Archaeology & Paleontology

Hobbits mastered use of stone tools (The Australian, Oct. 9)

Newfound ancient African megadroughts may have driven the evolution of humans and fishes (EurekAlert!, Oct. 8)

Silent victims of the sea: rising tides threaten archaeological sites (Guardian UK, Oct. 8)

Follow in 385,000 yr-old human footsteps (Yahoo!/Reuters, Oct. 6)

Environment

A Quest for Energy in the Globe’s Remote Places (N.Y. Times, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

Egypt Plan to Green Sahara Desert Stirs Controversy (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 9)

Waterproof Rice May Help Asia Cope with Flooding (NPR, Oct. 9)

Inner Mongolia grasslands turning to sand (Washington Post, Oct. 8) Site requires free registration

Planned Open-Pit Mine Stirs Environmental Fight (NPR, Oct. 8)

Hong Kong choking in dense smog (Yahoo!/AFP, Oct. 8)

In China, a Green Awakening (Washington Post, Oct. 6) Site requires free registration

Scientists can't explain algae outbreak [Great Lakes region.] (Yahoo!/AP, Oct. 5)

Exploration & Adventure

Taking the Northwest Passage (BBC News, Oct. 8)

A Challenge That Put Wind in His Sails (Washington Post, Oct. 8) Site requires free registration

Seeing Everest as the Tallest A.T.M. in the World [Conrad Anker.] (N.Y. Times, Oct. 6) Site requires free registration

Medicine & Health

Distribution of Nets Splits Malaria Fighters (N.Y. Times, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight (N.Y. Times, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

System To Build Transplant Tissue Created (ScienceDaily/Cornell Univ., Oct. 9)

Key gene work scoops Nobel Prize (BBC News, Oct. 8)

Gene-swapping Ebola is a slippery target (New Scientist, Oct. 8)

Seeking Columbus’s Origins, With a Swab (N.Y. Times, Oct. 8) Site requires free registration

Real Hope in a Virtual World [Used for coping with illness, training doctors, etc.] (Washington Post, Oct. 6) Site requires free registration

Peoples & Culture

People & Places in the News

Ice melt raises passage tension (BBC News, Oct. 8)

Pakistani quake aid trickles down (BBC News, Oct. 8)

The Ivorian town sinking under waves (BBC News, Oct. 8)

In the World's Rural Outposts, A Shortwave Channel to God (Washington Post, Oct. 7) Site requires free registration

Logging with care in Congo (BBC News, Oct. 6)

A Priest Methodically Reveals Ukrainian Jews’ Fate [WWII oral histories.] (N.Y. Times, Oct. 6) Site requires free registration

Texas set to open new canyon to public (Yahoo!/AP, Oct. 5)

Plants & Animals

How Baboons Think (Yes, Think) (N.Y. Times, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

Kashmir Destroys Rare Hides to Protect Wildlife (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 9)

Congo rebels seize gorillas habitat (Yahoo!/AP, Oct. 8)

Microbes can survive 'deep freeze' for 100,000 years (New Scientist, Oct. 8)

Amber can make a watery grave (Nature News, Oct. 8)

Egg colour indicates DDT (Nature News, Oct. 8)

Birds of Prey Persecution (Independent UK, Oct. 8)

Bees to make elephants 'buzz off' (BBC News, Oct. 8)

The Squirrel Wars (NYT Magazine, Oct. 7) Site requires free registration

Melting ice pack displaces Alaska walrus (Yahoo!/AP, Oct. 7)

A Knell for Lobsters On Long Island Sound: Warming, Pesticides Offered as Culprits in Die-Off (Washington Post, Oct. 7) Site requires free registration

California sea otters key to coastline ecosystem (Yahoo!/AFP, Oct. 6)

Tests help mutt owners find identity [DNA.] (Yahoo!/AP, Oct. 6)

Alien birds save Hawaiian natives (New Scientist, Oct. 6)

The Big Cats' Cradle [Cheetahs.] (Washington Post, Oct. 6) Site requires free registration

Science & Technology

Use the worldwide Web to go green (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 9)

Nobel Awarded for Nanotechnology Innovation (NPR, Oct. 9)

Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs. (Washington Post, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

Relativity Derived Without Calculus -- Possibly Centuries Ago [Physics.] (PhysOrg, Oct. 8)

I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer [Craig Venter.] (Guardian UK, Oct. 6)

Space

Have Jupiter's smallest moons been obliterated? (New Scientist, Oct. 9)

'Black and white moon' less grey [Saturn's moon Iapetus.] (BBC News, Oct. 9)

In NASA’s Sterile Areas, Plenty of Robust Bacteria (N.Y. Times, Oct. 9) Site requires free registration

Astronauts Set to Head to Space Station (Red Orbit, Oct. 8)

Ariane tests space truck sequence (BBC News, Oct. 5)

NASA is Building the Third Tallest Roller Coaster in the World, as an Escape System (Universe Today, Oct. 5)

Lectures, Meetings, & Conferences

Sources:

Conference Calendar for Zoology (BIOSIS)

Meridian International Center Events

National Academy of Sciences Events

National Air and Space Museum Events

National Journal Daybook [includes environment-related events in Washington]

National Museum of Natural History Events

National Press Club

Smithsonian Resident Associate Programs