Introducing A Forensic Osteology Metabase

Kambiz has been busy. He is part of a team developing a new metabase devoted to forensic osteology. As Kambiz describes it:

Zombie Science and the Zombie Jamboree in Texas

Glenn Branch of the NCSE comes up with an excellent comparison for creationism in this excellent post on the threat to science education in Texas. Creationism, and its cheaper cousin Intelligent Design, have been repeatedly proven false, yet like the zombie continues to shuffle along demanding your brains. A small taste is below the fold:

Lost in New York : Sambungmacan 3

File this one in the “learn something new everyday” category, or perhaps, the relearn something new. I was randomly searching the internet yesterday and stumbled across the story of Sambungmacan 3.

In Memoriam: Tony Hillerman

Mystery writer Tony Hillerman passed away yesterday. Ordinarily, I’m not really a reader of mysteries (Poe, Doyle, and Cornwell being about it), but Tony Hillerman’s novel’s were different. They were smart, well written books that revolved around the Hopi and the Navajo. What set them apart, in my opinion, is the fact that the solution to the mystery revolved around some bit of cultural knowledge about the Hopi or Navajo – and Hillerman clearly knew these two groups well. I would, in point of fact, recommend them to aspiring cultural anthropologists.

A Plethora of Journal Articles

Like most science bloggers I accumulate a wide variety of articles, some of which I not read until quite awhile after I find them. So, I thought one way of working through them would be to blog about them on a weekly basis, say on a Sunday. I’m thinking a short post about one or more articles with links (whenever possible) to the article(s) in question.

Begging for papers…again…

Can some kind soul send me the following papers:
On the Status of Australopithecus afarensis
DAY et al.
Science 7 March 1980: 1102-1103
DOI: 10.1126/science.207.4435.1102
Susman RL. 2008. Evidence bearing on the status of Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge. Am J Phys Anthropol 137:356-361. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20896
Gebo DL, Schwartz GT. 2006. Foot bones from Omo: Implications for hominid evolution. Am J Phys Anthropol 129:499-511.doi:10.1002/ajpa.20320
Send them to afarensis@scienceblogs.com and leave a comment here so others don’t send the same article. Thanks!

Know Your Primate is Up

Know your primate is up at its new home.
What’s that? You are not going to follow the link until you see part five of Attenborough’s Life of Mammals. You all are hard, demanding task masters, but very well. Part five is below the fold – it is about carnivores.

Interesting Anthropology News

Below the fold are some interesting anthropology items I have found.

What Does It Mean To Be A Primate?

Finally! Equal time for primates. After years of listening to people talk about what it means to be human, someone finally gets to the root of the problem and asks “What does it mean to be a primate?” In fact, bunches of people are going to try and answer the question.

Know Your Primates: An Announcement Concerning the Future

I have been writing the “Know Your Primate” posts since July 28, 2006. During that time I have covered a wide variety of primates and I fully intend to continue the series. However, I will not be posting the series here. The series will continue in its new home at my new blog on Gorilla.CD. Gorilla.CD is part of the new website for the Virunga National Park. As many of you know, there are terrible events occurring in Virunga. Last year some of the gorillas were killed and earlier this month one of the ranger camps was attacked. By moving “Know Your Primate” I hope to focus some attention on the issue. When you visit the site you will notice that donations are accepted. The donations go for a wide variety of needed supplies for the rangers at the park. I hope you will consider donating.
New “Know Your Primate” posts will start going up next week. In the meantime, here is part four of Attenborough’s Life of Mammals. Note that in this episode those wonderful naked mole rats make an appearance. Enjoy!