Human remains reveal a rare instance of intergroup violence among prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Researchers found the remains of at least 27 people at a site in Kenya, including ten skeletons showing signs of blunt-force or sharp-force trauma to the head and/or neck. The remains, dating to 9,500 – 10,500 years ago were found with no signs […]
Tag: human behaviour
Underestimating global fisheries catches
Researchers have been substantially underestimating the total global fisheries’ catches by as much as 50 per cent, according to a new study. The results are based on “catch-reconstruction”, using scientific literature and asking local experts to help provide missing data. The researchers found increases in catches every year from 1950 to 1996, at which […]
Language changes brain patterns
Very early language experience will influence how a child’s brain processes a new language later in life, according to a study in Nature. Researchers examined three groups of children, all of whom were fluent in French. One group had no exposure to Mandarin, another was fluent in Mandarin, and the last third group had been […]
Ancient farming bee-haviour
Researchers have found evidence that humans have been gathering bee products, such as honey and honeycomb, for at least 9,000 years. The researchers examined residues preserved on thousands of pottery vessels from across Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The earliest evidence was found in pots from Neolithic sites in Anatolia, where Europe and Asia join, […]
The dangers of prescription painkillers for women
Women suffering from opioid addiction are more likely to become addicted from doctor-prescribed painkillers, such as OxyContin and codeine, than men according to a new study. Researchers believe more studies examining the development and effects of opioid addiction in women are needed to provide better treatment options. The study of 503 patients attending methadone […]
Research is too conservative
A pair of papers calls for researchers to take greater risks when choosing research problems to study in order to speed up scientific discovery and innovation. The two papers, one from PNAS and another from the American Sociological Review, used computer models to analyze millions of research papers. The study published by PNAS found that […]
Eating two homemade meals a day cuts diabetes risk
Eating two homemade meals per day lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes according to recent research from the American Heart Association. Researchers found that individuals who ate a homemade lunch and dinner everyday had a 13 per cent lower risk when compared to individuals who ate fewer than six homemade meals each week. […]
The perfect temperature for productivity
Rising temperatures from climate change will slow economic productivity, and if left unchecked will lower the average global wage by 25 per cent by 2100, according to a new study. Economic productivity peaks at 13 ºC, and declines at lower or higher temperatures, according to a review of global economic data from the World Bank. […]
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, or at least partly, according to new findings. While there are indeed some universal aspects of attractiveness, such as symmetry, they believe that the uniqueness of an individual’s facial preferences is determined by experiences with friends and peers, past partners, as well as social and popular […]
Using the benefits of climate change to convince non-believers
Motivating people to take action on climate change, regardless of their existing beliefs, can be done by communicating the social benefits of acting in a climate-friendly way, according to researchers. Communicating development benefits (such as economic and scientific advancement) and the benevolence benefits (such as a more moral and caring community) helped to motivate people […]
9,000 year-old ritual decapitation found
A 9,000 year-old ritualized decapitation may be the oldest case found in the New World, according to researchers, leading to a re-evaluation of the origins and geographic dispersion of the practice. The remains, a skull, two amputated hands, and several vertebrae, were found laid out in a way suggesting that they were likely part of […]
The British navy went far for food
Looking at old cod found in the hold of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose is providing a glimpse of fisheries history. A DNA analysis of the stored cod revealed it was caught in near Iceland and Newfoundland and is “illuminating the role of naval provisioning in the early development of extensive sea fisheries, with […]
Global tree count: Seeing the forest through the trees
There are approximately three trillion trees in the world, according to density estimates of every continent except Antarctica, a number much larger than previous estimates of just over 400 billion trees. However their research also estimates that humans have cut down 46 per cent of the world’s trees since the beginning of human civilization. The […]
New guidelines to reduce pain during vaccinations
New Canadian guidelines aim to reduce pain during vaccinations in both children and adults. Pain during the vaccination process can make children and adults hesitant to receive future immunizations. The guidelines update previous guidelines, published in 2010, and have been expanded to cover adults as well as children. The recommendations are designed to be used […]
Listening to music could help post-operative care
A meta-analysis has found that listening to music reduces postoperative pain, anxiety and reduces the use of painkillers, however the researchers found no effect upon the length of a patient’s stay. Researchers reviewed 73 randomized controlled trials of adult patients undergoing surgical procedures where music was initiated before, during or after surgery and was compared […]
Amazonia has long been domesticated by humans
In 1492, Amazonia may have been home to about eight million human beings, challenging the 20th century idea of an undisturbed land, according to the authors of an interdisciplinary review. Amazonia was a major centre of crop domestication: at least 83 native species were domesticated, and at least 55 imported subtropical species were cultivated. Throughout […]
