| May 14, 2013 |
Ancient Lead Pollution
- Humans were polluting the air with lead as far back as 3,900 years ago.
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| April 1, 2013 |
Mummy Heart Disease
- Mummies from a variety of different cultures show signs of heart disease.
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| March 15, 2013 |
Podcast for 15 March 2013
- An ancient pigment with futuristic applications, the hidden electricity between flowers and bees, and a new, improved anti-fog coating. Also: the unlikely history of camels.
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| March 7, 2013 |
Egyptian Blue
- The world's oldest artificial pigment, Egyptian Blue, has previously unknown and potentially useful properties.
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| March 1, 2013 |
Dental Roundup
- Ancient people had beneficial bacteria to fight dental plaque that is absent in modern populations.
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| January 14, 2013 |
Neolithic Woodworking
- The discovery of ancient wooden wells in Germany reveals that Neolithic woodworking was more sophisticated than previously believed.
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| December 5, 2012 |
Climate Change & The Maya
- Climate change may have unraveled the sophisticated Maya empire.
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| August 31, 2012 |
Podcast for 31 August 2012
- WHALES, APES & BIRDS - Chimps don't share our sense of justice. What gibbons on helium can tell us about opera singers. Deciphering the peacock's hidden message. What an endangered whale has in common with songbirds. Also: Did a Central American rodent save a tree species from extinction?
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| August 20, 2012 |
Archaeology Drone
- An unmanned aerial drone maps archaeological sites in minutes instead of years.
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| August 17, 2012 |
Podcast for 17 August 2012
- PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSUMPTION - Why planning a lifestyle change often backfires, why buying larger quantities doesn't always mean a better deal, and the relationship between speed of consumption and satisfaction, Also: did hunter-gatherers really use more calories than people living today? And an unmanned aircraft maps an archaeological site in Peru in record time.
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| July 5, 2012 |
Dairy Detectives
- Traces of milk fat in pottery confirm that prehistoric North Africans practiced dairy farming.
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| March 26, 2012 |
Australian Extinction
- Human hunters drove Australia’s largest animals to extinction around 40,000 years ago.
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| March 23, 2012 |
Podcast for 23 March 2012
- EVOLUTION & EXTINCTION - What really happened to Australia's missing megafauna, how carnivores lost their sweet tooth, why lovelorn fruit flies resort to alcohol, strategic miscarriages in monkeys, and a new frog species is discovered in plain sight.
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| June 22, 2011 |
Neanderthal Hands
- Evidence from ancient teeth suggests that most Neanderthals were right-handed, like us.
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| March 18, 2011 |
Podcast for 18 March 2011
- An early screening test for autism, a car controlled by thoughts, the safety of fruit seeds, blaming the hero, and testing an ancient Egyptian prosthetic.
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| March 9, 2011 |
Ancient Egyptian Prosthetics
- Artificial toes from ancient Egypt may have been functional prosthetics.
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| January 21, 2011 |
First Clothes Roundup
- Researchers date the advent of clothing by the evolution of lice.
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| January 5, 2011 |
Persian Gulf Civilization
- Today's Persian Gulf may cover the site of advanced Stone Age civilizations.
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| December 23, 2010 |
Stonehenge Engineering
- A new hypothesis explains how prehistoric people transported huge slabs of rock to Stonehenge.
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| December 9, 2010 |
Ancient Music
- Playing ancient Peruvian instruments inside the ruins of a temple gives researchers clues to the music's cultural significance.
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| December 8, 2009 |
Sick Mummies
- Researchers discover signs of heart disease in ancient Egyptian mummies.
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| December 4, 2009 |
Podcast
- FLU REPORT: Why older people are at less risk of contracting the H1N1 flu virus, how to avoid the flu, and can you get the flu from a library book? Also: ancient mummies with heart disease and harmful bacteria discovered in cigarettes.
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| October 8, 2009 |
Ancient Fibers
- Ancient flax fibers found in a cave suggests humans may have been turning the plant into clothing or rope as far back as 36,000 years ago.
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| September 18, 2009 |
Podcast
- The gecko's phantom tail, the social lives of fruit flies, stem cells from fat, fall color secrets, ancient cave discoveries.
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| September 10, 2009 |
Early Climate Change
- Humans may have affected the Earth's climate thousands of years ago.
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| August 28, 2009 |
Podcast
- CENTRAL AMERICAN CONSERVATION: Saving the Caribbean coral reef, conserving the world's largest sharks, and ancient Mayan forest conservation.
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| August 27, 2009 |
Mayan Forestry
- The early Maya culture practiced forest conservation – and may have paid a heavy price when they stopped.
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| July 16, 2009 |
Rammed Earth
- The right amount of water can make a green building material super-sturdy.
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| June 2, 2009 |
Online Antiquities
- Online auction sites have transformed both legal and illegal antiquities markets.
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| March 3, 2009 |
Evolution of Conscience
- Hunting and gathering in pre-historic times may have led to the evolution of the conscience.
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| February 27, 2009 |
Podcast
- EVOLUTION & MORALITY SPECIAL: Hunting large game led to the evolution of the conscience, and evidence of moral systems in other animals. Also: Giant snake fossil points to warmer times, and grandparents helped civilization evolve.
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| February 14, 2009 |
Podcast
- EVOLUTION SPECIAL: Celebrating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, the evolution of kissing, mosquito love duets, robot sex, and the unhealthy history of the human diet.
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| January 12, 2009 |
Little Ice Age
- Widespread disease epidemics in the Americas may have set off a period of global cooling in the past.
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| January 2, 2009 |
Podcast
- CLIMATE CHANGE: A listener asks: How can it be "global warming" when it's so cold outside? And the chilling effects of deadly disease on the climate of the past.
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| September 8, 2008 |
Bat Voices
- Bats emit unique calls to distinguish themselves from the group.
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| August 21, 2008 |
Antikythera Mechanism
- An ancient astronomical calculator had a dedicated calendar for the Olympics and other games.
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| July 25, 2008 |
Podcast
- DANGEROUS MICROORGANISMS: Diseases of the Crusaders unearthed. New mosquito repellents on the horizon. And is your moldy basement a health hazard?
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| June 18, 2008 |
Satellite Archaeology
- Satellite images are helping scientists measure the influence of an ancient Mexican civilization.
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| June 16, 2008 |
Magellan’s Weather
- The climate anomaly known as El Niño could explain why the voyage of Magellan encountered an unusually calm Pacific Ocean.
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| April 2, 2008 |
Cat Domestication
- A listener asks: where and when were cats first domesticated?
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| March 14, 2008 |
Podcast
- Archaeologists dig deep, the mystery of Maya Blue, where your hair has been, and more.
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| March 13, 2008 |
Maya Blue
- Scientists use high-tech tools to analyze ancient art.
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| March 10, 2008 |
Archaeological Digs
- A listener asks: When archaeologists uncover ancient cities, why do they have to dig so deep?
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| December 18, 2007 |
Vacation Photos
- Computer scientists are using vacation photos found on the internet to create virtual 3-D models of historical cities and archaeological landmarks.
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| July 27, 2007 |
Podcast
- How fetuses breathe inside the womb, rats that help out other rats, ancient chile peppers found in Mexico, why we yawn, and the surprising forms alien life might take.
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| July 25, 2007 |
Ancient Mexican Food
- Mexican food may have changed surprisingly little over the last millennium.
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| June 29, 2007 |
Podcast
- Why cows have four stomachs, a new development in wireless electricity, babies' surprising eye for language, a genetic typo detector, and an archaeological debunking.
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| June 25, 2007 |
Chanting Chamber
- A scientist debunks claims about an ancient burial chamber.
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| February 9, 2007 |
Podcast
- Why you're not perfect, sitting up straight could be bad for you, the downfalls of two ancient civilizations coincided with climate change, the study of procrastination, and your useless organs.
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| February 5, 2007 |
Tang and Maya
- A recent study suggests that climate change helped do in two ancient civilizations.
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