The remains of nearly 140 children dating to the year 1450 have been unearthed along the northern coast of Peru. Archaeologists say the burial is the site of the largest known mass child sacrifice in the world.
The children — as well as the remains of more than 200 young llamas — were found in a mass grave located on a cliff just a thousand feet from the Pacific Ocean in the small, present-day fishing community of La Libertad near Trujillo. Archaeologists say the children ...read more
In the elusive hunt for dark matter, some researchers are looking underground. The mysterious, unseen substance makes up more than 85 percent of the material in our universe. And since dark matter doesn’t interact much with normal matter (that's what makes it “dark”), scientists usually rely on extremely large detectors to maximize their chances of observing a signal. But the physical hunt for dark matter is relatively new, so these experiments have only been running for a few ...read more
“How about breasts?” The question came from a jock-y guy in one of my graduate school classes on human evolution.
Far from offensive, the query was appropriate and astute. My classmates and I nodded approval, and the professor added it to a growing list on the board.
We were brainstorming features that distinguish our species, Homo sapiens, from other primates. That list includes human peculiarities like big brains, upright walking, language, furless bodies ... and permanently ...read more
Scientists at Rockefeller University claim they’ve pinpointed a protein in the ear that acts as a sort of molecular gatekeeper, helping convert soundwaves into the electrical signals that our brains interpret as sound. The finding, though incremental, helps establish a more detailed understanding of how hearing works.
Down the Inner-Ear Rabbit Hole
But first, some basics. Deep inside the ear, through your ear canal and past your ear drum, lies the inner ear. Here, there’s a ...read more
Everyone loves Yellowstone, don't they? For a volcano that might not have erupted for 10,000 years, it gets a disproportion amount of media attention. Much of the hype is just because the media (news and entertainment alike) has made Yellowstone seem like something that is bound to erupt in our lifetimes and destroy all civilization. Yet today, there are really no signs today that the Yellowstone caldera is heading towards a new eruption anytime in the near future -- and that's geologic "nea ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine