Science News / Humans

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In This Issue

It’s written all over your face: To potential mates, your mug may reveal more than you think
Team spirit: Working together, bacteria and other microbes can accomplish much more than they can alone. Now scientists hope to harness that ability by engineering their own microbial consortia.
For a big view of inner Earth, catch a few…Geoneutrinos
This week's table of contents

:: Humans

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Migrants settled New World in tandem

A genetic investigation of two rare types of mitochondrial DNA in Native Americans suggests that people first entered the Americas in two groups, following separate routes.
Found in: Humans
Stone Age tools go south

Diamond-mining pits have yielded stone artifacts old enough to suggest that hand axe production started 1.6 million years ago in southern Africa, not just in eastern Africa.
Found in: Humans
Humans: Science news of the year, 2008

Science News writers and editors looked back at the past year's stories and selected a handful as the year's most interesting and important in Humans. Follow hotlinks to the full, original stories.
Found in: Humans
Taking trophy heads close to home

Members of the prehistoric Nasca culture in southern Peru took trophy heads from their own people rather than from foreigners captured in wars or raids, a new biochemical analysis suggests.
Found in: Humans
Primates get a neural facial

New brain-imaging studies indicate that similar brain areas coordinate face recognition in people, chimpanzees and macaque monkeys, suggesting that a face-sensitive brain system evolved early in primate evolution.
Found in: Behavior, Biology, Humans and Life
Tools with handles even more ancient

An analysis of stone tools excavated at a Syrian site indicates that, around 70,000 years ago, Neandertals used a tarlike adhesive to affix sharpened items to handles.
Found in: Archaeology and Humans
FOR KIDS: Double take

By studying twins, scientists help us understand what makes people who they are.
Found in: Biology, Body & Brain, Genes & Cells, Humans and Science News For Kids
When giving gifts, the price is wrong

Gift givers expect that expensive presents will be appreciated by gift receivers more than inexpensive presents, but three new investigations suggest that that’s not the case.
Found in: Humans and Psychology
See More In Humans

Sights and Sounds

Photography

Atom Flipping
New equations for better MRI

Blogs:

Science & the Public Big Increase Coming for NIH — Maybe
By Janet Raloff Dec 19th 2008

Columns:

Comment SESAME opens doors to international collaboration
By Herman Winick Jan 2nd 2009

Math Trek The Sudoku solution
By Julie Rehmeyer Dec 23rd 2008

Not to Miss:

2008: Science News of the Year

Thwarting tree poachers

Pulsars in a new light

Guest column from Steven Chu

SN Bookshelf:

Book Review: Food Bites: The Science of the Foods We Eat by Richard W. Hartel and AnnaKate Hartel
Review by Dina Fine Maron
Buy now | More Books

Book Review: Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett
Review by Bruce Bower
Buy now | More Books

Planet Earth: An Illustrated History
A photographic tribute to the glories of nature, including picturesque landscapes, stunning aer...
Buy now | More Books