Sea Ice in Arctic Measured at Record Low

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/science/earth/sea-ice-in-arctic-measured-at-record-low.html

Also, How Zoos and Aquariums grapple with the reality of climate change and the reality of American political discourse that denies it:

Intriguing Habitats, and Careful Discussions of Climate Change

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/science/earth/zoos-and-aquariums-struggle-with-ways-to-discuss-climate-change.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

GEO: From NPR: Immigration trends in the US

100 Years Of Immigrants In America, In Two Graphs

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/08/21/159026833/100-years-of-immigrants-in-america-in-two-graphs

Spotlight- India: Ethnic Tensions in the Northeast

This from Time Magazine on ethnic tensions in India's northeastern states:

India’s Northeast: How a Troubled Region May Be a Global Flashpoint

http://world.time.com/2012/08/22/indias-northeast-how-a-troubled-region-may-be-a-global-flashpoint/?xid=newsletter-daily

GEO: Immigration- who do we let in, and how does that compare with other countries?

From NPR's "planet Money" blog. Most countries let people in to be workers. The US legally admits people mostly for family unification:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/08/27/160110929/immigration-who-the-u-s-lets-in-and-why?sc=nl&cc=pmb-20120827

A couple of things to point out- Most undocumented immigrants come to work, not to live off the taxpayers. There are actually precious few resources for udocumented immigrants. Of the documented immigrants though, the fact that people are let in to unify families means that a lot of spouses and children (dependents) are let in to accompany people who are already legal residents and are pretty much self- sufficient. These aren't necessarily people who show up and then start living off government services. It also takes an average of five years for people to gain admittance to the US as part of the family unification program. It's also a way to attract people who have skills such as surgeons and engineers- if they can't bring their families eventually they won't come. On the other hand, the more people we let in specifically to work, the greater is the competition for jobs in the US.

GEO: More evidence to support the Anatolian hypothesis for the origin of Indo-European languages

A nice graphic to boot! The story speaks for itself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/science/indo-european-languages-originated-in-anatolia-analysis-suggests.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

ANTHRO: Paleoanthropology- A Conversation with Chris Stringer

Form the New York Times- Chris Stringer, anthropology curator of the Natural History Museum London, has a new book out about the emergence of modern humans. Prof. Stringer is a big name in paleoanthropology, and he is often asked to comment on new finds and such. I haven't read the book yet, but he seems to be arguing that when AMH left Africa about 60,000 years ago, they already had all the cognitive skills that they (we) would put to use elsewhere, such as painting caves and carving statues and making more impressive tools. Most of these artifacts are found in Europe, but he believes it is only a a matter of time before some remarkable artifacts are discovered in Africa. Up to now African cultural remains are not quite as impressive as those from Europe, which invites the question... why not? There's a nice slideshow attached to the story as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/science/chris-stringer-on-the-origins-and-rise-of-modern-humans.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Anthro: Australopithecus sediba dietary analysis is suprising...

... but also controversial. Not so surprising!

Some Prehumans Feasted on Bark Instead of Grasses

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/science/australopithecus-sediba-preferred-forest-foods-fossil-teeth-suggest.html?src=recg

Lee Berger

The skull of a juvenile male Australopithecus sediba.

Amanda Henry

The left anterior premolar of the Australopithecus sediba.

GEO: Population in Africa- NYT video

From the New York Times- Population explosion where they can least afford it:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/04/14/world/africa/100000001488374/africas-population-peril.html

ANTHRO: Interesting Human Remains from China

Thanks to Ben Spoerl for this one:

http://www.livescience.com/19039-human-species-china-cave.html

Back in 2006 the anthropological world was truly stunned by remains of Homo floresiencis (popularly known as "The Hobbit") from Indonesia. Last year we heard of a new species, contemporary with neandertals and modern humans but genetically distinct from both, in the Danisova cave in Sibera. This find is, interestingly enough, contemporaneous with floresiensis, and it gives us more evidence that something not well-understood was happening in Asia, despite all the focus that is given to African fossil finds.