December 2018

• 72-Year-Old Frenchman Attempts Floating from Canary Islands to Caribbean in Big Orange Barrel — See Photos & Videos (CBS News, 12/27/18).

• 33-Year-Old American Becomes First to Cross Antarctica Alone without Help — See Photos & Map (The New York Times, 12/26/18).

• Study: DNA Matching Could Speed Return of Ancestral Remains Held in Museums to Indigenous Communities — See Photo (Science, 12/19/18). Read more, see more photos here.

• Archeologists Discover Undisturbed Egyptian Tomb Near Cairo — See Photos & Videos (The Washington Post, 12/16/18).

• Theory: Neanderthal DNA in Modern Humans May Influence Brain Development, Shape of Skull — See Illo (Science, 12/14/18).

• Essay: Indigenous Solstice Ceremonies, Celebrations Reflect Understanding of Heavens, Interconnectedness of All Life — See Photos & Video (The Conversation, 12/13/18).

• Researchers Try to Identify, Address Causes of Infant Stunting in Papua New Guinea — See Photos (COSMOS, 12/10/18).

• Study: Antarctic Researchers Enter State of Mental Hibernation to Survive Months of Cold, Dark, Confinement (Science Alert, 12/8/18).

• 20-Year Excavation in South African Cave Yields Near-Complete Skeleton of New Hominid Species, Among First to Walk Upright — See Photos (Nature, 12/7/18). Read more, see more photos and video here and here.

• Only Female Sailor in Solo, Nonstop Round-the-World Race Hits Boat-Destroying Storm in Southern Ocean — See Photos, Map & Video (The Washington Post, 12/6/18). Read more, see more photos here.

• DNA Analysis of Teeth from Woman Buried 4,900 Years Ago in Sweden Suggest Plague Ravaged Europe Long Before Scourge Known as Black Death — See Photo (The Atlantic, 12/6/18).

• Scientists & Investor to Attempt Touchdown at Deepest Point in All 5 Oceans — See Photos, Maps & Video (Digital Trends, 12/5/18).

• Finding: Asteroid Strike May be Source of Biblical Story of God Smiting Sodom with Fire & Brimstone — See Photo (Forbes, 12/4/18)

• Scientists Now Think Neanderthals Could Laugh…But Did They? (HowStuffWorks, 12/5/18).

• Researchers Revise Image of Scottish Bronze-Age Woman Based on New DNA Analysis — See Image (Smithsonian, 12/4/18). Read more, see more photos and video here.

• All-Woman Team Launches Effort in Jordan to Assess Bullet Damage to Ancient Rock Art — See Photos (Nature, 12/3/18).

• Finding: Science Curiosity is the Bridge Between Opposing Interpretations of Science Facts — See Charts (Scientific American, 12/3/18).

• Why All the Missing Fingers in Cave Art Hand Stencils? Researchers Have Many Theories — See Photo (Science Alert, 12/3/18).

• Dolphins, Marine Life, Sea Birds Keep Dying as Florida Officials, Media Refuse to Grapple with Climate Change, Link to Red Tide — See Photos (The New York Times, 12/2/18).

November 2018

• Women Begin Infiltrating Once All-Male World of Fishing in Rwanda — See Photos & Videos (The New York Times, 11/30/18).

• Artifacts Suggest Humans Arrived on Tibetan Plateau Much Earlier than Thought — See Photos (COSMOS, 11/30/18). Read more here.

• Study: Infant’s Kicks, Jabs in Womb Trigger Early Brain Mapping — See Photo (Live Science, 11/30/18).

• Study: Lying Creates False Memory, Seniors More Likely to Believe Own Lies are True (Futurity, 11/29/18).

• Meet the 96-Year-Old Man Mainly Responsible for Saving Bluebirds in SW Idaho — See Photos and Documentary (Audubon, 11/29/18).

• Conservationists Worry Geotagging Photos Draws Crowds, Endangers Natural Sites — See Photos (The New York Times, 11/29/18).

• Study: 2.4 Million-Year-Old Tools Found in Algeria Force Archeologists to Rethink Theory of Human Ancestors’ Origin, Spread — See Photos (The Conversation, 11/29/18). Read more, see more photos here and here.

• 2 Men Race Separately to be First to Cross Antarctic without Help — See Photos (The New York Times, 11/29/18). Read more here.

• Study: Early Human Diet was More Sophisticated than Thought (COSMOS, 11/29/18). Read more, see photos here.

• CDC: Increases in Drug Overdoses, Suicides Reduce Life Expectancy in U.S. (Medscape, 11/29/18). Read more, see photos, charts and video here. Read the CDC report here.

• Study: Mitochondrial DNA, Thought to Come Only from Mothers, Can Come from Father’s, Too (Gizmodo, 11/28/18). Read more, see photos, illos and animated video here and here.

• Group Claims to Have Found Atlantis on Southwest Coast of Spain — See Photo & Illo (Live Science, 11/28/18).

• Polluting Lakes with Agricultural Runoff Not a New Thing — Ancient Romans in Switzerland Did It Too — See Photos & Map (EOS, 11/28/18).

• Meet the Woman who Captures Rainforest Creatures…in Watercolor — See Paintings (Earther, 11/27/18).

• Reanalysis of Early Cave Art Reveals Early Humans Understood Night Skies, Marked Events Like Comet Strikes — See Photos (Phys.Org, 11/27/18). Read more, see more photos here.

• On Small Island Off N. Australia, 500 People Speak 9 Languages & Everyone Understands Everyone Else — See Photos & Drawings (The Atlantic, 11/26/18).

• Chinese Researcher Announces Birth of First Gene-Edited Babies, Twin Girls — See Photo & Video (STAT, 11/26/18). Read more, see more photos and video here, here, here, here, here and here.

• Study: Humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans All Mixed and Mated Multiple Times (COSMOS, 11/27/18). Read more here.

• New Excavation in Pompeii Uncovers Preserved Fresco of Leda & Swan — See Photo (The New York Times, 11/25/18). See video here.

• Missionary Hoping to Convert Isolated Tribe on India’s North Sentinel Island Meets Death Instead — See Photos & Map (CNN, 11/22/18). Read more, see more photos and video here, here, here, here and here.

• Study: Breathing through the Nose, Not Mouth, Triggers Neural Activity, Enhances Memory Formation (The New York Times, 11/20/18).

• Food for Thought: Studies of Human Nature Almost All Based on People Who are WEIRD: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (The Conversation, 11/16/18).

• Theory: All Things Vibrate, Vibration = Consciousness, Synchronized Vibrations Give Rise to Sophisticated Conscious States (The Conversation, 9/11/18).

• Cave Paintings Found in Borneo Thousands of Years Older than Those in Europe — See Photos, Listen to Radio Segment (NPR, 11/7/18). Read more, see more photos here and here. Read the report, see more cave paintings here.

• Report: Preserving, Displaying Heads of Enemies, Ancestors was Widespread Custom in Ancient World (The Washington Post, 11/7/18).

• Ancient Mayans Had Vibrant, Complex Coastal Cities Now Being Swallowed by Resorts — See Photos, Illos & Maps (Hakai, 11/6/18).

• Fossils Reveal Arabian Desert was Once Green, Hosted Large Herbivores, Humans Arrived Earlier than Thought — See Photos (The New York Times, 11/2/18).

• Study: Thank Neanderthals for Passing Along HPV (COSMOS, 11/2/18).

• Study: Neanderthals Stood Straight, Had Greater Lung Capacity than Modern Humans — See Video (Science Alert, 11/1/18).

October 2018

• Tooth Enamel Yields Clues to Life, Hardships, Diet of Neanderthal Kids — See Photo, Diagrams & Video (Ars Technica, 11/31/18). Read more, see more photos, diagrams and video here.

• Researchers Close In on How First Aboriginals Reached Australia More than 65,000 Years Ago — See Map & Video (COSMOS, 11/31/18).

• Cooped Up in Antarctic Research Station, 1 Russian Scientist Stabs Another for Ruining Book Endings (New York Post, 10/30/18).

• Study: The Amish Live Close to Nature, but That Doesn’t Make Them Environmentalists — See Photos (The Conversation, 11/29/18).

• Researchers Think Circular Geoglyphs in Peru May Mark Rest Stops for Early Travelers — See Photos (Live Science, 10/26/18).

• Discovery of Pre-Clovis Spearpoints in Texas Challenges Theories of When Humans Came to North America— See Photos (Gizmodo, 10/25/18). Read more here.

• 8-Year-Old Girl Plucks 1,500-Year-Old Sword from Bottom of Shallow Lake in Sweden — See Photos & Video (The Washington Post, 10/23/18).

• Doctors in Shetland Islands among Growing Number Prescribing Time in Nature for What Ails You — See Photos & Video (EcoWatch, 11/22/18).

• World’s Oldest Intact Shipwreck Found at Bottom of Black Sea — See Photos & Map (The Guardian, 10/22/18). Read more, see more photos and video here and here.

• Study: Lifespan Stretches about 3 Years per Generation (COSMOS, 10/22/18).

• Tip for Travelers: See Caracol, Largest Maya Site in Belize, Before Tourists Descend — See Photos & Video (National Geographic, 10/16/18).

• Fingerbones of Neanderthal Girl Found in Poland Show She was Partly Eaten by Giant Bird — See Photo (CNN, 10/13/18).

• Study: Average Human Recognizes about 5,000 Faces (Nature, 10/10/18).

• Opinion: Culture, Knowledge, Understanding of Nature Lost when Indigenous Languages Die — See Photos (The Conversation, 10/5/18).

• Study: Modern Human Resistance to Viruses Comes Partly from Neanderthal DNA — See Diagram (Phys.Org, 10/4/18). Read more, see photos here.

• Nat Geo Film Documents Climber’s Free Solo Ascent of El Capitan — See Photos (The Washington Post, 10/1/18).

September 2018

• Report: Last Uncontacted Tribes of Amazon Threatened by Logging, Mining, More — See Photos (National Geographic, 9/30/18).

• Last Inca Stronghold Cleared in Peru, Revealing Mix of Inca, Older Wari Cultures — See Photos (The Guardian, 9/28/18).

• Aerial Lidar Surveys of Jungle Covered Mayan Ruins Reveal Vast Cities, Elevated Roads, Extensive Agriculture — See Photos, Images & Video (EOS, 9/27/18). Read more, see more maps and photos here.

• Study: Neanderthal Hands Adapted for Holding Clubs…and Painting, Making Jewelry — See Animated Video (Smithsonian, 9/27/18). Read more here.

• Study: Narcissism, Sadism, Other Dark Human Traits Spring from Same Dark Core (Science Daily, 9/26/18).

• Study: Humans Braved Interior of Australia’s Harsh Western Desert 10,000 Years Earlier than Thought — See Photo (Science, 6/26/18).

• Study: Discovery of Ancient Game Pieces Made of Whalebone Could Mark Rise of Whaling in Scandinavia — See Photo & Diagram (Hakai, 9/25/18).

• Researchers Find More Intriguing Bone Fragments in Cave that Yielded Bone of Neanderthal-Denisovan Child — See Photos (Nature, 9/20/18).

• Study Findings: Kids Weren’t Kids in Ancient Times — They Worked (Nature, 9/18/18).

• American Woman Sets New Cycling Speed Record of 183.9 MPH — See Photo (The Washington Post, 9/18/18).

• Researchers Come UP with 4 New Basic Personality Types (The Washington Post, 9/17/18). Read more, see video here.

• Hunting Marks on Ancient Bird Bones Push Back Human Arrival on Madagascar from 4,000 to 10,500 Years Ago — See Photo & Illo (Futurity, 9/14/18).

• Researcher Compares  Bit of Mayan History Recorded on Newly Discovered Carved Altar Stone to Game of Thrones — See Photos (Phys.Org, 9/14/18).

• Study: People Are Often but Not Always Accurate Judges of Own Behavior (Live Science, 9/14/18).

• Study: Ancient Mayans Trapped, Traded Big Cats, Other Animals for Status, Sacrifice, Pelts, Food — See Photo (Phys.Org, 9/12/18). Read more, see video here.

• Finding: Ochre Lines on Small Stone Found in South African Cave are Oldest Drawings Made by Humans — See Photos (The New York Times, 9/12/18). Read more, see more photos here and here.

• Studies: Like Humans, Chimps & Bonobos Can Be Generous..and Selfish — See Photo   (The New York Times, 9/11/18).

• Legendary Mountain/Ice Climber Jeff Lowe Dies at 67 — See Photos (The New York Times, 9/11/18).

• Study: Residue in Pottery Pushes First Cheese-Making Back 4,000 Years to 7,200 Years Ago — See Photos (Phys.org, 9/5/18). Read more here.

• Researcher Says Study Shows Infants Can Tell Leaders from Bullies (EurekAlert, 9/3/18). Read more here.

• Study: Babylonians Really Liked Their Beer — See Photos (COSMOS, 9/3/18).

• A Writer’s Adventures in the World of Hyperpolyglots, aka People Who Speak Lots of Languages (The New Yorker, 9/3/18).

• 95-Year-Old British Vet Breaks Own Record from Previous Year as Oldest Male Scuba Diver —See Photos (NDTV, 9/2/18). Read more, see more photos and video here.

August 2018

• Theory: Extended Cold Snaps Helped Wipe Out Neanderthals (Smithsonian, 8/29/18). Read more here.

• Oral Traditions of Indigenous People Preserve, Pass Down Accurate Accounts of Ancient Geological Events (COSMOS, 8/292/18).

• Researchers Identify New Type of Neuron in Human Brain — See Images, Listen to Radio Segment (NPR, 8/27/18). Read more, see more images here, here and here.

• Members of Uncontacted Amazon Tribes Caught on Drone — See Video (CBS News, 8/24/18).

• In Ubang, Nigeria, Males & Females of Same Village Speak Different Languages — See Photos & Video (BBC News, 8/23/18).

• Analysis: Early Australians Made Sophisticated Observations of Night Skies (COSMOS, 8/23/18).

• Study: Bone Fragment Found in Remote Cave is First Physical Proof that Neanderthals, Denisovans Mated, Had Children — See Photos & Video (BBC News, 8/22/18). Read more, see more photos and video here and here. Listen to a radio segment here.

• Study: Beads, Pendants, Earrings Found in Ancient Kenyan Burial Site Suggest Early Pastoralists Had Egalitarian Culture — See Photos (Futurity, 8/23/18).

• Study: Stone-Tool Analysis Helps Date when Humans Developed Strong Grip — See Photo (Phys.org, 8/20/18).

• Expert Opinion: It’s Human to Love Bling — See Photos, Diagrams & Video (The Conversation, 8/19/18).

• Quick to See Faces, Animals in Clouds? Chalk It Up to Keen Sense of Pariedolia — See Photos (EarthSky, 8/19/18).

• Study: Egyptians Were Mummifying Bodies Long Before Age of Pharaohs — See Photo (COSMOS, 8/16/18).

• Study: Composition of Tools Used to Carve Easter Island Moai Suggest Cooperative, Not Competitive Culture — See Photos (COSMOS, 8/14/18).

July 2018

• Study: Early Native Americans Used Fire to Hunt Bison — But Not the Way You Might Think (Futurity, 7/26/18).

• Studies: Early People Were Farming in Amazon Region Much Earlier than Thought (COSMOS, 7/26/18).

• Oregon Woman Finds Wild Cougar in House, Claims Cat-Like Blinking, Mental Communication Got It to Leave (New York City Patch, 7/25/18).

• Study: Sexism in Ancient Times Detected in Tools, Jewelry Found in Graves — See Photo  & Chart (Quartz, 7/24/18).

• Archeologists Pretty Sure They’ve Found Skeleton of Key Member of Early Jamestown Settlement — See Photos & Videos (The Washington Post, 7/24/18).

• Brazilian Government Releases Film Footage of Lone Survivor of Isolated Tribe — See Video (The New York Times, 7/20/18).

• Early Humans Walking Along Shorelines Leave Footprints in Sands of Time — See Photos (Hakai, 7/18/18).

• Study: Ancient Roman Whaling May Wiped Out Grays, Rights in Mediterranean Sea — See Maps & Photos (The New York Times, 7/16/18).

• Hunter-Gatherers Left Pieces of World’s Oldest-Known Bread in Jordan — See Photos (The Washington Post, 7/16/18). Read more, see more photos here and here.

• Study: Ötzi, the 53,00-Year-Old Iceman, Ate Grains and Meat — See Photo & Video (National Geographic, 7/12/18). Read more, see more photos here.

• Study: Stone Tools Found in China Suggest Human Ancestors Left Africa Earlier than Thought — See Photo & Map (Nature, 7/11/18). Read more, see more photos here and here.

• Study: Findings Suggest Early Pre-Humans Arose All Across Africa around Same Time — See Photos (The Guardian, 7/11/18).

• Archeologists Piece Together Life Stories of 4 Rare, Intact Skeletons at Stonehenge (COSMOS, 7/10/18).

• Huge, Unopened Sarcophagus, Carved Head of Man, Found in Egyptian Tomb — See Photos (Live Science, 7/10/18).

• Drought-Stricken Landscape Reveals Crop Marks of Ancient Settlements in Wales — See Photos (BBC News, 7/7/18).

• Discovery of Oldest Human Remains in Australia Inspire Collaboration Between Scientists, Aborigines — See Photos (COSMOS, 7/5/18). Read more here.

• Study: Feasting Helped Promote Cooperation, Civilization in Early Cultures — See Photos & Illo (The Conversation, 7/3/18).

• Study: High Testosterone in Men Drives Preference for Luxury Goods (EurekAlert, 7/3/18).

 

May 2018

• Scientists Believe Neanderthal Engravings on Small Piece of Flint Meant Something…But What? — See Photos (COSMOS, 5/3/18).

April 2018

• Study Finds Friends Have Similar Brain Wave Responses to Video Clips (The New York Times, 4/16/18).

• Exquisite Mosaics, Possibly by African Artisans, Draw Visitors to World Heritage Site Villa in Sicily — See Video (National Geographic, 4/14/18).

• Modern Mexicans Carry Lost History of Early Immigrant Groups in Genes (Science, 4/13/18).

• Opinion: Saving Wildlife Helps Humans, Too — See Photos (The New York Times, 4/7/18).

• Efforts to Assess Damage to Peru’s Nazca Lines Lead to Discovery of More, Older Drawings— See Photos, Diagrams and Video (National Geographic, 4/5/18).

• Finding: Neanderthals Cared for Their Own, Buried Their Dead — See Photos (The Conversation, 4/5/18).

• Study: Neanderthals’ Big Noses Served a Purpose — See Photos (COSMOS, 4/5/18).

• BBC Admits Scenes in Documentary on Papua New Guinea Tribe, Other Nature Programs, were Staged — See Footage (The Guardian, 4/4/18). Read more, see more video here.

• Theory: Vikings Used Crystals to Navigate when Sun was Concealed (The Washington Post, 4/4/18).

• Mummy Mystery: Whose Head Is It, Anyway? — See Photos (The New York Times, 4/2/18).

March 2018

• Humans Don’t Have  5 Senses, They Have 10 — See Photos (COSMOS, 1/31/18).

• Study: Ancient Egyptians’ Efforts to Prepare for Drought Offer Climate Change Lessons for Modern Societies (The New York Times, 3/30/18).

• Researchers Find Human Footprints from Ice Age on British Columbia Shore — See Photos & Diagram (Gizmodo, 3/28/18). Read more, see more photos, maps and video here, here, here and here. Read the study here.

• Wales Professor ID’s Rare Partial Image of Mysterious Female Pharaoh on Fragments of Carvings Pulled from Storage — See Photo (COSMOS, 3/27/18).

• Researchers Find Remains of Ancient Villages in New Part of Amazon, More Evidence of Dense Population before Europeans Arrived — See Photos (New Scientist, 3/27/18). Read more, see more photos here.

• Study: Very Tiny Mummified Skeleton Not Alien — Human with Unique Disorder — See Photo (The New York Times, 3/22/18).

• Meet the (Older) Man who Crossed the Ocean in a Kayak…3 Times — See Photos & Maps (The New York Times, 3/22/18).

• NINYF*: 2 Men Almost Die in Iditarod — See Photos (The Washington Post, 3/20/18).

• Early Humans Met, Mated with Mysterious Denisovans in 2 Separate Waves — See Illo (COSMOS, 3/16/18). Read more, see more illos and video here.

* Nature is not your friend.

February 2018

• Researchers Astonished by Evidence that Neanderthals Created Art — See Photo (Science, 2/23/18). Read more, see more photos here and here. See video report here.

• Study: Some Modern Caribbean People May Carry Ancient, pre-Contact Taino Genes (Science, 2/23/18).

• Ancient Tools Discovered in Tuscany Add to Evidence that Neanderthals Used Fire — See Photo (COSMOS, 2/6/18).

• Ancient Tools Discovered in India Indicate Humans Left Africa Earlier than Thought — See Photos (The Conversation, 2/1/18). Read more, see more photos here, here and here.

January 2018

• Age of Jawbone Fossil Found in Israel Pushes Back Date Humans Left Africa by 50,000 Years — See Photos & Video (The Conversation, 1/25/18).

• Study: Salmonella Strong Candidate for Killing Millions of Aztecs in 1545 (Daily Kos, 1/15/18).

• Baby Buried in Alaska 11,500 Years Ago Belonged to Lost Branch of Ancient Native Americans — See Photos (The Verge, 1/3/18). Read more here.