Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Museum PR guy finds new dinosaur fossil
A public relations coordinator for a Texas museum recently spotted the fossilized bones of a 75-million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur while taking a tour of the area where a mummified duckbill was...
Forest Disappearing in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea has been losing about 1.4 percent of its total forest cover, each year, a new analysis suggests.
Rodent Bones of Contention
Rat fossils may settle dispute over when humans reached New Zealand
Unveiling the mystery of parasite in marine mammals
Researchers at California Polytechnic State University have discovered what may be a clue to the mystery of why marine mammals around the world are succumbing to a parasite that is...
Soft vs. Hard science, part II
[This post is a second excerpt from the draft of a chapter of my forthcoming book, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell the Difference Between Science and Bunk," to be...
DNA reveals sister power in Ancient Greece
University of Manchester researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth.
Genetic mutation linked to walking on all fours
What are the genes implicated in upright walking of humans? The discovery of four families in which some members only walk on all fours (quadrupedality) may help us...
Living fossils have long- and short-term memory
Nautiloids are the sole surviving family of externally-shelled cephalopods that thrived in the tropical oceans 450–150 million years ago. However, in the intervening years their modern soft bodied relatives dumped...
Stonehenge's royal burial roots
SHEFFIELD, England, May 31 (UPI) -- British researchers said radiocarbon dating suggests Stonehenge was used as a cemetery for about 500 years after it was built around 3,000...
Gene Studies Tell Placenta's Tale
Mother-fetus lifeline evolved from a combination of ancient and new genes
Drug gang jungle fires threaten Guatemala ruins
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Illegal settlers likely working for drug smugglers are starting fires to clear land in the Guatemalan jungle and threatening investigations into an ancient Mayan city with...
Cleopatra Bust Among Treasures Found in Egypt Temple
The alabaster carving and a mask that might have belonged to Marc Antony were found at a site where teams have been searching for the famous couple's lost tombs.
Volcanic bug aids 'Children of the Moon'
Scientists probing an ancient microbe have shed new light on a rare condition that causes acute sensitivity to the sun.
Leeds medics solve an ancient riddle -- and offer new tool for diagnosis
A puzzling medical condition, identified more than 2,000 years ago by Hippocrates, has finally been explained by researchers at the University of Leeds.
Quake-Hit Panda Center May Move to Safer Ground
With bamboo supplies closed off due to landslides, Chinese officials are considering moving the rare animals to another location.
Egypt planning DNA test for 3,500-year-old mummy
(AP) -- Egypt plans to conduct a DNA test on a 3,500-year-old mummy to determine if it is King Thutmose I, one of the most important pharaohs, the country's...
DNA Offers Clues to Greenland’s First Inhabitants
The earliest inhabitants of the New World’s northern extremes were the descendants of eastern Asian populations, researchers say.
Ancient Islamic coin found in Norway
OSLO, Norway, May 29 (UPI) -- Archaeologists in Norway say an ancient Islamic coin dating back to 805 AD was found just west of Oslo.
Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle?
A pair of researchers have developed a model that suggests shuffling emerged millions of years ago as a precursor to walking on two feet as a way of saving metabolic...
Two new shipwreck sites found: U.S. treasure hunters
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. treasure hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration said on Thursday it had found two shipwreck sites near the English Channel with artifacts from the colonial...
Years after slaughter, Peru opens giant burial pit
PUTIS, Peru (Reuters) - Forensic scientists pulled human skeletons from the biggest known mass grave in Peru on Thursday, searching for proof the army slaughtered more than 100 people at...
Reed Elsevier makes its final farewell to arms
Company stops organising arms trade fairs following sustained campaign by international writers and shareholders
Score One for Monogamy
Complex insect societies may have evolved because females chose a single mate
Ancient Eskimos Came from Asia, Study Says
The first Eskimos to colonize the New World did not descend from Native Americans, nor are they the ancestors of modern-day Inuit, according to a new analysis of ancient hair.
PHOTOS: Stonehenge Was ''Domain of the Dead''
Archaeologists may have finally solved the enduring puzzle of the prehistoric monuments: They are giant tombstones of the dead.
Rewriting Greenland's immigration history
Thirty-six-year-old Professor Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen, and his team of fossil DNA researchers have done it a couple of times before: rewritten world history. Most recently two months ago...
The 10 worst jobs in science
The list starts with scientists who collect and dig through whale dung for a living — and it counts down to the worst job in the entire science profession.
Flying reptiles ate dinosaurs for lunch
Ancient flying reptiles could have snacked on Tyrannosaurus rex babies and other landlubbing runts of the dinosaur world, paleontologists report.