In The News: Department of Anthropology
THE MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE THAT MICROBES INSIDE OUR GUTS can reveal hidden details of our physical and mental health has grown a little more thanks to a new study published this month in the journal Current Biology.
Even when enslaved or despised, captives brought novel ideas and technologies to the societies of their captors
A study entitled The Impact of Fathers on Children by Peter B. Gray, PhD. and Kermyt G. Anderson, PhD., found that there are many positive impacts that can be seen from the involvement of fathers as parents on their children, such as building social behavior, ethics, and self-awareness.
ACCORDING TO PIERS MITCHELL, A paleopathologist from the University of Cambridge, scientists have been extracting data from ancient human poop for over a century. “In the past, we’ve been able to look at a single coprolite from a single person”—that is to say, a preserved turd—”and study the microbiome of that one individual.” (The microbiome is the complex collection of microbes living in every animal’s digestive tract.) Now, in a newly released paper in Philosophical Transactions B, Mitchell and co-authors Susanna Sabin and Kirsten I. Bos have blown the lid off of single-turd analysis: by analyzing two medieval latrines’ worth of number two.
A group of social scientists who conduct cross-cultural research are casting a critical lens on their own practices.
A life without bees is no life at all. Literally. Not only are they essential for pollination of plants but they are intricately entwined with the evolution of our species. University of Nevada paleoanthropologist Alyssa Crittenden argues that honey and bee larvae consumption are what “made it possible for early Homo to nutritionally out-compete other species of hominid and may have provided critical energy to fuel their enlarging and evolving brains”.
Voter disillusionment is a real and pressing issue in our democracy.
The celebrated new Hulu program "Taste the Nation," hosted by acclaimed writer and "Top Chef" star Padma Lakshmi, is a "journey across America" to explore the cuisines and connected life-stories of different immigrant groups. It makes an important statement about the value of immigrants in Trump's America, but the immigrant rights movement must learn key lessons from what it misrepresents and ignores.
The celebrated new Hulu program "Taste the Nation," hosted by acclaimed writer and "Top Chef" star Padma Lakshmi, is a "journey across America" to explore the cuisines and connected life-stories of different immigrant groups. It makes an important statement about the value of immigrants in Trump's America, but the immigrant rights movement must learn key lessons from what it misrepresents and ignores.
Guys – are you looking for love during these uncertain times? Get a dog. Make it a French bulldog, a puppy for best results.
Anthropology graduate student Lyndsey Craig examines pubic hair removal practices across 72 societies, and how the practices are tied to cultural concerns about hygiene and sexual activity. Whereas most literature on public hair removal practices focus primarily on Western cultures, in particular how women are included in and affected by marketing, pornography, and pop culture, Craig and biological anthropologist Dr. Peter Gray performed historical, cross-cultural research across dozens of non-Western societies. They found that whether and how pubic hair was removed depended on a diverse array of cultural messages about hygiene, fertility, sexuality and beauty.
Dan Saladino looks at the legal and illegal trade in wild meat. Links made between Covid-19 and wild animals has led to calls for a total ban. This could be a mistake Dan explains.