Burning Man highlights the primordial human need for ritual

At the end of each summer, hordes of people flock to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to erect a makeshift city the size of the Italian town of Pisa. They call it Black Rock City. A few days later, they will burn it to the ...

Female monkeys with female friends live longer

Female white-faced capuchin monkeys living in the tropical dry forests of northwestern Costa Rica may have figured out the secret to a longer life—having fellow females as friends.

Examining the colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük

An international team with participation of the University of Bern provides new insights about how the inhabitants of the "oldest city in the world" in Çatalhöyük (Turkey) buried their dead. Their bones were partially ...

Disaster rituals evolve from speeches and words to actions

Whether it's the tsunami in Japan, the MH17, Bali bombings, Breivik's massacre, or corona, rituals have been devised for disasters worldwide since time immemorial to commemorate the victims. Martin Hoondert, of the Tilburg ...

Cuban animal lovers hope new law changes attitudes

Havana's streets teem with abandoned animals and are littered with carcasses of chickens sacrificed in religious rituals, while, behind closed doors, dogs are thrown into illegal deadly fights.

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