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An aye-aye clutching onto a tree.

Endangered lemurs' complete genomes are sequenced and analyzed for conservation

3/25/13

For the first time, the complete genomes of three separate populations of aye-ayes -- a type of lemur -- have been sequenced and analyzed in an effort to help guide conservation efforts. The results of the genome-sequence analyses will be published in an early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online during the week of March 25. The team of scientists is led by George H. Perry, assistant professor of anthropology and biology at Penn State; Webb Miller, professor of biology and of computer science and engineering at Penn State; and Edward Louis, director of Conservation Genetics at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and director of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, NGO.

Untitled

Lecture to look at 'Determinism vs. Chance in Complex Ways of Genomes'

1/18/13

A free public lecture titled "Life's Little Problem: Determinism Versus Chance in the Complex Ways of Genomes" will take place on 26 January 2013 at 11:00 a.m. in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The speaker will be Kenneth M. Weiss, Evan Pugh Professor of Biological Anthropology and Genetics at Penn State University.

The event is the second of six lectures in the 2013 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Your Genes: How They Contribute to Who You Are." No registration is required. The lectures take place on six consecutive Saturday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas Building.

Untitled

Free lecture to look at 'Races, Faces and Human Genetic Diversity'

1/10/13

A free public lecture titled "Races, Faces and Human Genetic Diversity" will take place at 11 a.m. Jan. 19, in 100 Thomas Building. The speaker will be Mark D. Shriver, a professor of anthropology and genetics at Penn State.

The event is the first of six lectures in the 2013 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Your Genes: How They Contribute to Who You Are." No registration is required. The lectures take place from 11 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. on six consecutive Saturday mornings, in 100 Thomas Building.

Genetic differences discovered in kids with premature skull closure

11/19/12

An international team of researchers from 23 institutions across three continents has identified two genetic factors that are strongly associated with the most common form of non-syndromic craniosynostosis -- premature closure of the bony plates of the skull. The team of geneticists, pediatricians, surgeons and epidemiologists includes Joan Richtsmeier, professor of anthropology at Penn State, and Yann Heuze, a post-doc in the Richtsmeier lab.

Untitled

$2.3 million NIH grant supports research on midface and diseases

11/15/12

A team of researchers headed by Penn State anthropologist Joan Richtsmeier will use genetically engineered mice and 3D imaging technology to study the development of the human midface -- upper jaw, cheekbones and eye sockets -- and how diseases and abnormalities of the head affect the growth and shape of the face. The work is being funded by a new $2.3 million five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, which is part of the prestigious National Institutes of Health.

The researchers will measure facial tissues and spaces, using specialized 3D images to learn more about these defects in human patients, and will use genetically engineered mouse models to guide investigations of these human diseases. Also leading the team is Ethylin Wang Jabs of Mount Sinai Medical Institutions, New York City.

Video: Nina Jablonski on how lifestyle decisions impact skin health

11/12/12

Nina Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Penn State and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow, is internationally known for her research on the evolution of human skin and skin color. In a video produced by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health, she discusses how human lifestyle decisions impact the health of our skin and its ability to mediate our overall health. The skin is the major interface between our internal and external environments, Jablonski notes, especially in connection with our need for vitamin D, which is critical to our body's ability to absorb calcium and maintain a healthy skeleton.

Doug_Kennett

Climate change had political, human impact on ancient Maya

11/8/12

The role of climate change in the development and demise of classic Maya civilization, ranging from AD 300 to 1000, has been controversial for decades because of a lack of well-dated climate and archaeological evidence. But an international team of archaeologists and earth science researchers has compiled a precisely dated, high-resolution climate record of 2,000 years that shows how Maya political systems developed and disintegrated in response to climate change.

$1.1M grant will fund reasearch on analyzing privacy-enhanced data

10/22/12

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $1.1 million grant to a multidisciplinary Penn State team to develop methods for statistical analysis of noisy and privacy-enhanced data.The Penn State effort looks to create new techniques for extracting more accurate statistical information from these complicated, noisy datasets. The work will place special emphasis on analyses useful for social science research.

Untitled

Dig through Pennsylvania history with Penn State summer program

2/8/12

For students wanting to dig up a worthwhile educational experience this summer, the Penn State Department of Anthropology is offering the 2012 Archaeological Field School from May 21 to June 29 in Huntingdon, Pa. The deadline for applications to attend the field school is Feb. 20.

Untitled

Mystery of Victorian-era poet's illness deciphered after 150 years

12/19/11

Known for her poetry, letters, love affair and marriage to Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning also left a legacy of unanswered questions about her lifelong chronic illness. Now, a Penn State anthropologist, with the aid of her daughter, may have unraveled the mystery. Born in 1806, Barrett Browning suffered throughout her life from incapacitating weakness, heart palpitations, intense response to heat and cold, intense response to illnesses as mild as a cold, and general exhaustion in bouts that lasted from days to months or years. Her doctors were unable to diagnose or treat her illness, which apparently first appeared around age 13.

The Animal Connection

New book explores humankind's 'animal connection'

7/5/11

"The Animal Connection," a new book by Pat Shipman, a Penn State paleoanthropologist, presents the groundbreaking new idea that humans' connection to other animal species may be the driving force behind the last 2.6 million years of human evolution. Reviewers have hailed the book, calling it "a work of extraordinarily broad scholarship" and saying that "animal lovers and readers who are interested in human psychology will not be able to put this fascinating book down." Shipman elegantly synthesizes decades of paleontology, anthropology, and evolutionary theory through the new lens of the animal connection, creating a compelling view of human development. "Animals were not incidental to our evolution into Homo sapiens; they were essential to it -- they are what made us human."

Untitled

New hypothesis for human evolution and human nature

7/23/10

It's no secret to any dog- or cat-lover that humans have a special connection with animals, but in a new journal article and forthcoming book, paleoanthropologist Pat Shipman of Penn State argues that this human-animal connection goes well beyond simple affection. Shipman proposes that the interdependency of ancestral humans with other animal species -- "the animal connection" -- played a crucial and beneficial role in human evolution over the last 2.6 million years.

Untitled

More than skin deep, tanning product of sun's rays

6/21/10

People who remain pale and never tan can blame their distant ancestors for choosing to live in the northern reaches of the globe and those who easily achieve a deep tan can thank their ancestors for living in the subtropical latitudes, according to Penn State anthropologists. "The variation of ultraviolet radiation, especially in the middle and high latitudes is great," said Nina Jablonski, professor of anthropology and chair of Penn State's anthropology department. "Tanning has evolved multiple times around the world as a mechanism to partly protect humans from harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation."

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An aye-aye clutching onto a tree.

Endangered lemurs' complete genomes are sequenced and analyzed for conservation

3/25/13

For the first time, the complete genomes of three separate populations of aye-ayes -- a type of lemur -- have been sequenced and analyzed in an effort to help guide conservation efforts. The results of the genome-sequence analyses will be published in an early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online during the week of March 25. The team of scientists is led by George H. Perry, assistant professor of anthropology and biology at Penn State; Webb Miller, professor of biology and of computer science and engineering at Penn State; and Edward Louis, director of Conservation Genetics at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and director of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, NGO.

Untitled

Lecture to look at 'Determinism vs. Chance in Complex Ways of Genomes'

1/18/13

A free public lecture titled "Life's Little Problem: Determinism Versus Chance in the Complex Ways of Genomes" will take place on 26 January 2013 at 11:00 a.m. in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The speaker will be Kenneth M. Weiss, Evan Pugh Professor of Biological Anthropology and Genetics at Penn State University.

The event is the second of six lectures in the 2013 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Your Genes: How They Contribute to Who You Are." No registration is required. The lectures take place on six consecutive Saturday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas Building.

Untitled

Free lecture to look at 'Races, Faces and Human Genetic Diversity'

1/10/13

A free public lecture titled "Races, Faces and Human Genetic Diversity" will take place at 11 a.m. Jan. 19, in 100 Thomas Building. The speaker will be Mark D. Shriver, a professor of anthropology and genetics at Penn State.

The event is the first of six lectures in the 2013 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Your Genes: How They Contribute to Who You Are." No registration is required. The lectures take place from 11 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. on six consecutive Saturday mornings, in 100 Thomas Building.

Genetic differences discovered in kids with premature skull closure

11/19/12

An international team of researchers from 23 institutions across three continents has identified two genetic factors that are strongly associated with the most common form of non-syndromic craniosynostosis -- premature closure of the bony plates of the skull. The team of geneticists, pediatricians, surgeons and epidemiologists includes Joan Richtsmeier, professor of anthropology at Penn State, and Yann Heuze, a post-doc in the Richtsmeier lab.

Untitled

$2.3 million NIH grant supports research on midface and diseases

11/15/12

A team of researchers headed by Penn State anthropologist Joan Richtsmeier will use genetically engineered mice and 3D imaging technology to study the development of the human midface -- upper jaw, cheekbones and eye sockets -- and how diseases and abnormalities of the head affect the growth and shape of the face. The work is being funded by a new $2.3 million five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, which is part of the prestigious National Institutes of Health.

The researchers will measure facial tissues and spaces, using specialized 3D images to learn more about these defects in human patients, and will use genetically engineered mouse models to guide investigations of these human diseases. Also leading the team is Ethylin Wang Jabs of Mount Sinai Medical Institutions, New York City.

Video: Nina Jablonski on how lifestyle decisions impact skin health

11/12/12

Nina Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Penn State and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow, is internationally known for her research on the evolution of human skin and skin color. In a video produced by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health, she discusses how human lifestyle decisions impact the health of our skin and its ability to mediate our overall health. The skin is the major interface between our internal and external environments, Jablonski notes, especially in connection with our need for vitamin D, which is critical to our body's ability to absorb calcium and maintain a healthy skeleton.

Doug_Kennett

Climate change had political, human impact on ancient Maya

11/8/12

The role of climate change in the development and demise of classic Maya civilization, ranging from AD 300 to 1000, has been controversial for decades because of a lack of well-dated climate and archaeological evidence. But an international team of archaeologists and earth science researchers has compiled a precisely dated, high-resolution climate record of 2,000 years that shows how Maya political systems developed and disintegrated in response to climate change.

$1.1M grant will fund reasearch on analyzing privacy-enhanced data

10/22/12

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $1.1 million grant to a multidisciplinary Penn State team to develop methods for statistical analysis of noisy and privacy-enhanced data.The Penn State effort looks to create new techniques for extracting more accurate statistical information from these complicated, noisy datasets. The work will place special emphasis on analyses useful for social science research.

Untitled

Dig through Pennsylvania history with Penn State summer program

2/8/12

For students wanting to dig up a worthwhile educational experience this summer, the Penn State Department of Anthropology is offering the 2012 Archaeological Field School from May 21 to June 29 in Huntingdon, Pa. The deadline for applications to attend the field school is Feb. 20.

Untitled

Mystery of Victorian-era poet's illness deciphered after 150 years

12/19/11

Known for her poetry, letters, love affair and marriage to Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning also left a legacy of unanswered questions about her lifelong chronic illness. Now, a Penn State anthropologist, with the aid of her daughter, may have unraveled the mystery. Born in 1806, Barrett Browning suffered throughout her life from incapacitating weakness, heart palpitations, intense response to heat and cold, intense response to illnesses as mild as a cold, and general exhaustion in bouts that lasted from days to months or years. Her doctors were unable to diagnose or treat her illness, which apparently first appeared around age 13.

The Animal Connection

New book explores humankind's 'animal connection'

7/5/11

"The Animal Connection," a new book by Pat Shipman, a Penn State paleoanthropologist, presents the groundbreaking new idea that humans' connection to other animal species may be the driving force behind the last 2.6 million years of human evolution. Reviewers have hailed the book, calling it "a work of extraordinarily broad scholarship" and saying that "animal lovers and readers who are interested in human psychology will not be able to put this fascinating book down." Shipman elegantly synthesizes decades of paleontology, anthropology, and evolutionary theory through the new lens of the animal connection, creating a compelling view of human development. "Animals were not incidental to our evolution into Homo sapiens; they were essential to it -- they are what made us human."

Untitled

New hypothesis for human evolution and human nature

7/23/10

It's no secret to any dog- or cat-lover that humans have a special connection with animals, but in a new journal article and forthcoming book, paleoanthropologist Pat Shipman of Penn State argues that this human-animal connection goes well beyond simple affection. Shipman proposes that the interdependency of ancestral humans with other animal species -- "the animal connection" -- played a crucial and beneficial role in human evolution over the last 2.6 million years.

Untitled

More than skin deep, tanning product of sun's rays

6/21/10

People who remain pale and never tan can blame their distant ancestors for choosing to live in the northern reaches of the globe and those who easily achieve a deep tan can thank their ancestors for living in the subtropical latitudes, according to Penn State anthropologists. "The variation of ultraviolet radiation, especially in the middle and high latitudes is great," said Nina Jablonski, professor of anthropology and chair of Penn State's anthropology department. "Tanning has evolved multiple times around the world as a mechanism to partly protect humans from harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation."