Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Plague trackers: Researchers cover thousands of years in a quest to understand the elusive origins of the Black Death      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Seeking to better understand more about the origins and movement of bubonic plague, in ancient and contemporary times, researchers have completed a painstaking granular examination of hundreds of modern and ancient genome sequences, creating the largest analysis of its kind.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General
Published

Violence was widespread in early farming society      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Violence and warfare were widespread in many Neolithic communities across Northwest Europe, a period associated with the adoption of farming, new research suggests. Of the skeletal remains of more than 2300 early farmers from 180 sites dating from around 8000 -- 4000 years ago to, more than one in ten displayed weapon injuries, bioarchaeologists found.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Mummified crocodiles provide insights into mummy-making over time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Crocodiles were mummified in a unique way at the Egyptian site of Qubbat al-Hawa during the 5th Century BC, according to a new study.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Paleontology: Climate
Published

In the Neanderthal site of Combe-Grenal, France, hunting strategies were unaffected by changing climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal (France) preferred to hunt in open environments, and their hunting strategies did not alter during periods of climatic change, according to a new study.

Anthropology: General
Published

How the last 12,000 years have shaped what humans are today      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While humans have been evolving for millions of years, the past 12,000 years have been among the most dynamic and impactful for the way we live today, according to an anthropologist.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Marriage in Minoan Crete      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of researchers achieves completely new insights into Bronze Age marriage rules and family structures in Greece. Analyses of ancient genomes show that the choice of marriage partners was determined by one's own kinship.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

A precision arm for miniature robots      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now researchers have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Feathered robotic wing paves way for flapping drones      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and aerodynamic efficiency of flapping drones.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

Ancient Siberian genomes reveal genetic backflow from North America across the Bering Sea      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The movement of people across the Bering Sea from North Asia to North America is a well-known phenomenon in early human history. Nevertheless, the genetic makeup of the  people who lived in North Asia during this time has remained mysterious due to a limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Now, researchers describe genomes from ten individuals up to 7,500 years old that help to fill the gap and show geneflow from people moving in the opposite direction from North America to North Asia.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ethical ancient DNA research must involve descendant communities, say researchers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The analysis of ancient DNA allows scientists to trace human evolution and make important discoveries about modern populations. The data revealed by ancient DNA sampling can be valuable, but the human remains that carry this ancient DNA are often those of the ancestors of modern Indigenous groups, and some communities have expressed concerns about the ethics of sampling by outside parties. A group of scientists make the case for involvement of descendant communities in all aspects of the research process.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Project aims to expand language technologies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Only a fraction of the 7,000 to 8,000 languages spoken around the world benefit from modern language technologies like voice-to-text transcription, automatic captioning, instantaneous translation and voice recognition. Researchers want to expand the number of languages with automatic speech recognition tools available to them from around 200 to potentially 2,000.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Smallpox has plagued humans since ancient Egyptian times, new evidence confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Smallpox was once one of humanity's most devastating diseases, but its origin is shrouded in mystery. For years, scientific estimates of when the smallpox virus first emerged have been at odds with historical records. Now, a new study reveals that the virus dates back 2,000 years further than scientists have previously shown, verifying historical sources and confirming for the first time that the disease has plagued human societies since ancient times.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Study reveals average age at conception for men versus women over past 250,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using a new method based upon comparing DNA mutation rates between parents and offspring, evolutionary biologists have revealed the average age of mothers versus fathers over the past 250,000 years, including the discovery that the age gap is shrinking, with women's average age at conception increasing from 23.2 years to 26.4 years, on average, in the past 5,000 years.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

DNA from archaeological remains shows that immigration to Scandinavia was exceptional during the Viking period      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study based on 297 ancient Scandinavian genomes analysed together with the genomic data of 16,638 present day Scandinavians resolve the complex relations between geography, ancestry, and gene flow in Scandinavia -- encompassing the Roman Age, the Viking Age and later periods. A surprising increase of variation during the Viking period indicates that gene flow into Scandinavia was especially intense during this period.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study that reconstructs the history of sea level at the Bering Strait shows that the Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to North America did not emerge until around 35,700 years ago, less than 10,000 years before the height of the last ice age (known as the Last Glacial Maximum). The findings indicate that the growth of the ice sheets -- and the resulting drop in sea level -- occurred surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Paleontology: General
Published

Archaeologists uncover oldest known projectile points in the Americas      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Can the AI driving ChatGPT help to detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The artificial intelligence algorithms behind the chatbot program ChatGPT -- which has drawn attention for its ability to generate humanlike written responses to some of the most creative queries -- might one day be able to help doctors detect Alzheimer's Disease in its early stages. Research recently demonstrated that OpenAI's GPT-3 program can identify clues from spontaneous speech that are 80% accurate in predicting the early stages of dementia.

Anthropology: General
Published

Hunter-gatherer social ties spread pottery-making far and wide      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Analysis of more than 1,200 vessels from hunter-gatherer sites has shown that pottery-making techniques spread vast distances over a short period of time through social traditions being passed on.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Words prove their worth as teaching tools for robots      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What is the best way to teach a robot? Sometimes it may simply be to speak to it clearly. Researchers found that human-language descriptions of tools can accelerate the learning of a simulated robotic arm lifting and using a variety of tools.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Cheerful chatbots don't necessarily improve customer service      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Humans displaying positive emotions in customer service interactions have long been known to improve customer experience, but researchers wanted to see if this also applied to AI. They conducted experimental studies to determine if positive emotional displays improved customer service and found that emotive AI is only appreciated if the customer expects it, and it may not be the best avenue for companies to invest in.