Humans news stories

Ritual monument discovered in Scotland dates to the time of Stonehenge
27th January 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

A massive “cursus” monument, a site for ancient rituals, that was built around the same time as Stonehenge, has been discovered on the  Scottish Isle of Arran.

Pace of prehistoric human innovation could be revealed by ‘linguistic thermometer’
27th January 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans, Tech

Multi-disciplinary researchers at The University of Manchester have helped develop a powerful physics-based tool to map the pace of language development and human innovation over thousands of years—even stretching into pre-history before records were kept.

LSD may offer viable treatment for certain mental disorders
27th January 2021 medicalxpress.com | Humans, Misc.

Researchers from McGill University have discovered, for the first time, one of the possible mechanisms that contributes to the ability of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to increase social interaction

Why All Drugs Should be Legal
25th January 2021 doubleblindmag.com | Humans, Misc.

Neuroscientist Dr. Carl talks drug addiction, legalization, the opioid crisis, and more in a discussion about his new book “Drug Use for Grown-Ups”

How many early human species existed on Earth?
25th January 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

We Homo sapiens didn’t use to be alone. Long ago, there was a lot more human diversity; Homo sapiens lived alongside an estimated eight now-extinct species of human about 300,000 years ago

Why Did Early Humans Leave Africa?
25th January 2021 | discovermagazine.com | Ancient, Humans

Whichever way you look at it, the story of our species’ birthplace in Africa and dispersal across the planet is incredibly complicated.

Burial practices point to an interconnected early Medieval Europe
25th January 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

Early Medieval Europe is frequently viewed as a time of cultural stagnation, often given the misnomer of the ‘Dark Ages’. However, analysis has revealed new ideas could spread rapidly as communities were interconnected, creating a surprisingly unified culture in Europe.

Early humans used chopping tools to break animal bones and consume the bone marrow
22nd January 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

Researchers from the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University unraveled the function of flint tools known as “chopping tools,” found at the prehistoric site of Revadim, east of Ashdod.

‘No more broken treaties’: indigenous leaders urge Biden to shut down Dakota Access pipeline
22nd January 2021 | theguardian.com | Earth, Humans

Indigenous leaders and environmentalists are urging Joe Biden to shutdown some of America’s most controversial fossil fuel pipelines, after welcoming his executive order cancelling the Keystone XL (KXL) project.

The Problems with the Government’s New Drug Announcement
22nd January 2021 | vice.com | Humans, Misc.

New cash for the UK’s growing drug problem is welcome. But help for drug users is skewed by the government’s old drug war mantra.

Unique magic mushroom microdosing study to begin in Australia
21st January 2021 newatlas.com | Humans, Misc.

The research promises to be the first exploration of naturalistic psilocybin microdosing in a lab-setting using a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique and a unique kind of trial protocol.

Image from: https://www.needpix.com (Wiki Commons)

The origins of money
21st January 2021 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Humans

From cowrie shells to native resources and animals, currency in some shape or form has long been a part of human history.

Natural wonder: Wing ‘clap’ solves mystery of butterfly flight
21st January 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Animal Life, Humans

The fluttering flight patterns of butterflies have long inspired poets but baffled scientists.

Lessons from the past
19th January 2021 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

The Anthropocene marks relentless and increasingly grave environmental degradation as the Earth faces tipping points for climate change, biodiversity and survival. To address these ills, scientists say we can learn valuable lessons from the past.

The public’s perception of the harms of magic mushrooms is in line with science — but not with the law
19th January 2021 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

New research suggests that the public’s perception of the potential harms of magic mushrooms is not in line with drug laws. The study, which appears in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that psilocybin-containing mushrooms are considered less dangerous than alcohol, tobacco, and other substances.

13-foot-long ‘Book of the Dead’ scroll found in burial shaft in Egypt
19th January 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

A funerary temple belonging to Queen Nearit has been discovered in the ancient Egyptian burial ground Saqqara next to the pyramid of her husband, pharaoh Teti, who ruled Egypt from around 2323 B.C. to 2291 B.C.

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