Archaeology & Paleontology

Neandertals Had Same "Language Gene" as Modern Humans (National Geographic News, Oct. 18)

Afghan city takes action to save ancient minarets (Yahoo News/Reuters, Oct. 18)

Fossilized Cashew Nuts Reveal Europe Was Important Route Between Africa And South America (TerraDaily/SPX, Oct. 18)

African Cave Yields Earliest Proof of Beach Living (National Geographic News, Oct. 17)

Oldest Embracing Lovers Found in Turkey? (National Geographic News, Oct. 17)

Ownership fight erupts over Maya ruins (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 17)

Cannon Raised from Suspected Ship of Blackbeard (LiveScience, Oct. 17)

Story of early Florida black settlement emerging (Miami Herald, Oct. 16)

Environment

New Coast Guard Task in Arctic’s Warming Seas (N.Y. Times, Oct. 19)

Ships' CO2 'twice that of planes' (BBC News, Oct. 19)

'Warm wind' hits Arctic climate (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Pact to end deforestation launched in the Amazon (ENN, Oct. 18)

North America's worst polluters getting better, small ones worse: report (CBC/CP, Oct. 18)

Acid Oceans Warning (TerraDaily/SPX, Oct. 18)

How can you predict global warming if you can't predict rain? (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 18)

Uganda scraps controversial rainforest plan (ENN/Reuters, Oct. 17)

Warming's Costs to Top Its Benefits, Study Says (Washington Post, Oct. 17)

Global Warming Good for Greenland? (National Geographic News, Oct. 17)

Exploration & Adventure

Polar expedition to record shrinking Arctic ice (New Scientist, Oct. 18)

Aviation adventurer Fossett likely dead: Branson (AFP, Oct. 16)

Medicine & Health

Dioxin Pollution Leads to More Baby Girls - Study (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 19)

Schools in Several States Report Staph Infections, and Deaths Raise the Alarm (N.Y. Times, Oct. 19)

China plans 'largest gene bank' (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Secret to Stress Revealed in Mice (LiveScience, Oct. 18)

Genetic ancestral testing cannot deliver on its promise, study warns (PhysOrg, Oct. 18)

Why women still die to give birth (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Getting married saps your testosterone (New Scientist, Oct. 18)

New Malaria Vaccine Is Shown to Work in Infants Under 1 Year Old, a Study Finds (N.Y. Times, Oct. 18)

So similar, yet so different [Human genome] (Nature News, Oct. 17)

Personal genomics: His daughter's DNA (Nature News, Oct. 17)

Feminists Have More Fun (LiveScience, Oct. 17)

Study warns of spreading 'superbug' (L.A. Times, Oct. 17)

Why Males Die Before Females (Yahoo News/Live Science, Oct. 17)

Peoples & Culture

A Language, Not Quite Spanish, With African Echoes (N.Y. Times, Oct. 18)

Enforced loyalty in distant lands [Chinese province of Xinjiang struggles with twin identities] (BBC News, Oct. 18)

A Daily Round of Rituals For Boys Becoming Priests [New Delhi's School of Vedas] (Washington Post, Oct. 18)

25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed

Natural Disasters & Weather

Floods Threaten Vietnam World Heritage Site (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 19)

Indonesian volcano calms but scientist warns threat imminent (TerraDaily/AFP, Oct. 18)

Africa floods 'worst in 30 years' (BBC News, Oct. 17)

Bangladesh Storm Kills 10, Dozens Injured (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 17)

Global and U.S. Hazards/Climate Extremes (updated weekly on Wednesdays)

Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet [pdf] (updated late Fridays)

People & Places in the News

Kansas Says 'No' to Big Coal-Fired Power Plant (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 19)

Lab suspends DNA pioneer Watson (BBC News, Oct. 19)

Costa Rica gets forest fund boost (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Rwanda aims to become Africa's high-tech hub (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 17)

Lake Superior in the Midst of a Drought (NPR, Oct. 17)

Notorious Dr Crippen wrongly hanged, scientists say (Yahoo News/Reuters, Oct. 16)

Plants & Animals

45 bird species in Malaysia face extinction: report (Yahoo News/AFP, Oct. 18)

New Battle of Logging vs. Spotted Owls Looms in West (N.Y. Times, Oct. 18)

Scientists Discover Details of Coral Reproduction (National Geographic News, Oct. 18)

Elephants Distinguish Human Friends From Foes by Smell (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Probing Question: How do songbirds learn to sing? (PhysOrg, Oct. 18)

How Singing Bats Communicate (Science Daily, Oct. 18)

Last rites for a marine marvel? [Bluefin tuna] (BBC News, Oct. 17)

Study Ties Fishermen to Turtle 'Death Zone' off Baja (NPR, Oct. 17)

Arctic warming threatening caribou, northern wildlife (CBC/AP, Oct. 17)

Scandinavian seals hit by deadly virus (Nature News, Oct. 17)

Some Tropical Birds Depend Completely On Army Ants To Flush Out Prey (Science Daily, Oct. 17)

US Scientists Warn of Threat to Deep-Water Reefs (Planet Ark/Reuters, Oct. 17)

Scientists discover rare marine species (Yahoo News/AP, Oct. 16)

Science & Technology

Creating life in the laboratory (BBC News, Oct. 19)

Mussels' Mighty Grip Inspires Dopamine-Based Glue (National Geographic News, Oct. 18)

'World's smallest radio' unveiled (BBC News, Oct. 18)

Origin of Vision Discovered (LiveScience, Oct. 18)

Particle collider is on schedule... just (Nature News, Oct. 17)

Computers With 'Common Sense' (Science Daily, Oct. 17)

Slimmer Indian Continent Drifted Ten Times Faster (National Geographic News, Oct. 17)

Space

NASA drops deal with Rocketplane (Yahoo News/AP, Oct. 19)

Crashed spacecraft yields data [Genesis] (Nature News, Oct. 18)

China reveals space plans (Yahoo News/AFP, Oct. 18)

Most Massive Stellar Black Hole Found in Binary System (National Geographic News, Oct. 17)

Despite Concerns, NASA Will Launch Shuttle as Scheduled (N.Y. Times, Oct. 17)

Massive volcanic eruption seen on jovian moon (Nature News, Oct. 17)

Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct (Space.com, Oct. 17)

Saturn's rings hide 'sunflowers' and extra bulk (New Scientist, Oct. 17)

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