Guest Post

03.06.15

Guest Post: Why walk on two legs?

Speaker Series, Guest Post
By Jeremy DeSilva of Boston University. Jeremy will discuss the question “Why walk on two legs?” at a SciCafe at the American Museum of Natural History on April 1, 2015. This article is an excellent introduction to the pros and cons of bipedalism.
Humans are weird. We are mammals, yet we have very little body hair. We are primates, yet unlike most primates, we are generally uncomfortable in… more »
09.03.14

Extracting Ancient Dental DNA: Just Like Pulling Teeth

Behind the Science, Guest Post, Education
by Dr. Anne Stone,  Arizona State University Photo: David Bygott BY-NC-SA 2.0 How hard can it be to extract DNA from the teeth of chimpanzees that died only 30 or 40 years ago? These were my initial thoughts when presented with the opportunity to examine the DNA of the most famous chimpanzees in the world. These individuals, studied by Dr. Jane Goodall at Gombe, included Flo, Madam Bee, Satan, Hugo, and Getty.more »
12.18.13

Skullduggery: Is the Identity of the Piltdown Forger and His Methods Close to Full Exposure?

Guest Post
  By Dr. Jerry Drawhorn This year, and 60 years since the last extensive analysis of the remains led to the discovery that the Piltdown skull was a fraud, a team of over 15 analysts – including experts in ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and isotope studies – have been assembled by Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London to re-examine the Piltdown collections using modern analyticalmore »