Ancient Human Ancestors Heard Differently
Early human species may have had sharper hearing in certain frequencies than we enjoy, to facilitate short-range communication in an open environment. Cynthia Graber reports
Stories by Cynthia Graber
Domesticated Pigs Kept Oinking with Wild (and Crazy) Boars
Domesticated pigs had many dalliances with wild boars that added new genes to the pig population well after they had settled down on the farm
Humans' Predation Unsustainably Takes Healthy Adult Prey
Whereas most predators kill the young or infirm, humans claim a disproportionate number of mature healthy adults of reproductive age
Chinese Cave Graffiti Agrees with Site's Drought Evidence
Researchers linked dated graffiti about droughts in a cave in China to physical evidence in the cave of the water shortages, such as changes in ratios of stable isotopes in specific layers of stalagmites ...
Whistled Language Forces Brain to Modify Usual Processing
Both hemispheres are involved in the brains of people interpreting a whistled variant of Turkish, compared with a left hemisphere dominance when listeners hear the spoken language ...
Microbes Deep under Seafloor Reflect Ancient Land Origins
Microbes 2,500 meters below the seafloor in Japan are most closely related to bacterial groups that thrive in forest soils on land, suggesting that they might be descendants of ones that survived when their terrestrial habitat was flooded 20 million years ago ...
Diminutive Peoples Took Different Paths to Petite
Adults of the west African Baka people and east African Efé and Sua peoples average less than five feet tall. But while the Efé and Sua are born small, the Baka have slow growth rates in infancy ...
Many Overweight and Obese Teens Underestimate Their Weight
A survey of nearly 5,000 13- to 15-year-olds in the U.K. found that 40 percent of overweight and obese teens did not self-identify as “too heavy.” Cynthia Graber reports
Active Duty Army Suicide Attempts Analyzed
Researchers gathered data from various Army databases to analyze nearly 10,000 attempted suicides of active duty personnel. Cynthia Graber reports
Programmed Bacteria Can Detect Tumors
Sangeeta Bhatia of M.I.T. talks about efforts to get bacteria to home in on tumors and let us know they're there. Cynthia Graber reports
What Gives the Coconut Ant Its Stink
One species of ant turns out to have a lot in common with blue cheese and rotting coconuts. Photo courtesy: Antweb.org
Ant Smells Like Blue Cheese for a Reason
The "odorous house ant" smells like blue cheese or rotten coconut because it produces chemical compounds similar to those found in its nose-sakes. Cynthia Graber reports ...
Ancient Human Migration Route Marked by Snail Shell "Bread Crumbs"
Fragments of edible marine snail shells found in Lebanon support the idea that ancient humans went from Africa to Europe through the Levant. Cynthia Graber reports
Vaccine Aims at Fly Host of Disease Parasite
An experimental leishmaniasis vaccine relies on eliciting an immune response to a protein from the saliva of the sand fly that carries the leishmania parasite, rather than on anything from the parasite itself...
Mummy Mavens Unwrap Preservation Methods
In 1994 researchers made a mummy. Now scientists have reverse engineered the process to figure out how it's done, with the mummy makers still around to tell them how they did. Cynthia Graber reports ...
Seashell Shapes Show Strength for Safety
Analysis of clamshell and screw-shaped shells reveals the structures withstand much greater forces than would a simple sphere or cylinder. Cynthia Graber reports
Crop Rotation Works in the Sea, Too
Models show that leaving sea cucumbers unharvested in some underwater zones for two years at a time stabilizes the overall population and actually increases yield for fishers. Cynthia Graber reports ...
Shipwreck Champagne Reveals Old Wine Secrets
Analysis of 168 bottles of bubbly that sat at the sea bottom for 170 years shows how the old-timers tweaked their champagne taste. Cynthia Graber reports
A Few Hundred Smartphones Could Catch Earthquakes Early
Thanks to their GPS systems, smartphones in an array could pick up movements indicating the onset of an earthquake and provide extra seconds of early warning. Cynthia Graber reports
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Typing Style Reveals Fatigue or Disease
How a person types can reveal the state of their brain, according to a study that tracked keystrokes when the typist was alert or groggy. Cynthia Graber reports
