Bone Up On What's Inside You
Author and self-described fossil fanatic Brian Switek talks about his new book Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone.
Evolution6948 articles archived since 1845
Science News Briefs from around the World
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Canada to Kenya, including one about how humans thousands of years ago in what is now Argentina butchered and presumably ate giant ground sloths...
Scientists Find Early Evidence of Humans Cooking Starches
More than 100 millennia ago, people were roasting tubers—a practice that fueled their bodies and may have aided migrations
Why Some Amazonian Societies Survived and Others Perished amid Pre-Columbian Droughts
Confronting climate change, cultures with intensive, specialized land use were vulnerable. Those that endured cultivated multiple crops and helped edible rainforest species prosper
Monkey Cousins Use Similar Calls
Two monkey species who last shared a common ancestor 3 million years ago have "eerily similar" alarm calls.
Domestication Made Dogs' Facial Anatomy More Fetching to Humans
Wolves lack the muscles that allow dogs to raise their eyebrows and make puppy dog eyes
Gene Increases Risk for Pot Addiction
First gene associated with cannabis abuse likely affects how people respond to the drug
How Millipedes Avoid Interspecies Sexual Slips
Millipedes, often blind, have come up with clever physical signals to ward off sexual advances from members of wrong species.
Preserved Poop Is an Archaeological Treasure
Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, providing a glimpse of human health as hunter-gatherers transitioned to settlements. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Monkeys Use Alarm Calls to Tell Predators to Scram
New research shows that primate calls deter predators in the wild
Why Giant Human-Sized Beavers Died Out 10,000 Years Ago
The now-extinct animals once lived from Florida to Alaska, and weighed as up to 100 kilograms
The Rise of the First Animals
New fossils and analyses of ancient ocean chemistry reveal the surprisingly deep roots of the Cambrian explosion
Meet the Animals That Literally Sleep with One Eye Open
Why dolphins, seals and other animals developed the capacity to sleep with half their brain awake
Bonobo Mothers Supervise Their Sons' Monkey Business
Some wild female bonobos introduce their sons to desirable females—then make sure their relations won’t be interrupted by competing males. Karen Hopkin reports.
Bird Beak Shapes Depend on More Than Diet
A study found that only a small percentage of bird beak shape variation is dependent on diet, with other factors like display and nest construction probably playing parts too.
Ancient Gum Gives Archaeologists Something to Chew On
Chewing gums discovered in western Sweden contain the oldest human DNA found in Scandinavia. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nobelist: Harness Evolution as a Problem-Solving Algorithm
Frances Arnold, the Caltech scientist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, says evolution can show us how to solve problems of sustainability.
Simulating Evolution to Determine the Fastest Wing
Researchers combined laboratory and simulated experiments on 3-D-printed wings to find the ideal wing shape
Icefish Study Adds Another Color to the Story of Blood
The rainbow of pigments that animals use for blood illustrates a central truth about evolution
Brain Activity Decoded to Produce Intelligible, Synthesized Speech
New device is a step toward translating thoughts into machine-spoken words
