Anthropology

Tattoos, Piercings And More Alcohol Drinking Linked- Are You Surprised?

Tattoos and body piercings are so ubiquitous in western societies that they are more cliché than  edgy, but social scientists in France say they may be more than fashion trends- they may be harbingers of doom. Individuals who get them  are also more likely ...

Article - News Staff - May 4 2012 - 5:54pm

Earliest- Aurignacian Wall Art Is 37,000 Years Old

A 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone at the Abri Castanet in southern France is the earliest evidence of wall art- approximately 37,000 years old and evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans.  The research team ...

Article - News Staff - May 14 2012 - 3:44pm

Easterlin Paradox: Chinese Discover Money Does Not Buy Happiness

Things would seem to be good in China.  They are the only world economy not in a financial demilitarized zone, things are booming.   Yet more money is not making people there happier. They're actually less happy today than shortly after the Tiananmen ...

Article - News Staff - May 15 2012 - 1:30pm

False Positives: Genes Have No Meaningful Relationship To Economic Decisions And Political Attitudes

Around election season, in whatever country you are in (assuming you have elections) you can tell True Believers in their earnest politics truly wish the other side could be labeled as having defective brains and genetics and therefore be cured- or at leas ...

Article - News Staff - May 16 2012 - 9:38am

Republicans Versus Democrats- Why Some People Give More To A Charity

Conservatives give more money to charity, studies show. This makes some sense; liberals believe in sharing wealth already and advocate policies reflecting that while conservatives advocate smaller government and greater individual initiative. But why do pe ...

Article - News Staff - May 31 2012 - 12:00pm

Trees? Australopithecus Sediba Had A Caveman Diet You Want No Part Of

  Australopithecus sediba, a short, gangly hominid that lived in South Africa 2 million years ago, had a diet unlike virtually all other known human ancestors- trees and bushes. A new study indicates that A. sediba ate harder foods than other early hominid ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 27 2012 - 8:42pm

Pollution In China Makes Rich Want To Go Green Too

A contaminated river and a polluted sky are proof that environmentalism isn't just for the rich any more, say sociologists. Obviously it never was, in many countries.  In the developed world, people in the country actually care more about the environm ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 30 2012 - 4:30pm

Debunked? Hunter-Gatherers Burned More Energy Than Modern People

Modern lifestyles are quite different from those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. That seems obvious. People looking to apply blame for the obesity rise focus on their own agendas, be it lobbying against GMOs, high fructose corn syrup or video games. Or c ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 31 2012 - 11:00am

Medieval Masculinity And The History Of Celibacy

Medieval clerics did not like the prospect of giving up sex- heck, every man getting getting married dreads the part about giving up sex  - so even when they had to do so by Papal decree there was resistance to it. You think changing from a Latin to local ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 7 2012 - 1:52pm

Neolithic Lumberjacks And The Evolution Of Axes

There are calls in some quarters that we need to be more like people in the past; war, pestilence, disease, early death, it's all good as long as we use no pesticides. And clear cutting forests is what ancient man did too. During the Neolithic Age, 10 ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 9 2012 - 12:28pm