http://discovermagazine.com Science, Technology, and The Future http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/27-laughter-may-outlive-humans In the Year Million, though, I think humor will be esteemed as the most universal aspect of culture. And number will have lost its transcendental reputation and be looked upon as a local artifact, like a computer operating system or an accounting scheme. If I am right, then SETI scientists should not be listening for primes but for something quite different. Jim Holt 2008-06-27T03:34:44Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/25-frozen-siberian-mummies-reveal-a-lost-civilization Researchers are uncovering the preserved bodies of Siberian nomads who lived more than two thousand years ago. But global warming may finally do in the bodies of the ancient Scythians. Andrew Curry 2008-06-25T04:47:01Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/20-did-humans-colonize-the-world-by-boat Experts are uncovering evidence that ancient humans migrated to remote regions like Australia and the Americas by boat. Their knowledge of seacraft and ability to journey across bodies of water may date back up to 70,000 years. Heather Pringle 2008-05-20T03:22:54Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/19-uncovering-an-ancient-america An excavation team has uncovered what may be the continent's oldest settlement. 2008-05-19T03:50:49Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/14-chimps-agree-a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-bush A study finds that chimps will usually stick with what they've even when they've got a chance to trade for a preferable piece of food. Jen Pinkowski 2008-05-14T03:20:56Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/07-getting-drunk-on-chocolate-in-1100-bc An analysis of a 3,000-year-old jug reveals traces of a chemical found in cacao, leading researchers to believe that the jug's creators drank a fermented beverage made from cacao seeds. Clara Moskowitz 2008-04-07T03:43:17Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/27-from-haitian-zombie-poison-to-inuit-knives Wade Davis, a real-life Indiana Jones, describes the Inuit "shit-knife": "As the feces began to freeze in his hand, he shaped it into an implement. When the blade started to take shape, he put a spray of saliva along the leading edge to sharpen it. He used it to butcher a dog. Improvised a sled with the dog’s rib cage and disappeared into the night." Jessica Ruvinsky 2008-03-27T03:33:49Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/mar/21-the-extinct-human-species-that-was-smarter-than-us The superintelligent Boskops had small, childlike faces and huge melon heads. Jane Bosveld 2008-03-21T04:36:45Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/17-the-most-famous-ghost-town-in-america Like a zombie, Bodie is in a permanent state of “arrested decay.” Josie Glausiusz and Jane Bosveld 2008-03-24T11:59:51Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/13-science-says-war-is-over-now Recent research suggest that given adequate food, fuel, and gender equality, war may disappear. John Horgan 2008-03-24T11:58:14Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/the-mystery-of-silbury-hill The 4,400-year-old Silbury Hill has finally yielded its ancient secrets. It is not, despite the folklore, a dumping ground for the devil’s dirt. The hill is a shrine filled with rocks that, for Stone Age Britons, probably represented the spirits of ancient ancestors. David Keys 2008-02-13T03:21:35Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/ancient-finns-saved-energy-by-skating 4,000 years before Nokia, the Finns created the first ice skates by wrapping bones to their feet with leather. Signal strength was lousy at first... Emily Anthes 2008-02-07T12:04:03Z Web Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/did-life-evolve-in-ice Life may have begun in tiny chemical reactors in pockets of ice with funky properties on the ancient Earth. Douglas Fox 2008-02-01T10:01:37Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/if-osama.s-only-6-degrees-away-why-can.t-we-find-him A sociologist recently discovered that Stanley Milgram misinterpreted—intentionally or not—the data from the famous six degrees of separation study. “I still find one of the most interesting questions to be why people so much want to believe that we live in a global village, all holding hands.” Elizabeth DeVita–Raebu 2008-01-28T11:48:18Z Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jan/andean-crops-cultivated-almost-10-000-years-ago Michael Abrams 2008-01-15T08:48:18Z Print Article