Michael Marshall

TV dramas use tidy, cleaned-up bones to crack crimes in minutes, but an unvarnished account by forensic anthropologist Alexa Hagerty shows the slow horror of exhuming people killed by repressive regimes

It has long been unclear how ancient people built a city using wood in the New Mexico desert far from any forests. By trying prehistoric transportation techniques themselves, archaeologists are working it out

Cats have a reputation for being aloof and untamed, but recent studies suggest they may be more attuned to humans than we realise

Teasing apart the connection between humans and climate is the business of an ambitious book by Peter Frankopan, which is heavy on resources but light on insights

Growing evidence that long-term conditions like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fibromyalgia are caused, wholly or in part, by viral infections is good news for millions of people

Widespread cases of long covid have shone a spotlight on the role viral infections play in previously neglected conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

The notion that our ancestors’ shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming was disastrous for our health is well established, but a new study should prompt a rethink, says Michael Marshall

No human genome has ever been read in its entirety before. This year, scientists expect to pass that milestone for the first time

Stone tools discovered in Kenya are the oldest Oldowan-type implements found, dating back at least 2.6 million years, and they may have been made by our relative Paranthropus

A workshop used for mummification at Saqqara in Egypt contains remnants of the substances used to make mummies, revealing many came from southern Africa or South-East Asia

IFRC's World Disasters Report 2022 focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and preparedness: both the ways preparedness ahead of COVID-19 was inadequate, and how the world can prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies

We know that covid-19 can cause neurological symptoms, ranging from brain fog and headaches to strokes. Research is beginning to reveal how this happens and hint at better treatments

New fossil discoveries show predatory marine reptiles from 200 million years ago may have been bigger than today’s blue whales – and that they evolved astonishingly rapidly

We know for certain cooking isn't unique to our species and that it was going on 750,000 years ago. The evidence of hominins deliberately exposing their food to heat is being pushed back further all the time

Many countries in the northern hemisphere are seeing surges of childhood respiratory infections like influenza and RSV. While this is partly because child infections fell during covid-19 restrictions, that isn’t the whole story