Anthropology

American Head Size Is Changing; Scientists Unsure Why

The Huffington Post | Jacqueline Howard | Posted 06.01.2012

Read More: Video, Skull Size, Health, Big Head, Forensics, Anthropology, Science, Evolution, White Americans, Skulls, Science News, Heads, White Americans Heads, University of Tennessee, Science News

Did the 20th century make us big-headed? Maybe so, since forensic anthropologists at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville found that white America...

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Failing to Understand the Social Sciences

Jamil Zaki | Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Social Science, New York Times, Psychology, Economics, Sociology, Nyt, Media News

Gutting succumbs to an old stereotype: believing that there is a bright line between "hard" natural sciences -- which produce real information -- and "soft" social sciences, which do not.

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Does Global Work Mean Culture Clash?

American Anthropological Association | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Globalization, Global Workplace, Negotiations, Business Practices, Multiculturalism, Culture, Business News

There are great cultural traditions that are rich, distinctive, and historically deep in virtually all parts of the world, and that have "identities" we can recognize, but that also exhibit multiple differences and divisions that create a jumble of identities within them.

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Saving Social Science

Paul Stoller | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: American Society, Philosophy, Social Life, College, College Funding, Social Science, Anthropology, The Humanities, Science, STEM Education, Education News

STEM is important in the future of higher education, but so are the social sciences and humanities which teach students how to think critically and to how assess the social and cultural ramifications of rapid technological change.

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What Primates Teach Us About 'Extreme' Breast-Feeding

| Eric Michael Johnson | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Weaning, Average Weaning Age, Video, Primates, Breastfeeding, Children, Weaning Age, Parents, Science News

My son will be three-years-old next month and is still breastfeeding. In other words, he is a typical primate. However, when I tell most people about ...

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My Struggles With Anti-Intellectualism

Paul Stoller | Posted 05.08.2012

Read More: Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Education, College, Pragmatism, Anti-Intellectualism, Anthropology, Elitism, Higher Education, College News

"Can do" pragmatism was the fuel of America prosperity. But that pragmatism was reinforced with an abiding respect for knowledge and critical thinking. It's hard to do anything in a place devoid of new ideas, a place where dreamers are discouraged from dreaming.

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Sinister Aztec-Era Artifacts Found

AP | MARK STEVENSON | Posted 05.03.2012

Read More: Obsidian, Obsidian Knives, Video, Human Sacrifice, Aztecs, Anthropology, Aztec Human Sacrifice, Archaeology, Stone Knives, Mexico Human Sacrifice, Science News

MEXICO CITY — Researchers in Mexico announced Wednesday that they have found blood cells and fragments of muscle, tendon, skin and hair on 2,000...

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Waging War on Higher Education

Paul Stoller | Posted 05.01.2012

Read More: Frank Bruni, College Loans and Debt, Rick Scott, Mitt Romney, Anthropology, Innovation, College Tuition, Higher Education, Philsosophy, Tea Party, College News

Math and science students deserve our support. But does that mean that we should abandon the study of philosophy, the history of art, or the analysis of society and culture? Is public higher education a place for skill acquisition or is it space for teaching young people how to think?

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Ancient Mummy Suffered Rare And Painful Disease

Posted 04.27.2012

Read More: Egyptian Mummies, History, Ancient Egypt, Video, Mummy, Egypt, Disease, Anthropology, Sarcophagus, Cancer, Diabetes, Archaeology, Science News

By: Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor Published: 04/27/2012 01:32 PM EDT on LiveScience Around 2,900 years ago, an ancient Egyptian man, likel...

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Why Are African Pygmies So Short?

Posted 04.27.2012

Read More: Short People, Video, Genes, Bantu, Africa, African Pygmy, Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology, Pygmy, Genetics, Pygmies, Science News

By: Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer Published: 04/26/2012 06:20 PM EDT on LiveScience Why the Pygmies of West Africa have such short st...

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Facial Expression Study Has Scientists Rethinking Darwin's 'Six Emotions'

| John Bohannon | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Emotions, Faces, Anthropology, Western Europe, Caucasian, Evolution, Facial Expression, Asian, Cultural Differences, Asian Culture, Video, Science News

A smile and a frown mean the same thing everywhere—or so say many anthropologists and evolutionary psychologists, who for more than a cent...

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Gun Study Shows Holding Weapon Has Weird Effect On Men's Appearance

Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Video, Freakonomics, Gunmen, Brain, Gun, Weapon, Anthropology, Evolution, Psychology, Weapons, Aggression, Air Force, Mind, Science News

By: Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor Published: 04/12/2012 06:18 PM EDT on LiveScience With gun in hand, a man of any size appears big...

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Why the Cultural Conversation Should Never Stop

American Anthropological Association | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Native Americans, Haiti Earthquake Relief, National Public Radio, Culture, Haiti Charity, Native American Anthropology, Haiti Earthquake, College News

My understandings of relationship and research changed substantially after the earthquake struck in Haiti. How did this event two years ago change me and the ways I approach my work? The list is long.

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Joseph Kony and the Other Africa

Paul Stoller | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Internet, Lord's Resistance Army, Mali, Niger, Africa, Anthropology, Media News, Joseph Kony, Invisible Children, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Media News

So Africa is not a country and Africans don't speak "African." What about the most pernicious stereotype -- that in the face of ongoing civil war and unending famine, "Africans" are powerless and need our help?

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Nebraska's Annual Sandhill Crane Migration

CarsTravelFood | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Science, Nebraska, Travel, Biology, Wildlife Migration, Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, Travel Tips, Events, Wildlife, Travel News

You don't have to fly to another continent to see an epic migration in progress. There is one place in America that hosts what might be one of the last great wildlife migrations we can still witness.

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The World According to Rick

Paul Stoller | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Political News, Spanish Inquisition, Rick Santorum, Anthropology, Religion and Politics, Climate Change, Worldview, GOP Candidates, Politics News

Are we ready to recede into the illusory comforts of Rick's 15th-century world? Are we ready to go "back to the future"?

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X-Rated Cave Art May Help Solve Migration Riddle

Posted 02.23.2012

Read More: Cave Man, Rock Carving, Cave Carving, Little Horny Man, Paleontology, X Rated Cave Art, Anthropology, Cave Art, Cave Painting, Prehistoric Art, Video, Science News

By: Charles Choi, LiveScience Contributor Published: 02/22/2012 05:04 PM EST on LiveScience A stick figure man with a giant phallus dubbed "...

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Celebrating Language Warriors

K. David Harrison | Posted 04.22.2012

Read More: K. David Harrison, Linguistics, Living Tongues Institute, Endangered Languages, Anthropology, Rare Tongues, International Mother Language Day, Rare Languages, Extinct Languages, Video, Science News

Pressed by a tide of globalization, and a barrage of negative messages telling them their cultures and ways of thinking are outmoded, a global cohort of language warriors are pushing back.

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How Long Did It Take Elephants To Get So Big? Evolution Study Says

The Huffington Post | Rebecca Searles | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Elephant, Video, Paleontology, Biology, Size, Anthropology, Fossil Record, Evolution, Mouse, Science News

How long did it take evolution to turn a mouse-sized mammal into one the size of an elephant? A thousand generations? A million? Actually, it's 24 ...

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Vultures Pick Away At Human Corpse For Science

The Huffington Post | Rebecca Searles | Posted 01.30.2012

Read More: Willed Body Donation Program, Video, San Marcos, Texas State University, Human Body, Forensic Science, Corpse, Vulture, Anthropology, Forensics, Katherine Spradley, Science News

Somewhere in Texas, people are videotaping vultures ravaging a human body. Twisted horror flick? No. Just another day in forensic science. In a pil...

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Example Of 'Earliest Figurative Art' Discovered

Posted 01.11.2012

Read More: Ancient-Artifacts, University of Frankfurt, Video, Nok, Nicole Rupp, Anthropology, Nok Culture, African Art, Ancient Art, Archaeology, Peter Breunig, Arts News

Unglazed clay objects from ancient times that are intact are incredibly rare, but archaeologists Peter Breunig and Nicole Rupp of the Goethe-Universit...

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PHOTOS: Meet Your 'Cave Parents'

Posted 01.06.2012

Read More: Slideadbigshot, Video, Neanderthal, Lucy, Paleontology, Natural History Museum, Early Human Portraits, Anthropology, Archeology, Facial Reconstruction, Cavemen, Early Humans, What Did Cavemen Look Like, Fossils, Senckenberg, Science News

What did our 'cave parents' look like? Without a family album going back 7 million years, it can be tough to imagine them, especially when all we see ...

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The Barry White Syndrome: Why Are Deep Voices Attractive

| Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: Vocal Pitch, Anthropology, Barry White, Masculinity, Deep Voice Attractive, Sexuality, Manliness, Barry White Syndrome, Deep Voice, Science News

By Krystal D'Costa (Click here for original article.) Darth Vader had one thing going for him: a deep voice. The ranks of George Clooney, Denzel ...

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WATCH: Iraq Museum Forced To Buy Artifacts Back From Looters

Posted 12.14.2011

Read More: Slemani Museum, Video, Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq-Culture, Middle East, Unesco, Iraq Museum, Anthropology, Vi London, Iraq, School of Oriental and African Studies, Archaeology, U.S. Iraq, Arts News

In 2003, after U.S. forces failed to secure The National Museum of Irag in Baghdad, looters ran amok, stealing somewhere in the range of 15,000 artifa...

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The Different Roles Of Science And Faith

Victor Udoewa | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Anthropology, Mystery, Science, Evolution, Belief, Faith, Adam and Eve, Faith and Science, Doubt and Science, Religion and Science, Doubt and Faith, Historical Adam and Eve, Religious Scientists, Biblical Literalism, Scientific Inquiry, Religion News

Doubt has many roles. We sometimes forget that God is mystery and a life of faith is one that is lived in the tension of never fully knowing.

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