Editor's note

Neanderthals have long been thought of as a bit dumb and brutish. But scientists are increasingly learning that this extinct human relative was a lot more capable than previously thought. New research shows that Neanderthals even produced art. Alistair Pike and Chris Standish explain how they discovered that the world’s oldest cave paintings were created by Neanderthals – and what this means for our understanding of human evolution.

Could you write an anarchist language – and if you did, would it affect the politics of those who spoke it? This was a question explored by Ursula le Guin in her 1974 sci-fi novel The Dispossessed. Martin Edwardes, who created a version of Pravic, le Guin’s anarchist language, tried to teach it to some real people and writes about what happened here.

In Nigeria, a long-running conflict between Christian farmers and nomadic Muslim herdsmen killed 168 people last month. But this isn’t really an ethnic or religious struggle, says Olalekan Adekola – it’s a resource conflict sparked by desertification and Lake Chad drying up.

Miriam Frankel

Science Editor

Top story

Neanderthal art. P. Saura

How we discovered that Neanderthals could make art

Chris Standish, University of Southampton; Alistair Pike, University of Southampton

Neanderthals, rather than modern humans, created the world's oldest cave paintings.

Barandash Karandashich

The ban on human cloning is stupid – Brexit is UK's chance to get rid of it

Hugh McLachlan, Glasgow Caledonian University

What might first seem unarguable starts to look shaky when you bring twins into the equation.

roseshutterstock25 / shutterstock

Nigeria's conflict is a result of environmental devastation across West Africa

Olalekan Adekola, York St John University

Talk of ethnic and religious conflict between Muslim Fulani herders and local Christian farmers misses the full picture – this is about resources.

Environment + Energy

Science + Technology

Arts + Culture

Health + Medicine

  • The dark side of daydreaming

    Robin Bailey, University of Central Lancashire

    Daydreaming may seem like a fun, harmless way to pass time, but evidence suggests that it could be bad for your mental health.

Business + Economy

Politics + Society

Education

 

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