ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins NewsArticles in anthropology, archaeology, evolution theory and paleontology. Read the latest discoveries from archaeological sites and research institutes around the world. Images, updated daily.Glazed America: Anthropologist Examines Doughnut As Symbol Of Consumer Culture- July 29, 2008 Few things say as much about our culture as the food we eat. An anthropologist explores the development of America's consumer culture through our relationship with the doughnut, beloved by many, and a symbol of temptation and unhealthiness to others.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721152000.htm Explosion In Marine Biodiversity Explained By Climate Change- July 28, 2008 A global change in climate could explain the explosion in marine biodiversity that took place 460 million years ago. Researchers have now found evidence of a progressive ocean cooling of about 15C over a period of 40 million years during the Ordovician. Until now, this geologic period had been associated with a "super greenhouse effect" on our planet.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080727225420.htm Anthropologist Helps Unravel Mummy Mystery- July 28, 2008 Anthropologists are in the process of unraveling a mummy bundle found in Peru's historic Huaura Valley. The mummy is believed to have been an elite member of the Chancay culture, a civilization that thrived in the central coast of Peru from about 1000 to 1400 AD. The territory of the Chancay was later home to the Incas.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080718220603.htm Past Climate Change: Continental Stretching Preceding Opening Of The Drake Passage- July 25, 2008 Due to the impact of global warming, it has become essential to understand the causes and processes involved in past climate changes. One of the most prominent events in Earth's climatic evolution was the transition from the global warmth of the Eocene "greenhouse" to the Oligocene "icehouse" glacial conditions.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723094913.htm Dinosaurs Did Not Evolve Quickly In Last 50 Million Years, New Dinosaur Super-tree Shows- July 24, 2008 It has long been debated whether dinosaurs were part of the 'Terrestrial Revolution' that occurred some 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous when birds, mammals, flowering plants, insects and reptiles all underwent a rapid expansion. During their last 50 million years of existence, dinosaurs were not expanding as actively as had been previously thought and that the apparent explosion of dinosaur diversity may be largely explained by sampling bias.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724074203.htm Predynastic Human Presence Discovered By Core Drilling At The Northern Nile Delta Coast, Egypt- July 24, 2008 A small but significant find made during a geological survey provides evidence of the oldest human presence yet discovered along the northernmost margin of Egypt's Nile delta.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723101956.htm Stem Cell Chicken And Egg Debate Moves To Unlikely Arena: The Testes- July 23, 2008 Logic says it has to be the niche. As air and water preceded life, so the niche, that hospitable environment that shelters adult stem cells in many tissues and provides factors necessary to keep them young and vital, must have emerged before its stem cell dependents.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720150149.htm Unique Fossil Discovery Shows Antarctic Was Once Much Warmer- July 23, 2008 A new fossil discovery -- the first of its kind from the whole of the Antarctic continent -- provides new evidence to support the theory that the polar region was once much warmer. Scientists made the new fossil discovery in the Dry Valleys of the East Antarctic region. The fossils (ostracods) come from an ancient lake -- 14 million years old -- and are exceptionally well preserved, with all of their soft anatomy in 3-dimensions. This rare find has implications for tracking the polar ice cap.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080722192345.htm New Evidence Of Battle Between Humans And Ancient Virus- July 23, 2008 Human ancestors fought back against an ancient retrovirus with a defense mechanism that our bodies still use today. Evidence of this battle has been preserved in our DNA for millions of years.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721112616.htm Horse Racecourse In Ancient Olympia Discovered After 1600 Years- July 21, 2008 The site of the ancient hippodrome course in Olympia, where the emperor Nero competed for Olympian laurels, has been discovered. Pausanias, a travel writer of the ancient world, described this course for horse races, its starting mechanisms, turning points and altars in much detail in the 2nd century AD.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714145253.htm |