Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Anthropology
Anthropologists in Peru have unearthed the largest known child sacrifice
The largest known mass sacrifice of children occurred around 550 years ago in the Chimú empire in Peru.
- Archaeology
Footprints prove humans hunted giant sloths during the Ice Age
Footprints of humans and giant sloths show a dramatic chase sequence from more than 10,000 years ago.
- Psychology
In China, coffee shop habits show cultural differences tied to farming
Farming histories have shaped behavior in northern and southern China.
- Archaeology
Clues to an Iron Age massacre lie in what the assailants left behind
Ancient Scandinavian massacre may reflect power struggles after Rome’s fall.
- Health & Medicine
The first penis-scrotum transplant is the latest to go beyond lifesaving
Advances that give patients new faces, hands and more aim to improve quality of life
- Health & Medicine
Though often forgotten, the placenta has a huge role in baby’s health
Recent research in mice suggests that a lot of early problems in the embryo may actually have roots in the placenta.
- Science & Society
Informed wisdom trumps rigid rules when it comes to medical evidence
Narrative reviews of medical evidence offer benefits that the supposedly superior systematic approach can’t.
- Anthropology
A hole in an ancient cow’s skull could have been surgery practice
Before performing skull operations on people, ancient surgeons may have rehearsed on cows.
- Archaeology
This ancient Maya city may have helped the Snake King dynasty spread
A rural hub in an ancient Maya state gets its due with some laser help.
- Materials Science
A new plastic film glows to flag food contaminated with dangerous microbes
Plastic patches that glow when they touch some types of bacteria could be built into food packaging to reduce the spread of foodborne illness.
- Archaeology
Dogs lived and died with humans 10,000 years ago in the Americas
Dogs unearthed at sites in Illinois were older than originally thought.
- Archaeology
Tales of rampant suicide among Custer’s soldiers may be overblown
Few of Custer’s men killed themselves in the face of overwhelming Native American numbers at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, skeletal data suggest.
