Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
White-handed Gibbons Now Presumed 'Extinct' In China, Forest Survey Shows
China's fauna exhibits a unique diversity of apes. Unfortunately, the apes are more strongly endangered by extinction in China than in any other country. A research team assembled by anthropologists...
Reproductive Plasticity Revealed: Neotropical Treefrog Can Choose To Lay Eggs In Water Or On Land
Researchers have discovered a treefrog known to lay eggs terrestrially, also lays eggs in water both at the surface and fully submerged. Although this yellow treefrog is the first vertebrate...
Transitional Frog Lays Eggs on Water and Land
A tree frog is shedding light on the moment in history when our ancestors crawled onto land.
University of Chicago launches first archaeological dig at site of 1893 World's Fair
A group of undergraduates at the University of Chicago has come in touch with the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, launching the first archaeological dig of the famed Chicago fair site...
Asian vultures face extinction in the wild
LONDON, May 19 (UPI) -- British researchers say Asian vultures are facing the possibility of extinction in the wild within a decade.
Multiple New Species Of Fruit Flies With Overlapping Niches Discovered
Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect the...
Sulfur In Marine Archaeological Shipwrecks: The 'Hull Story' Gives A Sour Aftertaste
Advanced chemical analyses reveal that, with the help of smart scavenging bacteria, sulfur and iron compounds accumulated in the timbers of the Swedish warship Vasa during her 333 years on...
Evolution of St. Louis encephalitis traced
NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- U.S. geneticists say they have traced the evolution of St. Louis encephalitis and determined the origin of the disease.
China, Myanmar: Why we do or don't help
The dire situations in cyclone-battered Myanmar and quake-tossed southwestern China and the impulse of many to offer relief have a lot to do with human nature. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors likely...
Science Weekly podcast: the RI, the embryology Bill, and kebabs
The pod is joined by two of the of RI's most distinguished members. We hear from the opponents and supports of the embryology bill. And astrobiologist David Catling tells us...
Explorers marvel at 'Brittlestar City' on seamount in powerful current swirling around Antarctica
Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists, plumbing the secrets of a vast underwater mountain range south of New Zealand, captured the first images of a novel “Brittlestar City” established against daunting...
VIDEO: Primates Climb Treadmill
The tree-dwelling creatures were put on a specially built treadmill of ropes and pulleys as part of new research into how much energy the animals expend.
WEEK IN PHOTOS: Giant Bug, Rocket Man, Baby Croc, More
See "Fusion Man" fly via a jet-powered wing on his back, a giant beetle escape a smuggler, volcanic ash falling eerily, and more.
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Rare Bust of Wrinkled Caesar Found
The marble bust of the Roman emperor—possibly the oldest ever found—was discovered by divers in a French river.
55 Million Year Old Parrot Fossil Discovered In Scandinavia
Palaeontologists have discovered fossil remains in Scandinavia of parrots dating back 55 million years. The fossils indicate that parrots once flew wild over what is now Norway and Denmark. Parrots...
Mixed Results For Late-talking Toddlers
New research findings from the world's largest study on language emergence have revealed that one in four late-talking toddlers continue to have language problems by age seven.
MIT solves gravity-defying bird beak mystery
As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how...
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Myanmar's Jeweled Temple Damaged
Cyclone Nargis stripped gold panels and precious gems from parts of the 2,500-year-old Shwedagon Paya temple complex, one of the world's largest Buddhist sites.
New study reveals hidden neotropical diversity
Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect the...
Bones found in Brandon likely a century old; belong to aboriginals
Human bones found at a construction site in Brandon earlier this week were more than a century old and could be from more than one person, officials said Wednesday.
Museum displays big and small family jewels
Sigurdur Hjartarson is missing a human penis to display at the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which offers close-up looks at the long and the short of the male reproductive organ.
'Iron Man,' 'Baby Mama' and more: Exhibit showcases set decorators
"PULLING Back the Drapes," a new exhibition at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Fourth Floor Gallery, looks to shed some light on an individual who ...
Bite marks as evidence: Advance claimed
Attorneys and even some forensic experts have ridiculed the use of bite marks to identify criminals as sham science and glorified guesswork. Marquette researchers say they're wrong.
Mysterious Ailment Could Wipe Out U.S. Northeast Bats
Scientists hope the summer emergence of pregnant females can shed some light on the enigmatic white-nose syndrome—before time runs for the animals and their environment.
Vatican scientist says OK to believe in aliens and God
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of intelligent life on other planets that is perhaps...
Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display
(AP) -- One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week - more than four decades after it was last seen by...
Indiana Jones: The Bad Boy of Archaeology
Indy breaks the rules and probably would be an Archaeological Institute of America member.
Observatory: Seaweed Suggests First Humans in America Took the Coastal Route
New findings support the idea that humans spread southward along the Pacific Coast after entering the Americas.