Magazine
November-December 2016
November-December 2016
Volume: 104 Number: 6
The human family gained a previously unknown relative last year when a great trove of fossil bones and fragments was discovered in a cave outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Researchers determined that the fossils represented a new species, which they named Homo naledi; however, because the species exhibits a puzzling mixture of new and old features, its exact position on the hominin family tree remains a mystery. One skeletal structure that may provide some clues to the mystery is the pelvis, featured in this artist’s rendering of a pregnant female. In “An Updated Prehistory of the Human Pelvis,” paleoanthropologist Caroline VanSickle discusses the challenges that H. naledi’s mixture of features is posing to long-held ideas about how adaptations for two-legged walking and childbirth shaped the human pelvis. (Cover illustration by Benoît Clarys.)
In This Issue
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Engineering
- Ethics
- Evolution
- Mathematics
- Medicine
- Physics
- Policy
- Technology
An Updated Prehistory of the Human Pelvis
Caroline M VanSickle
Biology Evolution
Recent fossil discoveries are raising new questions about how the modern human pelvis developed its unique shape.
Radio from the Sky
Francis Graham-Smith
Astronomy Engineering
New, large telescope dishes and widespread arrays of receivers continue to provide insights into the nature of the universe.
The Challenge of Survival for Wild Infant Baboons
Susan Alberts
Evolution
Over the past 40 years, researchers have learned that social relationships can mean life or death for young primates.
Scientists' Nightstand
Salem's Savant
Daniel S. Silver
Mathematics Review Scientists Nightstand
An Enlightenment mathematician and astronomer, Nathaniel Bowditch improved many areas of life in the early American republic and earned praise both at home and abroad. Yet today his work has largely been forgotten. In Nathaniel Bowditch and the Power of Numbers, Tamara Plakins Thornton reminds readers why Bowditch was so influential and ponders his legacy.
Of Essays and Assays
Katie L. Burke, Emily Thompson
Communications Review Scientists Nightstand
In The Science Writers’ Essay Handbook, Michelle Nijhuis explores the similarities between the writing process and the scientific process, offering a wealth of practical writing advice along the way.
From Little Acorns
Peter H. Raven
Biology Botany Review Scientists Nightstand
Plants are essential to human life, which means their health and propagation are vital to us. Yet their seeds mostly escape our notice. Carolyn Fry aims to remedy this. Her book Seeds reveals the humble seed in all its fascinating, colorful detail.
