Viewpoint: Why more native Africans should be included in archaeological research projects across the continent

“A lot of the evidence that comes out of Africa informs us about our origins,” says [palaeoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie]. He bridles at the exclusion of African researchers from many fossil…

Killing in Combat Doesn’t Always Harm Soldiers’ Mental Health

Summary: A large study of over 14,000 Norwegian veterans reveals that taking a life in combat doesn’t automatically damage a soldier’s mental health—context matters. Veterans from Afghanistan, where combat was…

Stronger Bonds Before Birth Shape Healthier Mother-Child Futures

Sumary: A new study reveals that young mothers who feel emotionally connected to their unborn babies are more likely to form healthy, positive relationships with their children later. Researchers tracked…

Trade-offs in rooting strategy dimensions along an edaphic gradient in a grassland ecosystem – Functional Ecologists

2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Yuguo Yang discusses his paper “Trade-offs in rooting strategy dimensions along an edaphic gradient in a grassland ecosystem“, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2024…

Viewpoint: Texas is a measles superspreader: With anti-vaccination ideology surging, the state is exporting the pandemic crisis to the rest of the US and the world

Measles, a highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, has made a resurgence in West Texas communities, jumping hundreds of miles to the northern border…

You might be reading your dog’s moods wrong

Many dog owners can tell how their precious pooch is feeling, watching it wag its tail or raise its ears — at least, they think they can. But people’s perception…

Heatwave-mediated decreases in phytoplankton quality negatively affect zooplankton productivity – Functional Ecologists

2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Jihyun Olivia Kim discusses her paper “Heatwave-mediated decreases in phytoplankton quality negatively affect zooplankton productivity“, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2024 Haldane Prize for…

Is that shark ticking? In a first, a shark is recorded making noise

Sharks may not be the sharp-toothed silent type after all. The clicking of flattened teeth, discovered by accident, could be “the first documented case of deliberate sound production in sharks,”…

A nearly century-old dead date palm tree helped solve an ancestry mystery

What the island nation of Cape Verde cherishes as its own distinctive kind of date palm is getting an ancestry reveal. The Cape Verde date palm (Phoenix atlantica), native to…

Diverse forests are more resilient to storm disturbances across Europe – Functional Ecologists

2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Julien Barrere discusses his paper “Forest storm resilience depends on the interplay between functional composition and climate—Insights from European-scale simulations“, which has been shortlisted for Functional…