The skull fragment known as Apidima 1 (right) is about 210,000 years old, according to a new analysis. Seen from the rear (middle) and side (left) in a reconstruction, the partial skull's rounded shape shares a unique feature of modern humans. (Credit: Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen)
A scrap of skullcap collected in 1978 and stored for decades in an Athens museum may rewrite the timeline of our species leaving our ancestral African homeland.
A new analysis of ...read more
Planting trees, while beneficial to the planet, is not an easy solution to climate change. (Credit: Janelle Lugge/Shutterstock)
Last week, a new study in the journal Science highlighted the role forests could play in tackling climate change. Researchers estimated that by restoring forests to their maximum potential, we could cut down atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by 25 percent — a move that would take us back to levels not seen in over a century. Though the study brings hope in the f ...read more
Clownfish rely on darkness to hatch. Human lights are stealing it away. (Credit: patrik johnson/Shutterstock)
From space, the picture is crystal clear. Across the globe, cities twinkle with artificial light against the night sky. And the nocturnal expanse is only getting brighter. Scientists estimate the amount of artificial light at night grows by more than two percent every year. The nighttime glow carries detrimental consequences for human health and disrupts animal behaviors like mig ...read more
(Credit: ISRO)
India is expected to launch their second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 on July 14. The launch will take up an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, dubbed Pragyan, all designed to study the moon’s little explored south pole.
Using the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) most
powerful rocket, Chandrayaan-2 will reach Earth’s orbit, where it’ll spend
about 16 days before it heads over to the moon.
After a short time in lunar orbit, the lander and t ...read more
Anne Innis Dagg, Smitten by Giraffe: My Life as a Citizen Scientist, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016. 256 pp. $34.95 hardcover.
Image courtesy of McGill-Queen’s University Press
Smitten by Giraffe: My Life as a Citizen Scientist is a memoir by Anne Innis Dagg. In the text, she describes her pursuits as a citizen scientist, ranging from her first encounter with giraffe (the plural of giraffe used in Smitten By Giraffe is “giraffe”) as a child, thro ...read more