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19328
Picture this: The year is 2700. A report is made of an “excavation of an 850-year-old site where butchered human skeletons have yielded evidence of cannibalism.” Corprolite discovered at the site contained “the chemical residue of human flesh.” A group of nomadic cannibals had briefly occupied an area known as Donner Pass. Perhaps prehistoric Anasazi […]
By Science News - Archaeology
Ancient Site Holds Cannibalism Clues
An 800-year-old Anasazi site in Colorado yields contested evidence of cannibalism.
By Bruce Bower -
19256
In your article, Lawrence Sirovich assumes that the degree of unpredictability shown in Supreme Court decisions results from judicial independence, with the implication that this is a good thing. That unpredictability could easily result instead from confusion caused by absent or conflicting principles in the justices’ political and juridical doctrines, a not-so-good thing. Alan EsworthyApex, […]
By Science News - Humans
Ideal Justice: Mathematicians judge the Supreme Court
The current U.S. Supreme Court of nine judges behaves as if it were made up of 4.68 "ideal" justices who make their decisions completely independently, a mathematical analysis suggests.
- Materials Science
Easy Repair: Novel structural model heals with heat
The vertebrate spine has provided inspiration for making new structures that heal when heated.
- Earth
Slow Turnover: Warming trend affects African ecosystem
Over the past 90 years, rising water temperatures in Lake Tanganyika have led to dramatic losses of productivity among the microorganisms that form the base of the lake's food chain.
By Sid Perkins - Astronomy
Solar Terrain: Revealing the sun’s complex topography
The sharpest images of the sun ever taken, released last week, show our stellar neighbor’s rugged surface in new and surprising detail.
- Health & Medicine
Prevention in a Pill? Baldness drug might avert prostate cancer
The drug finasteride, given to alleviate baldness and prostate problems, might prevent some cases of prostate cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Germs Begone: New technology cleans dangerous water
For a penny per liter, people in the developing world should be able to remove most pathogens and toxic pollutants from their home drinking water.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
African cicadas warm up before singing
The first tests of temperature control in African cicadas have found species with a strategy that hogs energy but reduces the risk of predators.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Lead delays puberty
Even low concentrations of lead in a girl's body may delay her reproductive maturation.
By Janet Raloff -
Calling out the cell undertakers
Dying cells secrete chemicals that attract other cells that specialize in disposing of cellular corpses.
By John Travis