins by salvaging them from the poisonous toads it eats.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Early Fix: Prion disease remedied in mice
Diseases caused by misfolded proteins called prions can be reversed if caught early enough, experiments in mice suggest.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Kaput: Hubble’s main camera stops working
The sharpest, most sensitive camera on the aging Hubble Space Telescope has stopped working.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Disaster’s Consequences: Hurricane’s legacy includes arsenic
Construction debris strewn across the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina contains a disturbing amount of arsenic that could contaminate groundwater if not properly managed.
- Archaeology
Suburb of Stonehenge: Ritual village found near famed rock site
Excavations at a 4,600-year-old village in southern England indicate that it was occupied by the builders of nearby Stonehenge and hosted feasts where people assembled before transporting the dead to the huge circle of stones, which served as an ancestor memorial.
By Bruce Bower