Humans news stories

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.

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.

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.

A convoy of Spaniards and allies was ritually sacrificed in 1520 at Tecoaque – ‘the place where they ate them’ – before Hernán Cortés wreaked revenge.

The mighty constellation of Orion the hunter is one of the greatest sights in the night sky.

Image from:http://deepskycolors.com/astro/JPEG/RBA_Orion_HeadToToes.jpg (Wiki Commons)

An aerial photographer has compiled a series of images of skeletal-like ‘trees’ cutting their way through mudflats and lake beds in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Scientists have identified the presence of a non-tobacco plant in ancient Maya drug containers for the first time.

Critics condemn ‘callous betrayal’ after Trump officials set in motion transfer of Oak Flat to Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

A brain imaging study has found that inflicting pain on another person in compliance with an order is accompanied by reduced activation in parts of the brain associated with the perception of others’ pain.

Image from: Martin420 (Wiki Commons)

Roughly 8,200 years ago, the island of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov in Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, housed a large burial ground where men, women and children of varying ages were buried.

Palaeoproteomics, a new technology that studies the proteins of ancient remains, is shaking up history. Not only can we now peer further back in time, but the technique is also letting us see our past in a new way.

Image from: MAKY.OREL (Wiki Commons)

A study of two ancient skeletons recovered from Guam indicates that the early settlers of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific may have originated from the Philippines.

Psilocybin does not appear to severely impact gene expression, according to a new study published in European Neuropsychopharmacology. But the psychedelic substance — which is found in “magic” mushrooms — might produce lasting changes to the expression of a few immune-related genes in the brain.

More than 45,500 years ago, perched on a ledge at the back of an Indonesian cave, an artist was at work.

A 500-year-old statue of a mysterious woman wearing a large, “Star Wars”-like headdress has been discovered in central Mexico, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.