Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Early galaxy had 'teenage growth spurt'
DURHAM, England, March 23 (UPI) -- A British-led international team of scientists says it has discovered a massive galaxy in the early universe experiencing rapid growth.
Smithsonian traces saga of human origins
Hundreds of early human fossils, artifacts and forensically recreated faces of our prehistoric relatives go on display at the National Museum of Natural History. National Museum...
Spider silk reveals a paradox of super-strength
Since its development in China thousands of years ago, silk from silkworms, spiders and other insects has been used for high-end, luxury fabrics as well as for parachutes and medical...
Flowering plants may be considerably older than previously thought
Flowering plants may be considerably older than previously thought, says a new analysis of the plant family tree. Previous studies suggest that flowering plants, or angiosperms, first arose 140 to...
Fedexia Striegeli Provides Earliest Evidence Of Terrestrial Vertebrates
A new genus and species of carnivorous amphibian from western Pennsylvania, Fedexia striegeli, provides the earliest widespread evidence of terrestrial Vertebrates, say researchers from Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The...
Making 'armoured' T-shirts
Cotton shirts reinforced with boron carbide have potential for tough-but-flexible new body armour
For Basketball Brackets, No Edge in Picking Upsets
When filling out an NCAA bracket, picking the upset won't give you the edge.
Hip websites need hard facts to thrive
Mixed in with technology innovations at South By South West (SXSW) were reminders that real-world performance facts are vital to thriving on an increasingly crowded Internet.
Anthony Dunne of Royal College of Art on exhibition to explore the impact of future scientific research
Anthony Dunne of the Royal College of Art shows Andy Duckworth an exhibition to explore the impact of future scientific research on societyAndy Duckworth
CeBIT 2010: Live 3-D TV
Strikers and defenders furiously compete for the ball. Suddenly, the forward drops into the penalty area. Penalty shot. The penalty taker carefully sets the ball just right. Cut to the...
Scientists find signs of 'snowball Earth' amidst early animal evolution
Geologists have found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a 'snowball Earth' event long suspected to have taken place around...
Deep sedimentation of acantharian cysts - a reproductive strategy?
Spore-like reproductive cysts of enigmatic organisms called acantharians rapidly sink from surface waters to the deep ocean in certain regions, according to new research. Scientists suspect that this is part...
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
A rare, ancient polar bear fossil discovered in Norway in 2004 is yielding a treasure trove of essential information about the age and evolutionary origins of the species whose future...
In a Desert in China, a Trove of 4,000-Year-Old Mummies
Chinese archaeologists unearthed a 4,000-year-old cemetery in Xinjiang Province that seemed to be a vanished people’s paean to the pleasures or utility of procreation.
Meat-eating amphibian predates dinosaurs
A "rock" initially tossed aside at a Federal Express site in Pennsylvania turns out to be the skull of a meat-eating amphibian that lived 70 million years before the first...
Swiss designer creates dinosaur dung watch
A Swiss watchmaker is hoping to raise a stink with an expensive timepiece that eschews the trade's standard gold, diamond or titanium fittings for a more earthy substance — dinosaur...
Roger Thatcher obituary
Former director of the Office of Population Censuses and SurveysRoger Thatcher, who has died aged 83, occupied a dual role in one of the oldest offices of central government as the registrar general...
'Modern' Humans Appeared On Iberian Peninsula 34,000 Years Ago - Study
New archaeological evidence recovered at Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Southeastern PrePyrenees, Catalunya, Spain) suggests that 'modern humans' first appeared on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition, according...
Cro Magnon skull shows that our brains have shrunk
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new replica of an early modern human brain has provided further evidence for the theory that the human brain has been shrinking. The skull belonged to an...
Study: Today's youth aren't ego-driven slackers after all
Today's youth are generally not the self-centered, antisocial slackers that previous research has made them out to be, according to a provocative new study co-authored by a Michigan State University...
Asteroid killed off the dinosaurs, says international scientific panel
The Cretaceous - Tertiary mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs and more than half of species on Earth, was caused by an asteroid colliding with Earth and not massive...
Students' perceptions of Earth's age influence acceptance of human evolution
High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a University...
Deadline Tomorrow!
Just a reminder, the deadline to enter our spring University Science Writing Competition is tomorrow, March 15th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. (and thanks to daylight savings time, you just...
Video: My Bright Idea: Robin Dunbar
Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar talks to Aleks KrotoskiHenry Barnes
Man Emerges From Coma a Compulsive Artist
Wasn't Creative Before Double Brain Aneurism Almost Killed Him; Also Was Speaking in Rhymes
Small dogs originated in the Middle East, genetic study finds
A genetic study has found that small domestic dogs probably originated in the Middle East more than 12,000 years ago. Researchers have traced the evolutionary history of the IGF1 gene,...
Skeletons ID'd as beheaded Viking raiders
WEYMOUTH, England, March 12 (UPI) -- The skeletons of more than 50 young men buried in a pit along an ancient roadway in Southwest England have been identified as...
This column will change your life: A frightening prospect | Oliver Burkeman
Why is it that we enjoy being scared half to death by films and books?One wild and windswept recent afternoon – I know it should have been late at night, but it wasn't...