A jawbone found on the ocean floor near Taiwan provides evidence that the Denisovans — a poorly understood ancestor to modern humans — occupied southeast Asia 100,000 years ago. DNA extracted and analyzed from it has evolutionary implications, because, while contemporary southeast Asians have bits of Denisovan DNA in their genomes, the nearest known Denisovan fossil find, until now, hailed from northeastern Asia, according to a report in the journal Science.“Modern human populations in eas ...read more

If you’ve ever skimmed the ingredient list of your favorite snacks or drinks, you’ve probably stumbled across a string of unfamiliar words — potassium polyphosphate, acesulfame-K, sulphite ammonia caramel, and more — that offer little insight into what you’re actually eating.These food additives are used by manufacturers to boost flavor, texture, appearance, and shelf life. While many are naturally derived and individually tested for safety, recent research suggests that mixing multipl ...read more

Thousands of stone tools discovered in a South African cave reveal that Ice Age humans had developed sophisticated fabrication techniques about 20,000 years ago, according to a report in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.Looking closely at the tools’ chipped blades as well as the larger rocks from which they were formed — what archaeologists call a core — the scientists surmised how the tools were made. That, in turn, reveals much of the makers’ know-how.“When your average person ...read more

The results of searching the family tree of the woolly mammoth have been surprising; it turns out the beasts we most closely associate with the Ice Age emerged not from a linear lineage, but a relatively complex web of genetic diversity.A study examining 34 mammoth mitochondrial genomes, with specimens spanning a million years, gives us a glimpse of mammoth evolution. Mitochondrial DNA is a circular strand found in each cell’s powerhouse. It helps researchers trace lineage on the maternal side ...read more

Our dogs love the outdoors, but the outdoors don’t love our dogs. A review of previously published studies, released in Pacific Conservation Biology, has found that pet dogs have a number of negative effects on the environment, from their disruption of wildlife to their contribution to the problems of pollution and climate change. “Many owners simply don’t [realize] the environmental damage dogs can cause, from disturbing wildlife to polluting ecosystems,” said Bill Bateman, a review aut ...read more

Sea lions are typically not aggressive toward humans. However, these usually curious and playful marine animals have been making headlines recently for multiple attacks on people off the coast of California. The aggression is linked to a toxic algae bloom impacting nearly 400 miles of the Southern California coast, mostly in L.A. and Santa Barbara Counties. Aggressive and erratic behavior isn’t the only way this toxic bloom can affect these animals, and sea lions aren’t the only infected an ...read more

Experts have added another skillset to at least one group of hunter-gatherers: paddling. Research now shows that some stalwart seafarers stroked their way from mainland Europe to the island of Malta, about 60 miles away, about 8,500 years ago, according to an article in the journal Nature. The finding represents the longest known watery crossing of its time — all the more remarkable because it predates the invention of boats with sails.The researchers hypothesize that the canoeists tapped into ...read more

Beyond the heavy hitters like COVID-19, bird flu, and Ebola, more common viral infections — such as the annual flu — cost the U.S. an estimated $11.2 billion each year in lost productivity alone, leaving a huge burden on our health system and the economy.Another widespread virus that transmits through oral contact is herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), which infects over two-thirds of the global population and can, in rare cases, lead to encephalitis or infectious blindness.Vaccines remain a cor ...read more

The Earth beneath our feet teems with life invisible to the naked eye, and the discovery of an unfamiliar type of soil-dwelling microbe adds to the complexity of this hidden world. A recent study has dug up evidence of a new phylum of microbes — called CSP1-3 — in a part of Earth referred to as the critical zone. This layer of the planet is where air, water, soil, rocks, and plants interact to create the living skin of Earth. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy o ...read more

Feeling sluggish, depressed, anxious, and having trouble concentrating while being sick might not just be due to physical weakness. Extensive reports from health professionals have pointed out that these symptoms, labeled "sickness behavior," are more than just side effects of the body fighting off an infection. They appear to be part of an intentional behavior pattern driven by a collaboration between the brain and the immune system.This pattern may have evolutionary significance, helping to pr ...read more