New Atlas

Medical Audio available

Intriguing study suggests Alzheimer's-like brain damage can be "caught"

Rich Haridy December 13, 2018

A new study is adding weight to the hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease is somewhat transmissible, providing experimental evidence that in the past amyloid beta plaques may have been seeded in a patient's brain through contaminated samples of human growth hormone.

A new study reveals old, human-derived growth hormone may have indirectly seeded Alzheimer's-like pathologies in the ...

Science

Genome study of cave bones reveals early human hybrid

Michael Irving August 23, 2018

Early hominins were known to have cross-bred when they crossed paths, and now the most direct evidence of those meetings has been found. By sequencing the genome of a hominin bone from a Siberian cave, anthropologists have discovered the direct descendant of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan.

Genetic analysis on an ancient bone fragment has revealed the direct descendant of a Neanderthal and ...

Computers

Biometric Mirror starkly demonstrates how facial recognition systems amplify human bias

Rich Haridy July 31, 2018

The Biotmetric Mirror is a unique, interactive installation incorporating AI technologies and facial recognition systems to demonstrate how flawed and influenced by human bias these devices are. I tried it, and it concluded I am weird and aggressive.

The Biometric Mirror demonstrates how human bias can dramatically influence facial recognition systems

Science

Stone tools suggest North America was settled 20,000 years ago

Michael Irving July 24, 2018

The story of how humans spread across the globe is constantly being rewritten. Dating back to about 13,000 years ago, the “Clovis culture” was long thought to be the earliest humans in North America. Now archaeologists have uncovered stone tools in Texas that could be as old as 20,000 years.

Archaeologists have uncovered stone tools dating back between 16,000 and 20,000 years

Science

World's oldest bread is over 14,000 years old and predates farming

Michael Irving July 16, 2018

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest direct evidence of bread ever found, dating back over 14,000 years. It predates farming, leading researchers to suggest that the realization that cereals can be cultivated might have helped humans transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

An archaeological site in Jordan, where traces of the oldest bread were found in the 14,400-year ...

Science

Ancient stone tools found in China shake up human ancestor timeline (again)

Michael Irving July 11, 2018

Archaeologists have discovered ancient tools and bones in China that, once again, shake up the timeline of the human origin story. The items are more than two million years old, indicating that early hominins had spread much further east earlier than previously thought.

The discovery of two-million-year-old stone tools in China may rewrite the migration timeline of early human ...

Environment

Nature turning nocturnal in response to human activity

Michael Irving June 18, 2018

How does human activity impact the creatures we currently share the planet with? A new study has found that mammals across the globe are increasingly turning nocturnal, in a bid to avoid contact with us pesky humans.

A comprehensive new study has found that human disturbance is making mammals increasingly turn nocturnal

Science

Pompeii skeleton found crushed under stone block while fleeing volcanic eruption

Michael Irving May 30, 2018

Aarchaeologists excavating a new site in Pompeii have uncovered a new victim of the disaster, who has quite a story to tell. The skeleton was found with its head crushed beneath a huge stone block that was thrown by the force of the volcanic cloud.

Archaeologists have uncovered the 2,000-year-old skeleton of a man crushed beneath a huge stone block, while ...

Medical

Did scientists really just discover a new organ in the human body?

Rich Haridy March 27, 2018

Using a new microscopic technique scientists have identified a previously unknown human anatomical feature. Dubbed the interstitium, the discovery reveals that what was previously thought to be simply dense connective tissue is actually a complex series of interconnected, fluid-filled compartments.

A new study suggests the interstitium could be an entirely new human organ

Science

Oldest human fossil found outside Africa rewrites migration timeline

Michael Irving January 28, 2018

The origin story for modern humans basically goes that Homo Sapiens first arose several hundred thousand years ago in Ethiopia, before migrating out of Africa about 100,000 years ago. Now, a jawbone discovered in a cave in Israel pushes back the date of our African exodus by at least 50,000 years.

A section of jawbone discovered in Israel appears to be the earliest modern human fossil ever ...