Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Evolutionary answer to flatfish eye enigma
CHICAGO, July 10 (UPI) -- Fossils of two ancient flatfish prove the fish's asymmetrical, one-sided eye arrangement is a result of evolution, a study published Thursday said.
Living Fossils
The term "living fossil" is an imperfect concept, which has caused much consternation among paleontologists and biologists as they have sifted through the fossil record over time. It is meant...
River damming leads to dramatic decline in native fish numbers
Damming of the Colorado River over the last century, alongside introduction of game fish species, has led to an extensive decline in numbers of native fish whilst introduced species have...
Revolutionary chefs? Not likely, shows physics research
However much the likes of Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay might want to shake up our diets, culinary evolution dictates that our cultural cuisines remain little changed as generations move...
A new species of ghostly carnivorous slug turns up in south Wales
A new species of carnivorous slug named the ghost slug because of its all-white appearance is discovered in south Wales.
Strontium strengthens imitation bones
Strontium offers a new approach to bone replacements, thanks to recent work by French scientists
Big brains arose twice in higher primates
Fossil Chilecebus from South America. After taking a fresh look at an old fossil, John Flynn, Frick Curator of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues determined...
Radio-carbon tests reveal true age of Rome's she-wolf - and she's a relative youngster
Symbol of Roman glory revealeled to date from Middle Ages, 1,800 years later than believed
Museum will put all its treasures online
The University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is dragging itself into the 21st century with an ambitious plan to share its treasures with the world via the Internet.
New Italian museum offers 3D virtual tour of ancient city
Visitors to Herculaneum, destroyed along with Pompeii in the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, can now take a 3D virtual tour recreating life in the ancient Roman town.
VIDEO: Rosa Parks's Belongings for Sale
A postcard from Martin Luther King, Jr., and a congressional Medal of Honor are among hundreds of the late U.S. civil rights pioneer's possessions to be auctioned off.
Odd Fish Find Contradicts Intelligent-Design Argument
Flatfishes' lopsided eye arrangement evolved gradually, a new fossil study suggests—perhaps solving "a major, major puzzle to evolutionary biologists."
Future of Popular Chinese Herbal Medicine Up in the Air [News]
DZATO, CHINA--It's a sight to behold on mornings in May and June: Hardy nomads and enterprising villagers from Nepal to western China spread out over the Tibetan Plateau and the...
Why such a fascination with crystal skulls?
Some mysteries are such fun you almost don't want to know the truth. That may help explain why people are fascinated with crystal skulls.
Expedition to Survey German U-Boats Sunk Off North Carolina
Scientists will study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942.
Cosmic Log: A dinosaur’s true colors
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: If dinosaurs had feathers, what pigments were in their plumage? A new twist in fossil analysis promises to reveal a dinosaur’s true colors.
Fish fossils plug hole in evolutionary theory
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some odd-looking fish fossils discovered in the bowels of several European museums may help solve a lingering question about evolutionary theory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
A Spanish revival
Spain's Ministry of Science and Innovation was re-established in April, four years after its dissolution in 2004. Cristina Garmendia, a former molecular biologist and chief executive of the Genetrix group...
Archaeology: The lost world
Armed with a map depicting a 10,000-year-old landscape submerged beneath the North Sea and fresh evidence from nearby sites, archaeologists are realizing that early humans were more territorial than was...
The Migration History of Humans: DNA Study Traces Human Origins Across the Continents [Scientific American Magazine]
A development company controlled by Osama bin Laden’s half brother revealed last year that it wants to build a bridge that will span the Bab el Mandeb, the outlet of...
Law Protects Genetic Secrets History Would Rather Let Lie [Scientific American Magazine]
When our ancient ancestors migrated out of Africa and throughout the rest of the world, telltale variations in the DNA of the people who settled along the way marked their...
Chemical Fossils Preserved in Lava Reveal Remains of Ancient Sea Life [Scientific American Magazine]
Adorf, Germany--After a five-hour drive south from the University of Bremen that got them in at half-past midnight, the two researchers visiting this small village were happy to sit and...
Reviews: "A View of Science, Reason and Religion" [Scientific American Magazine]
THE LEGACY OF THE MASTODON: THE GOLDEN AGE OF FOSSILS IN AMERICAby Keith Thomson, Yale University Press, 2008 [More]
Museum unveils woolly mammoth skeleton
A 14,500-year-old woolly mammoth skeleton dug up in 1994 has been unveiled at the Milwaukee Public Museum, giving locals a glimpse of perhaps the most intact specimen discovered in North...
Flyby of Mercury Answers Some Old Questions
The flyby of Mercury by NASA’s Messenger spacecraft in January provided the first close-up look at the planet since the 1970s.
Attack in DR Congo's gorilla park
Two are killed in attack on vehicle carrying gorilla conservationists in DR Congo's Virunga National Park.
Art of deception: Crystal skulls in British, US museums were fakes
How about this for the next instalment of the Indy franchise: "Indiana Jones and the Dodgy Antiques Dealer"?
New study finds that some plants can adapt to widespread climate change
While many plant species move to a new location or go extinct as a result of climate change, grasslands clinging to a steep, rocky dale-side in Northern England seem to...