Controversial Cave Discoveries Suggest Humans Reached Americas Much Earlier Than Thought

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

             

July 23, 2020

Dear Reader,   In the mountains of central Mexico, archaeologists excavating a cave have unearthed evidence that suggests humans arrived in North America at least 15,000 years earlier than thought. But the conclusion has stirred controversy among some researchers. Our lead story has the details. In climate news: How much warming will greenhouse gas emissions cause in the coming years? It’s one of the most fundamental questions about climate change—and also one of the trickiest to answer. Now, a major study claims to have narrowed down the range of possible estimates. And lastly, in case you ever wondered about the boundaries of human gluttony, we have a story about how many hot dogs a person can eat in one sitting.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Evolution Controversial Cave Discoveries Suggest Humans Reached Americas Much Earlier Than Thought Archeologists say stone artifacts point to occupation more than 30,000 years ago—but not everyone is convinced By Colin Barras,Nature magazine

EARTH Worst- and Best-Case Scenarios for Warming Less Likely, Groundbreaking Study Finds The research narrows the range for how much Earth’s average temperature may rise if CO2 levels are doubled By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Neuroscience The Beautiful Things inside Your Head: Winners of the 10th Annual Art of Neuroscience Contest The top works—and our favorites—range from interactive pieces to a pen-and-paper drawing By Karen Kwon,Liz Tormes

The Body How Many Hot Dogs Can a Human Theoretically Eat? A Sports Scientist Weighs In As vendors gear up for the delayed start of the MLB season, we should reflect on the new world record just set in the Nathan’s Famous competition By James M. Smoliga

Biology The Svalbard Vault Now Has One Million Seeds Backup seeds—held in storage as insurance against climate change—come from nearly every country in the world By Mark Fischetti,Giovanni Magni,Stefania Guerra,Antonella Autuori,Luca Mattiazzi

Behavior & Society The Power of Scientific Brainstorming The process can be inefficient, but it can also get research out of a rut By Avi Loeb

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Unlimited   For just $199 a year, Scientific American Unlimited gives you access to all of our publications, apps and the full website experience.

ADVERTISEMENT

FROM THE ARCHIVE Tanks Carry Tourists into the French Alps Originally published in November 1919 | July 2020

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us