One of the abalone shells in the ancinet paint making tool kits. (Photo: Science/AAAS)

This Week: Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known artists’ workshop in a cave in South Africa. We learn about that discovery. Then, a story about the battles over water in Australia’s heartland. Also, a discussion about race with a geneticist and an author.

A Stone Age Paint Workshop: Blombos cave is located on the southern coast of South Africa, about 185 miles east of Cape Town. Archaeologist Christopher Henshilwood of the University of Witwatersrand has been excavating the cave for nearly two decades. In 2008, his team stumbled upon a startling discovery: two abalone shells that seemed to be part of an ancient paint making kit. Hear more about the discovery and about Henshilwood’s connection to Blombos cave.

A 100,000 year old ochre processing workshop at Blombos cave, South Africa.

Video produced by: Loic Quentin

Australia’s Water Wars: Climate scientists are forecasting a dry future for southeastern Australia. The region is only just recovering from a 10 year long period of drought. And now the Australian government is telling farmers of the region that they will have to permanently reduce their water use to save the environment. The World’s Jason Margolis brings us this story.
See images and an illustration from Jason’s story.

Race, Genetics and Society: The BBC’s Evan Davis explores the biology and social underpinnings of race with geneticist Steve Jones and author Katharine Birbalsigh (author of To Miss With Love).
BBC Two’s Mixed Race Season.

Photo credit: Jessica Cooney/Leslie Van Gelder

This Week: I posted this week’s podcast from Gothenburg, Sweden. However, the stories in this episode are from Canada and France. The one from Canada is about a public health expert who is helping his home town—Victoria, British Columbia—measure and promote happiness as public policy. He’s also the guest in our Science Forum discussion. You can stop by with your own thoughts here. And a French cave has revealed prehistoric finger drawings by children.

Measuring and Promoting Happiness: As countries around the world try to figure out ways to boost their economies, some countries and cities are looking beyond economic growth as a measure of societal progress. They’re trying to promote happiness and overall well being. One of the scientists pioneering that effort is Michael Pennock. He’s a public health expert in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2006, Pennock helped Bhutan develop its Gross National Happiness Index. He has since developed a survey to measure happiness in his home town. The survey is being used to develop a happiness index not just in Victoria, but also in other cities around the world. Listen to my story about Pennock’s work and join our online conversation with him in our latest Science Forum.

Prehistoric Cave Art by Kids: Archaeologists have long been studying the paintings and drawings on the walls of a famous cave complex in France. The stone age art dates back to the Paleolithic Age. Many of the drawings represent woolly mammoths. In fact the place is nicknamed the “Cave of a Hundred Mammoths.” Lately, researchers have been focusing on some finger drawings. They think children as young as three, four or five did some of the artwork. So, part of the cave complex may have served as a kind of prehistoric nursery where kids were encouraged to develop their creative skills in cave art – 13,000 years ago. The World’s Marco Werman spoke with Jessica Cooney at the University of Cambridge, which hosted a conference on the archaeology of childhood.

This week: Particle accelerators are helping scientists peek inside prehistoric bugs trapped in amber. One group of archaeologists has found the oldest evidence for communal feasting. Another group has stumbled upon signs of antibiotic use by ancient Nubians. British scientists have built a bridge for dormice. And climate change may not fuel conflict in Africa after all. We’re still talking tigers in our latest Science Forum discussion. Stop by with your questions and thoughts. And please tell us what you think of our reporting in this online survey!

Ancient Communal Feasts: Archaeologists have stumbled upon the oldest known evidence for communal feasting. The site of the discovery is northern Israel where people were feasting to commemorate the death of an elder some 12,000 years ago.
Guest: Natalie Munro.
The study.

Elsa’s Favorite Stories:

• Africa’s Non-Climate Wars: Back in November, we reported on a study which concluded that for every degree Celsius increase in temperature the chance of civil war in Africa increased by 50%. That’s because hot dry years could lead to food shortages and unrest. But a new study says the relationship is not so clear and that traditional political and economic factors are more important than climate.
  The new study.
  The previous study.
  Podcast 81, where we talked about the previous study.
  Related post from Discover magazine’s 80 Beats blog.
• Elephants Don’t Like Ants: Big and burly as they are, elephants will avoid insects that bite and sting. If an elephant hears a bee or smells an ant, it will take off. A kind of acacia tree has adapted to take advantage of this. The whistling-thorn tree houses ants inside its thorns and that keeps elephants from wrecking it like they do other acacia trees. The ants help stabilize the amount of tree cover in the savanna ecosystem.
  The study. (Includes a video narrated by one of the authors.)
  More about elephants and bees in Podcast 18 and Podcast 65.
  Termites also have a notable effect on the savanna landscape.
  Here’s a video of what elephants can do to trees that don’t have ant bodyguards! Video by Ed Yong.
  
• Antibiotics in Nubian “Beer”: In the early 1980s, anthropologists noticed that bones of 2,000-year-old Nubian mummies fluoresced under black light, as do bones of modern humans who’ve taken the antibiotic tetracycline. That observation launched a series of studies about ancient antibiotic use, and researchers have concluded that the Nubians regularly produced a fermented beverage that contained tetracycline-producing bacteria. Their latest evidence includes extraction and chemical identification of the tetracycline from the mummies’ bones.
  The study.
  In Podcast 49, we talked about another ancient medicine, from Egypt.
  The photo at right shows tetracycline-labeled bone fluorescing under black light. Photo courtesy of eScienceCommons.
• No Mammoth-Killer Comet: Nearly 13,000 years ago, mammoths and other megafauna went extinct across North America. Researchers have proposed that the mass extinction resulted from a comet or meteorite that exploded over the continent but the hypothesis seems not to have held up well under scrutiny. A new study deals what may be the final blow to the notion of a mammoth-killer impact.
  The study.
  The original mammoth-killer study.
  ScienceNOW coverage.
  More on the various explanations for the mass extinction from NOVA.

Peering Inside Ancient Bugs: Remember the mosquito trapped in amber in the movie Jurassic Park? Of course scientists can’t really use DNA from ancient mosquitoes to recreate dinosaurs but they can gain valuable insights by studying all sorts of ancient insects preserved in fossilized tree resin. Getting to the insects through the amber is fraught with difficulties. Now scientists in France are using a Synchrotron particle accelerator to scan opaque amber and create 3-D models of these insects.
Report by: Ari Daniel Shapiro.

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
A few images of the insects.

A Bridge for Dormice: What has big shiny, black eyes and small, rounded ears, a cute fluffy tail and a suspension bridge? Its a British dormouse. The charming little rodent has a new way to cross a highway in the form of a $ 250,000 bridge in South Wales.
Guest: Robert Jones Parry, the conservation manager of the Wildlife Trust of South Wales.
BBC video about the bridge.

What the Internet Does to Your Brain: Find out in this week’s Technology podcast by my colleague Clark Boyd.

We Need Your Help! Give us your feedback. Take a minute to fill out this online survey.

This week: Geologists say they expected the earthquake in Haiti. Some European countries have overstocked the H1N1 vaccine and are trying to unload excess doses. Engineers and archaeologists are collaborating to expand Rome’s metro system. Elsa is back from vacation and her favorites stories include one about ancient Egyptian eyeliners. Finally, a listener tells us about his favorite music for doing science.

Haiti’s Seismic History: Haiti has had more than its share of natural disasters. Every year the country is hit by violent tropical storms, not earthquakes.  But geologists say that this week’s earthquake should not have come as a surprise. I spoke to a couple of geologists to find out why. Its a story I did for the radio show earlier this week.
Report by: Rhitu Chatterjee.
Live updates about Haiti from the BBC.
The quake could have been worse, says one scientist.

Flu Vaccine Overstock: After last year’s rush to stock up on the vaccine against the H1N1 flu, some European countries are now trying to unload millions of doses. Countries such as Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, and France have found themselves with huge stockpiles because far fewer citizens than expected sought out the vaccine. Governments are hoping to cancel orders or sell the excess vaccines to developing nations.
Report by: The World’s Gerry Hadden.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Lead in Ancient Egyptian Eyeliner: Ancient Egyptians might have been unaware of lead poisoning. But they might have known of some health benefits of lead that we are unaware of. That’s the conclusion of a new study that analyzed the novel lead salts found in the famous black eyeliners of ancient Egyptians sampled from a collection at France’s Louvre Museum.
  The study.
  The Egyptian Antiquities collection at the Louvre.
• Inflatable Female Cane Toads: Australian scientists have found that female cane toads are a fairly empowered lot. A female toad picks a male with the best call. But she wards off the smaller, unworthy suitors by inflating herself and causing them to loosen their grip on her. (Or if she prefers a smaller guy, she can make that happen too.)
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  More about cane toads.
• Cricket Pollinators: A researcher working on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean has found the first evidence of a cricket pollinating flowers. Crickets are omnivorous and normally don’t use nectar as a food source. The researchers think that the raspy cricket on Reunion might have developed a taste for orchid nectar and become an important pollinator because of a scarcity of other insects on the island.
  The study.
  Watch the video of the raspy cricket caught in the act of pollinating an orchid.
  

Rome’s New Metro Line: Expanding Rome’s metro system is not an easy task. In a city with a rich history, building a metro line could mean endangering the city’s historical sites. That’s why engineers and archaeologists are collaborating to build Rome’s third metro line.
Report by: The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy.
See a BBC video of the new construction.

Music in Science: Biologist D J Braiser tells us which songs best describe his experience of doing science.

This week: In last week’s podcast, you heard about the possibilities of world leaders agreeing on a new climate treaty at next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen. You’ll hear from Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister for Climate and Energy who will be chairing the summit in Copenhagen next month. You’ll also hear a story on efforts to get wildlife off restaurant menus in Vietnam. Then, a story on how Israel is trying to come up with Hebrew names for Uranus and Neptune. Some disturbing news about plastics in our oceans and new clues to the day-to-day existence of the ordinary Mayan.

Oh! And a big thanks to all our listeners who participated in our last week’s Science Forum. Your thoughtful comments and questions made the Forum a big success!

Danish Climate Minister: The climate summit in Copenhagen is barely a few weeks away. And scientists, environmental activists and law makers from around the world are preparing for that upcoming meeting. Connie Hedegaard is the Danish minister for Climate and Energy and she will chair the climate summit in December. She says that leaders must remain committed to forging a strong, new international treaty to reduce carbon emissions.
Guest: Connie Hedegaard.
Links:
Collection of BBC stories on the Copenhagen summit.
Denmark’s Ministry of Climate and Energy.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• More Plastic in Our Oceans: Scientists now think that the Pacific Garbage patch may not be the only collection of plastic waste in our oceans. There are similar plastic dumps in other oceans, like the Atlantic and Indian. It is only a matter of time before they find those too.
  New York Times article (including a slide show).
  The Plastic Ocean, the blog of researcher Bonnie Monteleone
  More on ocean garbage from the Algalita Foundation.
• Why Do Humans Talk and Chimps Don’t? Part of the answer may lie in our genes. A new study published this week shows that a genetic player in brain development does completely different things in humans and chimps. The results suggest that some of the answers to the mysteries behind humans’ highly developed language skills may lie in the gene called FoxP2.
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  More on language evolution from NOVA ScienceNOW.
• The Musty Smell of Old Books: Scientists have identified the cocktail of volatile chemicals emitted by old books. The chemicals are released when the compounds in paper start to degrade. Different kinds of papers decay at different rates and emit different chemicals. The researchers want to use the findings to develop a non-destructive sniff-test to identify books and papers in need of better preservation and storage.
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  All about preserving old papers, from the Cornell University Library.
• Picture of the Ordinary Mayan Life: Archaelogists exploring a “painted pyramid” in Mexico have uncovered murals depicting rare images of the daily life of ordinary Mayans. The pictures show what ordinary people in the Mayan civilzation wore, cooked and traded.
  The study.
  Information on Maya culture from the National Gallery of Art. (Note from Elsa: Find out some of the things I did not know about the Mayan elite!)

Naming Uranus and Neptune, in Hebrew: Did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy? Well, the Israelis did. And they decided to commemorate the occasion by coming up with Hebrew names for Uranus and Neptune. These planets were discovered after the ancient Hebrews named the other six planets in our solar system.
Report: By Daniel Estrin.
Links:
Jerusalem Post coverage.
The Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Getting Wildlife off the Menu: Wildlife delicacies such as snakes and monkeys have become increasingly popular in Vietnamese restaurants. But its hurting the country’s wildlife population. And that’s why two environmental groups are now trying to change attitudes and discourage the Vietnamese from indulging in wildlife cuisine.
Report: By The World’s Mary Kay Magistad.
Links:
Read a transcript of this story.
More about the WWF restaurant campaign in Hanoi.
Wildlife consumption is a problem in other parts of the world, too. Learn more from the Bushmeat Crisis Taskforce.

This week: Perceptions of the swine flu vaccine differ across the Atlantic. Japanese doctors discover a mother who passed cancer to her daughter in the womb. Dyslexia turns out to be more complex in Chinese-speaking people. Monkeys visit the “uncanny valley.” Scientists find the first known omnivorous spider. And our ancestor Ardi is now on Facebook.

Swine Flu Vaccine: A vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu virus is now available and is starting to reach people around the world. But while U.S. officials are recommending the vaccine for large segments of the population – including all children from 6 months to 24 years of age — many European medical professionals are less ready to recommend the vaccine. We explore cultural differences in how people in the U.S. and Europe perceive the risks and benefits of swine flu vaccination.
Guest: Jay Butler, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Report: By The World’s Gerry Hadden in Barcelona.
Guest: Robert Dingwall, University of Nottingham, UK.
Links:
Information on H1N1 flu from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More on H1N1 vaccine from the World Health Organization.

Cancer Transferred from Mother to Daughter: The tragic case of a 28-year-old woman in Japan may help scientists better understand the biology of cancer and the workings of the fetal immune system. The woman had cancer, and that cancer was transferred to her baby in the womb. Scientists say it is the first conclusive case of cancer being passed from pregnant mother to child.
Guest: Anthony Ford, Institute of Cancer Research, UK.
Links:
The study.
BBC coverage.
Transcript of this interview.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Chinese Dyslexia: Dyslexia in Chinese-speaking people appears to be more complex than dyslexia in English speakers. In addition to having phonological problems — trouble associating sounds with print — Chinese-speaking dyslexics have additional trouble processing visual information.
  The study.
• Monkeys’ Uncanny Valley: People generally enjoy seeing robots and animated figures that look somewhat human, but when artificial beings resemble humans too closely, people are repelled by the depictions. The dip in people’s responses to such robots or images is called an “uncanny valley.” Scientists have now found that monkeys also have an uncanny valley.
  The study.
  Image: Some of the synthetic monkeys that seem to give real monkeys the creeps. (Credit: Shawn Steckenfinger.)
  
• Vegetarian Spider: Scientists have stumbled upon a spider with rare food habits. Of the 40,000 known spider species, Bagheera kiplingi appears to be the only one that eats a mostly vegetarian diet. The spider lives on acacia bushes in Central America. It eats the same food as its neighbors, which are aggressive stinging ants.
  The study.
  More about jumping spiders.
  Video: Watch a spider outmaneuver — and out-wait — ants in order to harvest her favorite plant parts. (She finally gets to eat after 22 seconds. Filmed by Christopher Meehan.)
  

Ardi on Facebook: It has been just two weeks since Ardi, our 4.4 million-year-old ancestor, made headlines worldwide. She now has a Facebook page. You can find and friend her here.
Ardi doesn’t approve of this song, but you could still take a listen.
Find out more about Ardi on The World Science Podcast number 34.

[player] Download MP3

This week: As the U.S. works with China to cut emissions, we look at the green efforts of the world’s biggest greenhouse emitter. Europe debates the wisdom of biofuels. Plus, how a jockey can improve a horse’s speed, and six men survive being squeezed into a simulated space capsule for three months.

Dirty China: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited China this week and talked about climate change. Many critics say the country must rely much less on dirty coal.

Report: By The World’s Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing.

Green China: China is embracing renewable energy and has plans to vastly expand solar and wind energy production. But can the country change fast enough to really make a difference for the planet?

Guest: Julian L. Wong, policy analyst, Center for American Progress.

Wong is also our guest in The World’s interactive science forum. Join us for a conversation on China and global warming — ask questions, share your fears, your hopes, your ideas.

Biofuels Debate: Scientists agree that the world must reduce its use of oil and other fossil fuels. A few years ago, biofuels seemed like a potential answer, and the U.S. and the European Union are trying to ramp up production. But many in Europe now say biofuels may make things worse.

Report: By Kathleen Schalch in Brussels.

Elsa (back from Bulgaria!) picks her favorite science stories of the week:

• How a jockey can help a horse go faster.

• Swearing eases pain.

• Simulated Mars mission accomplished. (Don’t miss the 17 entries in the volunteers’ Mars Diary!)

Music:

Shining Star, by Earth, Wind and Fire

Chill Out, by Black Uhuru

Richard Wrangham

In the most recent World Science Forum, we brought you Richard Wrangham, author of “Catching Fire,” which argues that apes became human because they learned to cook.

Wrangham is a Harvard anthropologist who’s spent decades studying chimps in Africa. He’s also studied human diet, and he argues that the development of cooking by our ancestors was a key to unlocking human potential.

We spoke to Wrangham on the podcast. Download the interview, or listen here: [player]

Wrangham joined us in the forum. Read what he and others had to say, below.
Wrangham says cooking gave early hominids access to a much wider range of foods, helped their brains grow, and gave them time to develop tools and technologies.

Could you survive on raw food?  Have you tried?

Wrangham proposes that the invention of cooking led to the repression of women. But is cooking necessarily a female endeavor?

He also argues that humans instinctively like soft food. Does that fit with your experience?

President Obama speaking in Cairo

[player] Download MP3

This week: President Obama wants to send “science envoys” around the world. Global warming grabs the attention of Nobel winners, the Chinese government, and top U.S. officials. Humans and their ancestors have been laughing for a long time. Plus, some very old bowls, and can peer pressure make us conserve?

Envoys: In his speech in Cairo, President Obama proposed sending “science envoys” to the Arab world and beyond. What would this initiative mean for science, and for diplomacy?
Guest: Vaughan Turekian, head of the Center for Scientific Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Global Warming: Last week, 19 Nobel Prize winners met in London to talk about climate change.
Guests:
BBC environment correspondent David Shukman
Yuan Tseh Lee, 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

China: China leads the world in greenhouse gas emissions. Several American officials have visited China recently, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to talk about how the U.S. and China can reduce emissions.
Report: By The World’s Mary Kay Magistad

Science News:
We – and our primate relatives – have been laughing for at least ten million years. (The study.)

Listen to the apes laughing (sound files provided by the University of Portsmouth):

Bonobo:

Orangutan:

Chimpanzee:

Gorilla:

Something else has been around for a while too: bowls. Researchers report they’ve found perhaps the oldest clay bowl ever, in a cave in China. (The study.)
A new study will look at whether peer pressure can induce people to use less electricity.

Songs:
Neil Sedaka, Laughter in the Rain

The Mighty Lemon Drops, Laughter

Pakistan has a serious water crisis. Not only is the country running out of water, much of the available water is polluted and is making people sick.

Another crucial water problem for Pakistan is the ailing Indus River. One of the world’s great rivers and home to some of the earliest civilizations, the Indus is drying up.

Spanish vultures are having a rough time. In 2002, the EU passed a law designed to prevent mad cow disease. The law required farmers not to leave out livestock carcasses for vultures. The result: the birds have been starving—especially in Spain, the vulture capital of Europe. The European Parliament may change the law to allow farmers to leave some livestock carcasses for the carrion eaters after all.

Also this week, the Chinese government reported that the Great Wall is 2,400 miles longer than previously believed. Researchers claimed that an obese population produces up to 14% more greenhouse gas than a slimmer population. And finally, a brain imaging study from Belgium suggests that night owls can stay alert not just later, but also for longer, than morning people.

Music
The Standells, Dirty Water
Blondie, Dreaming