In The News: Department of Anthropology
In a 2016 interview with CNN, Anthony Scaramucci — President Donald Trump's new White House communications director — said that Earth, as well as human history, is just 5,500 years old. But ample evidence exists to prove that the world has been around for much, much longer.
A sound night’s sleep grows more elusive as people get older, but what some call insomnia may actually be an age-old survival mechanism.

Trouble sleeping is a common complaint among older folks, but what if their insomnia traces back to prehistoric times when Grandma and Grandpa were in charge of keeping the cave safe at night?
If your sleep is getting worse with age, evolution might be to blame. A study recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that humans' age-specific sleep patterns may have evolved to protect mixed-age groups from potential danger in the night. And in this scenario, the elderly members of these groups may have drawn the short straw—their restless sleep made them perfect for the night watch.

You may not look forward to sleeping less as you get older. But maybe it wouldn’t seem as bad if you knew it once played an important role in human survival.

Poor sleep is often regarded as a modern affliction linked to our sedentary lifestyles, electric lighting and smartphones on the bedside table.
I stared at the crimson-colored organ sealed in industrial-strength Tupperware and labeled with the international symbol for biohazard.

Roast it, fry it, steam it, drink it, pill-pop it — each of these is one of the various methods a small minority of women may choose if she has decided to consume her placenta after birth. While some women opt for placenta lasagna, placenta chili or placenta-topped pizza, most go with encapsulation, in which the placenta is dehydrated, pulverized and then consumed in pill capsules. The process typically costs around $200 to $350.
Hey new moms, don't put down that can of spinach just yet. A research team led by UNLV medical anthropologists found that eating encapsulated human placenta, a practice known as placentophagy, may not be as good a source of dietary iron for postpartum mothers as proponents suggest.
I know what you're thinking; if it's good enough for Kim Kardashian-West it's good enough for me, right? After Kardashian-West gave birth to son Saint in 2015, she reportedly had her placenta freeze-dried into pill form to combat possible iron deficiency. Well, a new study has found that eating placenta has no iron benefit.
For years now, there has been a trend of women eating their placentas after giving birth. Fans of the practice (known as placentophagia because “phagia” is the sound you make when you vomit) claim that it can prevent post-partum depression, increase milk production, and provide a source of nutrition for new mothers. A new study from UNLV, however, claims that when it comes to iron, women receive no benefit from eating their placentas.

Eating placenta isn’t common among women who have just given birth, but the practice is growing. Advocates say it reduces pain, increases energy levels and milk production, and generally eases recovery.