Humans news stories

Rewriting the history books: Why the Vikings left Greenland
24th March 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

One of the great mysteries of late medieval history is why did the Norse, who had established successful settlements in southern Greenland in 985, abandon them in the early 15th century?

Machu Picchu: Inca site ‘has gone by wrong name for over 100 years’
24th March 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Humans

Peruvian historian and US archaeologist say the pre-Columbian town was called Huayna Picchu by the Inca people.

Mysterious Pictish Symbols Discovered in Scotland Are The ‘Find of a Lifetime’
24th March 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists in Scotland shed “genuine tears” upon discovering a stone covered with geometric carvings that the Picts, the Indigenous people of the region, designed about 1,500 years ago.

People in One of World’s Oldest Cities Colored The Bones of Their Dead
22nd March 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

The sprawling ruins of Çatalhöyük – a vast, ancient human settlement in what we now know as Turkey – are much like a precursor to the modern metropolis of today. Yet, over the course of 9,000 years, times have certainly changed.

Study ties present-day Native American tribe to ancestors in San Francisco Bay Area
22nd March 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A genomic study of Native peoples in the San Francisco Bay Area finds that eight present-day members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe share ancestry with 12 individuals who lived in the region several hundred to 2,000 years ago…the study challenges the notion that the Ohlone migrated to the area between A.D. 500-1,000…

Fears dash for wind power could cut off lost world of Doggerland
20th March 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Earth, Humans

While the Conservative party’s proposed dash for wind power is good news for the climate it could be bad news for archaeology, with rapid offshore windfarm development sealing off access to some of the best-preserved and most complete evidence of early human communities in the world.

Government Scientists to Scan Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays to Find Secrets
18th March 2022 | vice.com | Ancient, Humans, Tech

Individual artifacts might be detectable with an advanced telescope that captures particles made in outer space.

Largest ever psychedelics study maps changes of conscious awareness to neurotransmitter systems
18th March 2022 | mcgill.ca | Humans, Misc.

Applying machine learning to a database of testimonials uncovers how drug-induced changes in subjective awareness are mechanistically rooted in the human brain.

Ancient handprints on cave walls in Spain found to include children’s hands
17th March 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A trio of researchers from Universidad de Cantabria and the University of Cambridge has found evidence suggesting that up to a quarter of all ancient handprints found on cave walls in Spain were made using children’s hands.

This Beautiful Reconstruction of a Stone Age Woman Feels Almost Like Time Travel
17th March 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

A Stone Age woman who lived 4,000 years ago is leaning on her walking stick and looking ahead as a spirited young boy bursts into a run, in a stunning life-size reconstruction now on display in Sweden.

Scientists claim hairy black holes explain Hawking paradox
17th March 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Humans, Space, Weird

Scientists say they have solved one of the biggest paradoxes in science first identified by Prof Stephen Hawking.

Our universe may have a twin
16th March 2022 | livescience.com | Earth, Humans, Space, Weird

A wild new theory suggests there may be another “anti-universe,” running backward in time prior to the Big Bang.

New Experiments Hint Human Language Likely Didn’t Start With Grunts
16th March 2022 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Misc.

Our ability to elaborately communicate is one of humanity’s greatest superpowers. It allows us to retain and build knowledge across generations, cooperating at a global scale unlike anything else seen on Earth. But much about how this ability evolved is still a mystery, including its origins.

Ancient tombs and sarcophagus unearthed beneath Paris’ Notre Dame
16th March 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Humans

Archaeologists discover burial sites “of remarkable scientific quality” below the fire-damaged cathedral

Early warning system catches asteroid hours before it smashes into Earth
15th March 2022 | independent.co.uk | Humans, Space, Tech

Astronomers and the European Space Agency’s planetary defence community recently spotted an asteroid just hours before it struck the Earth

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD could save the health care system millions of dollars, study suggests
14th March 2022 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

New research provides evidence that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can improve and extend lives of patients with chronic and severe posttraumatic stress disorder while also reducing healthcare costs. The findings have been published in the journal PLOS One.

News stories covering humans, psychology and health.