Anthropology
- Psychology
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
Given a choice between fantasy play and doing the things that adults do, children prefer reality-based tasks, studies suggest.
- Anthropology
Ancient kids’ toys have been hiding in the archaeological record
Some unusual finds from thousands of years ago are actually toys and children’s attempts at mimicking adult craftwork.
- Science & Society
‘Death: A Graveside Companion’ offers an outlet for your morbid curiosity
A coffee-table book explores how humans have tried to understand death through the ages.
- Archaeology
Sharp stones found in India signal surprisingly early toolmaking advances
Toolmaking revolution reached what’s now India before Homo sapiens did, a new study suggests.
- Anthropology
An ancient jaw pushes humans’ African departure back in time
If an ancient jaw found in an Israeli cave belongs to Homo sapiens, the humans left Africa tens of thousands of years earlier than we thought.
- Anthropology
Human brains rounded into shape over 200,000 years or more
Ancient humans’ brains slowly but surely became round, scientists say.
- Anthropology
‘First Face of America’ explores how humans reached the New World
New documentary shows how an ancient teen and an infant have illuminated scientists’ understanding of the peopling of the Americas.
- Anthropology
Hunter-gatherer lifestyle could help explain superior ability to ID smells
Hunter-gatherers in the forests of the Malay Peninsula prove more adept at naming smells than their rice-farming neighbors, possibly because of their foraging culture.
- Anthropology
DNA solves the mystery of how these mummies were related
Two ancient Egyptian mummies known as the Two Brothers had the same mother, but different dads.
- Anthropology
‘Laid-back’ bonobos take a shine to belligerents
Unlike people, these apes gravitate toward those who are unhelpful.
- Physics
These 2017 discoveries could be big news, if they turn out to be true
Some findings reported in 2017 are potentially big news, if they hold up to additional scientific scrutiny.
- Anthropology
Strong-armed women helped power Europe’s ancient farming revolution
Intensive manual labor gave ancient farm women arms that female rowers today would envy.
