Humans news stories

Pollution is threatening some of the world’s oldest rock carvings
12th April 2022 | nationalgeographic.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

On a remote peninsula in Western Australia, a 16-hour drive from the nearest city, 30,000-year-old faces stare at the rare visitor to this wild location.

Image from: Marius Fenger (Wiki Commons)

The planets are prepping for an epic alignment. Here’s how to see it shape up.
12th April 2022 | livescience.com | Earth, Humans, Space

Five planets, visible to the naked eye, are poised to line up and march across the sky this summer in an unusual alignment that will be graced by the light of the moon.

Psychedelic frees up depressed brain, study shows
12th April 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Humans, Misc.

Psilocybin, a drug found in magic mushrooms, appears to free up the brains of people with severe depression in a way that other antidepressants do not, a study has found.

Study maps psychedelic-induced changes in consciousness to specific regions of the brain
11th April 2022 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

For the past several decades, psychedelics have been widely stigmatized as dangerous illegal drugs. But a recent surge of academic research into their use to treat psychiatric conditions is spurring a recent shift in public opinion.

Where did the unicorn myth come from?
11th April 2022 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Unicorn-like imagery dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization (about 3300 B.C. to 1300 B.C.) in South Asia, which included parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

First European farmers’ heights did not meet expectations
8th April 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A combined study of genetics and skeletal remains show that the switch from primarily hunting, gathering and foraging to farming about 12,000 years ago in Europe may have had negative health effects as indicated by shorter than expected heights in the earliest farmers, according to an international team of researchers.

A Surprise Cave Finding Has Once Again Upended Our Story of Humans Leaving Africa
8th April 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

Last year, a genetic analysis of bone fragments representing our earliest known presence in Europe raised a few questions over the steps modern humans took to conquer every corner of the modern world.

‘Extraordinary’ W boson particle finding contradicts understanding of how universe works
8th April 2022 | theguardian.com | Humans, Tech, Weird

New measurement of fundamental particle of physics after decade-long study challenges theoretical rulebook in scientific ‘mystery’.

Ancient Chilean tsunami scared local people away for 1000 years
8th April 2022 | newscientist.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

A tsunami 3800 years ago devastated the coastline of Chile and encouraged hunter-gatherers to move inland, where they stayed for the next 1000 years.

New research sheds light on how psilocybin influences sleeping patterns
7th April 2022 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

The psychedelic substance psilocybin causes transient changes to the sleep-wake architecture of laboratory mice, according to new preliminary research published in Translational Psychiatry. The findings provide new details about how the drug impacts sleep-related brain activity.

Hidden World of Octopus Cities Shows We Must Leave These Sentient Creatures Alone
7th April 2022 | sciencealert.com | Animal Life, Humans

The discovery of octopus communities came as a surprise to biologists who have long described octopuses as solitary animals that interact with others in three specific contexts: hunting, avoiding being hunted, and mating.

Mushrooms communicate with each other using up to 50 ‘words’, scientist claims
7th April 2022 | theguardian.com | Earth, Humans

Buried in forest litter or sprouting from trees, fungi might give the impression of being silent and relatively self-contained organisms, but a new study suggests they may be champignon communicators

Mo’orea’s hidden treasure trove of fungi
5th April 2022 cosmosmagazine.com | Earth, Humans

A stunning array of new fungi has been described for the first time on the Polynesian Island.

New Johns Hopkins study explores relationship between psychedelics and consciousness
1st April 2022 | eurekalert.org | Humans, Misc.

The findings, published March 28 in Frontiers in Psychology, reveal that higher ratings of mystical-type experiences, which often include a sense that everything is alive, were associated with greater increases in the attribution of consciousness.

Image from: Air article (Wiki Commons)

Tools reveal patterns of Neandertal extinction in the Iberian Peninsula
1st April 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived, according to a study published March 30, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Joseba Rios-Garaizar of the Archaeological Museum of Bilbao, Spain and colleagues.

Assam: ‘Mysterious’ giant stone jars found in India
31st March 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans

Researchers have uncovered giant “mysterious” jars in India that may have been used for ancient human burial practices.

News stories covering humans, psychology and health.