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19676
Unless Vincenzo Formicola can demonstrate a human-caused fatal injury to the youngsters buried at these grave sites, his suggestion of human sacrifice is just sensationalistic speculation. The likeliest reason for a group burial is death in an outbreak of disease. There are many modern instances, such as the era of the bubonic plague. The rich […]
By Science News - Anthropology
Making sacrifices in Stone Age societies
A half-dozen burials at sites in Europe and western Asia dating to between 27,000 and 23,000 years ago provide clues to possible human sacrifices.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Digging up debate in a French cave
A scientific debate has broken out over whether a French cave excavated more than 50 years ago contains evidence of separate Stone Age occupations by Neandertals and modern humans.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Neandertals take out their small blades
Excavations of Neandertal artifacts have yielded a trove of thin, double-edged stone blades that researchers usually regard as the work of Stone Age people who lived much later.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Ancient islanders get a leg up
A new analysis of bones from a tiny evolutionary cousin of people found on a Pacific island indicates that these late Stone Age individuals carried a lot of weight on short frames and had extremely strong legs.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
An aging protein?
The defective protein that, when defective, causes a premature-aging disease may also play a role in normal aging.
- Astronomy
Crust on a star
By analyzing X rays generated by the rumblings of a neutron star 40,000 light-years from Earth, astronomers have estimated the thickness of the dense star's crust.
By Ron Cowen - Plants
Nectar: The First Soft Drink
Plants have long competed with one another to lure animals in for a sip of their sweet formulations.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Predicting Parkinson’s
Scientists are searching for ways to detect the earliest signs in the brain of Parkinson's disease.
By Science News -
- Humans
From the May 2, 1936, issue
Atomic bullets, exploding cornstarch, and an unstable solar system.
By Science News - Tech
Aircraft Photos
The Dryden Flight Research Center is NASA’s center for aeronautical flight research and atmospheric flight operations. The Center’s Web site has an extensive photo collection, which features images of many of the research and experimental aircraft flown at the test facility, from the 1940s to today. Go to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/index.html
By Science News