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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.

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.

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.

Astronomy

Early Mars couldn’t hold liquid water long

Small rocks hit Mars 3.6 billion years ago, suggesting an early atmosphere too thin for liquid water to hang around very long.

Particle Physics

Exotic particle packs a foursome of quarks

Tetraquarks could help physicists understand the universe’s first generations of matter.

Genetics

Five mutations could make bird flu spread easily

Handful of alterations can turn H5N1 bird flu into virus that infects ferrets through the air.

Cosmology

Galaxy’s gamma-ray glow may expose dark matter

An excess of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way could be a signature of dark matter.