Category Archives: news briefs

Our prehistoric ancestors may well have eaten human flesh regularly, John Collinge of University College London and his colleagues state in the April 11 Science. They say cannibalism is the most likely explanation for their discovery that genes protecting against … Continue reading →

What becomes a legend most? How about getting stuffed and placed in a museum? Dolly, the poster-sheep of cloning, has found a final resting place at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dolly, the most famous sheep since Mary’s little … Continue reading →

In the animal kingdom, females usually prefer to mate with the most elaborately ornamented males — the peacock with the showiest tail or the songbird with the most complex song. It’s long been speculated that these showy sexual displays give … Continue reading →

As if smog, endless traffic, and Joan Rivers weren’t bad enough, you’ve got major earthquakes to worry about in LA, too. Researchers from the University of California have found a new fault buried under Los Angeles that may have been … Continue reading →

Egyptian archeologists discovered human remains covered in resin and fragments of linen at Sakkara near Cairo last week, and claim the bones provide the oldest evidence of purposeful mummification in Egypt yet found. The remains, thought to be some 5000 … Continue reading →

The coot, a common water bird, can recognize and “count” its own eggs, according to a study published in the April 3 Nature by biologist Bruce E. Lyon of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Coots often lay their … Continue reading →

As a not particularly attractive job description, evolutionary faecologist would probably rank right up there with, oh, just regular old faecologist. But the often-ignored study of excrement can lead to strange discoveries. For example, the skipper caterpillar can shoot its … Continue reading →

Do you think of Neanderthals as lumbering, slow, and clumsy? Think again, at least in regard to their hands. According to a report in the March 27 Nature, Neanderthals were as manually dextrous as modern humans. Neanderthals were previously thought … Continue reading →

In January 2002, a star named V838 Monocerotis suddenly became 600,000 times brighter than the sun, briefly becoming the brightest star in the Milky Way. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured the explosion in all its glory, showing the reverberation … Continue reading →

Male armpit sweat seems to be a mood-altering substance for women, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Not only does it make women more relaxed and happy, but it also … Continue reading →