You may recall a post I put up in October that discussed a 30,000 year old cranium recovered from a cave in Romania that was purported to have both modern human and Neanderthal features. Now the same researcher, Erik Trinkhaus, has a second cranium from a different Romanian cave that he believes shows the same …
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Out of Africa
The NY Times has a piece on a fossil human cranium found in South Africa that seems to confirm DNA evidence about the initial spread of modern humans out of Africa into Eurasia and later Europe. Roughly 50,000 years ago, DNA evidence (a good run-down of this is in Before the Dawn) indicates that a …
Doggie Downers
If this makes the Doom and Gloom column, then at least it suggests a way to feel better. Reid found this LAT piece entitled “Fido’s Little Helper,” a reference to the growing trend in giving psychoactive medications to pets. Laugh, but we do buy them sweaters. And last week I saw a commercial for a …
Adrift
When I took my first historical geology course at Tulane, back in the day, we of course studied plate techtonics and continental drift. It was a revelation to me to adjust my time sense and think about large land masses gliding along our planet’s surface, splitting up or colliding. I pored over maps that geologists …
Skin
The New York Times has an interesting interview with anthropologist Nina Jablonski of Penn State. Jablonski discusses her recent book on that understudied but largest human organ – the skin. I was particularly struck by her observation that “humans are the self-decorating ape.” Even those of us who haven’t had ink done rely on some …
Killer Hounds
For those that appreciate such things; granddogs Pearl the lurcher and six- month old Maty, the tazi, with Maty’s first hare. It WILL be eaten. By humans.
Nuclear Tourism
Reid sent this piece from the NYT on “nuclear tourism”, where the tourist visits such things as the Trinity site and a missile silo in Arizona. On some bizarre principle of confronting one’s nightmares such things have always appealed to me. I have been to Trinity site, twice.. I also used to see the little …
Giant Cryptozoological Flying Squirrels
You should always read Darren, but I have always had a soft spot for Asia’s giant flying squirrels, and hope to see one one day.
Good stuff
I have been wanting to do a long discussion about the excellent and idiosyncratic Oklahoma- and Poland based anthropological blogger Stephen Browne, who posts at Rants and Raves. I do not have time to do him justice right now, but I encourage you to read him. For a sampler of his innovative thinking, try this …
Eating Hares
An anonymous commentor on my post California Coursing Redux takes issue with my defence of coursing. Very well, though I don’t think he or she read it as carefully as they might have. But with one point I must take issue. “As for the comment given at the hearing that the killed rabbits were all …