Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Mount Hood eruption 'style' studied
CORVALLIS, Ore., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered why Mount Hood in Oregon doesn't have a history of explosive eruptions like so many of its Cascade...
Race is on to find life under Antarctic ice sheet
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The race is on to discover life in the most remote and extreme environment known on Earth.
Woolly mammoth video a hoax, original footage shows
Video surfaced last week claiming to show a live woolly mammoth
Video shows sea lions strangled by debris
The images aren't pretty: Sea lions with shiny fishing lures protruding from their mouths or with their necks tightly bound, even deeply cut, by packing bands once used to secure...
Solved: The mystery of Iceland's river monster
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Further information about the "river monster" seen in a video from Iceland has led to the likeliest explanation — and it's not Nessie.
Explosive evolution need not follow mass extinctions, study of ancient zooplankton finds
Fossil record of graptoloids challenges the theory that immediately after a mass extinction, species develop new physical traits at a rapid pace.
Valentine's Day: Why Do We Celebrate It? (Hint: Naked Romans)
Where did Valentine's Day come from? (Think naked Romans, paganism, and whips.) What does it cost? And why do we fall for it, year after year?
How to think like a Neanderthal
A lack of creativity and the inability to innovate may have led to the extinction of the Neanderthals, two researchers argue in a book that aims to get inside the...
Debate bubbles over the origin of life
Debate bubbles over the origin of lifeNature News , 13022012 doi: 10.1038/nature.2012.10024Brian SwitekCould life have originated in geothermal ponds?
Protocells called thermal springs home
Cells' ionic composition suggests life may have originated in thermal springs rather than deep sea vents
A Mystery Meteorite From the House of Sting
Rock recovered from musician's property may shed light on ice age Britain
50 Years Later, Celebrating John Glenn’s Great Feat
The first American astronaut’s first orbit of Earth — 50 years ago this month — revived national morale and hope.
3,000 Feet of Air Below Your Feet: A Q&A With The Man Who Can Fly
Dean Potter, the first free soloist to climb Yosemite's El Capitan, talks about his other art form: wingsuit flying.
Mystery bird: Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula | @GrrlScientist
This Ethiopian mystery bird is known for its intricately woven nests Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula (synonym, Ploceus flavissimus), Rüppell, 1840, also known as the Rueppell's/Ruppell's weaver or as the canary weaver, photographed in...
Improbable research: the vertical fossil and the exploding dinosaur theory
Scientists have concluded that an ichthyosaur fossil found head down did not explode into this positionSeagoing dinosaurs did not explode nearly as often as scientists believed, according to a new study called Float,...
A new technique identifies corpses by comparing the skull with a picture of the subject alive
University of Granada researchers have developed a new forensic identification technique that compares the skull with one or several pictures of the subject while still alive. This system is based...
In the Andes, Extreme Cold Extracts Bitter Toll
EL HIGUERON, Peru – Carlos Cruz Chanta lives just off a rutted dirt road, almost lost in the mist, outside this village on a steep ridge of jungle-covered mountains. Like...
Snowy owls flock south
Snowy owls migrate from the Arctic tundra every few years, but this year they're turning up in places they have never been seen before.
New basal beaked ornithurine bird found from the lower cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China
Based on a well-preserved specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Jianchang, western Liaoning, China, Paleontologists of Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences reported...
Glasgow team gets £1m grant to study illegal trade in antiquities
Researchers will spend next four years gathering and analysing data on movements and motives of traffickersWhen archaeologist Neil Brodie arrived for a dig at an ancient Roman cemetery site in Jordan, it was...
The joy of cheques
An electronic cheque which eliminates the need for costly processing by banks but preserves the simplicity and ease of a traditional cheque book has been designed by a team of...
Science Weekly podcast: Will climate change unleash geological mayhem?
Alok Jha is joined by Guardian science correspondent Ian Sample and Observer science editor Robin McKie to rake over the week's best science stories.Robin discusses a poll of forensic scientists published in New...
Birdbooker Report 209
Compiled by an ardent bibliophile, this weekly report includes books about reading Egyptian hieroglyphs, human evolution, newly discovered animals and more that have been newly published in North America and the UKBooks to...
Archaeologists strike gold in quest to find Queen of Sheba's wealth
A British excavation has struck archaeological gold with a discovery that may solve the mystery of where the Queen of Sheba derived her fabled treasuresA British excavation has struck archaeological gold with a...
New to nature No 65: Diania cactiformis
This fossil 'walking cactus' found in China could point to the start of the arthropod lineThe fossil-rich Chengjiang deposits of Yunnan province, China, date from about 525 million years ago and are among...
Mystery bird: white-breasted woodswallow, Artamus leucorynchus | @GrrlScientist
This Malaysian mystery bird is peculiar for a number of interesting reasons White-breasted woodswallow, Artamus leucorynchus (synonym, Artamus leucoryn; protonym, Lanius leucoryn), Linnaeus, 1771, also known as the white-breasted wood-swallow or white-breasted swallow-shrike, as...
Problems cast shadows of doubt on solar project
The unexpected deaths of kit foxes and discovery of ancient human settlements threaten to delay or even cancel a $1-billion, 250-megawatt installation on federal land in the desert near Blythe.Reporting...
"Vampire" Parasite Found Entombed in Amber
The first known fossil of a rare bloodsucker called the bat fly has been found in 20-million-year-old amber, a new study reports.