Humans news stories

This little-known Native American society was once as powerful as the Aztecs and Incas
10th March 2021 | nationalgeographic.com | Ancient, Humans

The Spiros were once “the single most powerful group ever to exist” in North America. This groundbreaking new exhibit in Oklahoma shares their story.

Research shows we’re surprisingly similar to Earth’s first animals
10th March 2021 | eurekalert.org | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Humans

The earliest multicellular organisms may have lacked heads, legs, or arms, but pieces of them remain inside of us today, new research shows.

When Acid Makes You Feel Like Jesus
9th March 2021 doubleblindmag.com | Humans, Misc.

Experts weigh in on the connection between the spiritual and the psychedelic and why some trippers feel like religious figures.

World’s oldest ‘pet cemetery’ discovered in ancient Egypt
9th March 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the oldest pet cemetery on record — a nearly 2,000-year-old burial ground filled with well-loved animals, including the remains of cats and monkeys still wearing collars stringed with shell, glass and stone beads, a new study finds.

The human footprints of Ojo Guareña
9th March 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

The CENIEH has participated in the study of the prints of bare feet found at the Sala y Galerías de las Huellas site in the Ojo Guareña Karst Complex (Burgos), which are the marks left in a soft floor sediment of an exploration by a small group of people between 4600 and 4200 years ago.

Hazelnut find sheds light on Threave estate’s history
9th March 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

A tiny burnt hazelnut shell found on the Threave Estate near Castle Douglas has been radiocarbon dated back to the Mesolithic period.

Could lab-grown meat help tackle climate change?
9th March 2021 | bbc.co.uk | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Last year, Singapore became the first country to allow the sale of lab-grown meat. BBC Minute takes a look at what lab-grown meat is and whether it could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

Octopuses Not Only Feel Pain Physically, But Emotionally Too, First Study Finds
7th March 2021 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans

An important new study suggests octopuses are likely to feel and respond to pain in a similar way to mammals – the first strong evidence for this capacity in any invertebrate.

What do near-death experiences mean, and why do they fascinate us?
7th March 2021 | theguardian.com | Humans, Misc.

Psychiatrist Bruce Greyson has spent decades talking to people about near-death experiences. His work raises questions about what happens when we die, and how we ought to choose to live

New study suggests humans evolved to run on less water than our closest primate relatives
7th March 2021 phys.org | Animal Life, Humans

When you think about what separates humans from chimpanzees and other apes, you might think of our big brains or the fact that we get around on two legs rather than four. But we have another distinguishing feature: water efficiency.

More people are using psychedelics to treat their own mental health, study says
7th March 2021 | independent.co.uk | Humans, Misc.

More people are using psychedelics to treat their mental health, according to the 2020 Global Drug Survey, which asked 110,000 people about their drug use.

Primate ancestor of all humans likely roamed with the dinosaurs
7th March 2021 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Scientists have identified the earliest primate fossils: tiny ancient teeth from a rat-size creature that suggest our ancient ancestors once lived alongside the dinosaurs.

Shift in scientific consensus about demise of Neanderthals
4th March 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

It is still unclear how the Neanderthals died out. For long, one theory seemed most likely: the emergence of the highly intelligent Homo sapiens, or modern humans. This competition hypothesis is no longer the dominant theory among scientists, research among archaeologists and anthropologists has shown.

Journey of a skull: How a single human cranium wound up alone in a cave in Italy
4th March 2021 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A lone cranium in an Italian cave wound up there after being washed away from its original burial site, according to a study published March 3, 2021…

Scientists Detect Signs of a Hidden Structure Inside Earth’s Core
4th March 2021 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

While most of us take the ground beneath our feet for granted, written within its complex layers, like pages of a book, is Earth’s history. Our history.

Benefits of microdosing LSD might be placebo effect, study finds
4th March 2021 | theguardian.com | Humans, Misc.

Imperial College London researchers conducted largest placebo-controlled trial of psychedelics

News stories covering humans, psychology and health.