The naming of X and Y
The Scientist this month has a nice short article by Joseph Keierleber that recounts some of the early history of scientific investigation of the sex chromos...
All posts tagged with sex
Testing the sex of ancient individuals from their enamel proteins
A recent paper by Nicolas Stewart and colleagues presents a way to determine the sex of ancient individuals by examining the composition of their tooth ename...
Mankind in the unmaking
Annalee Newitz gives a worthwhile etymological lesson: “Think twice before using mankind to mean all humanity, say scholars”.
Quote: Paleolithic religion as sex mysticism
I ran across a 1940 paper by George Barton, a specialist on Near Eastern religious tradition, during the course of researching a paper I’m writing. The paper...
Baldness genetics
I’ve been doing some literature research on the genetics of baldness. Yes, I’m trying to work out what we can say about Neandertal phenotypes, if you’re wond...
Determining sex from the cranium
The cranium has a very distinctive shape, which varies between people to some extent. Some features that vary between individuals in their size or shape are...
Did Neandertal women hunt as much as Neandertal men?
This morning, my irritation level about this Neandertal women hunting story finally reached its boiling point. I unleashed a Neandertal-style cry of anguish...