News From NPR

Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding

Credit Ian Harrowell, Christine Austin, Manish Arora / Harvard School of Public Health

This model of a molar shows color-coded barium banding patterns that reveal weaning age.

Credit Alyson Hurt, Adam Cole / NPR / Christine Austin / Westmead Centre for Oral Health

Top: Lines on a 100,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth mark the passage of time. Bottom: The distribution of barium shows dietary transition: low barium before birth (1), high barium during breast-feeding (2) and falling barium as the Neanderthal transitions to a mixed diet (3).

By editor

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 12:54 pm

Listen

When it comes to weaning, humans are weird.

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old.

But modern humans wean much earlier. In preindustrial societies, babies stop nursing after about two years. Which raises the question: How did we get that way? When did we make the evolutionary shift from apelike parenting to the short breast-feeding period of humans?

5:00 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

British Driver Says She's Sorry In 'Twit And Run' Case

Credit @FSUSteve

A screen capture shows a tweet sent by Emma Way after she was involved in a collision Sunday. She has apologized for the incident.

By Bill Chappell

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:04 pm

A British driver who struck a cyclist with her car — and who then bragged about the incident on Twitter — has issued an apology. The incident caused an uproar after the collision Sunday.

"Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclist," tweeted Emma Way, in a message that has been widely circulated despite her apparent attempts to delete it, and seemingly her Twitter account, @EmmaWay20.

4:57 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech Data?

Next image Previous image

Credit Alexander Joe / AFP/Getty Images

The baobob fruit is one of the 100 traditional African food crops that a group of scientists want to learn more about to improve nutrition.

Credit Paballo Thekiso / AFP/Getty Images

Marula is one of the crops whose genome will be sequenced through the African Orphan Crops Consortium.

By editor

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:44 pm

"I'm shocked by the optimism here," Howard Yana-Shapiro, the chief agricultural officer for Mars Inc. said Tuesday to the audience of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, D.C.

Seated there before him were some of the leaders from the wealthiest international organizations and multinational companies of the fight to end hunger. And Shapiro told them they weren't even close.

4:55 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

London Attack Deemed Likely Terrorist Incident

Credit Alastair Grant / Associated Press

Police and forensic officers near the scene of Wednesday's brutal attack.

By Scott Neuman

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 7:20 pm

A man has been killed in what reports described as a machete attack in London, and police have shot two suspects in what British Prime Minister David Cameron says is likely a terrorist incident.

4:55 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

Go East, Young Marijuana Dealer

Credit David McNew / Getty Images

By editor

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 6:40 pm

Listen

Chuck used to sell marijuana in California. But the legalization of medical marijuana in the state meant he was suddenly competing against hundreds of marijuana dispensaries. So he moved to New York, where marijuana is still 100 percent illegal. Since making the move, he says, he's quadrupled his income. (For the record: His name isn't really Chuck.)

News From NPR		RSS
All Content	closeNews podcasts Use iTunes Use a different player	RSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

Now Playing

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

News From NPR

Pages

Shots - Health News

7:47 pm

Wed May 22, 2013