The partial skeleton of a three year old child, uncovered in central Alaska, dates back to 11,500 years ago. It's one of the oldest human remains found in North America.
Large amounts of oxygen released by ocean plankton made breathable atmosphere on Earth for the first time in history. This happened about 500 million years ago.
Ancient human populations lived on islands rife with natural disasters. From their early settlements, we're learning about human endurance in a difficult and uncertain world.
Shireen Gonzaga is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about natural history. She is also a technical editor at an astronomical observatory where she works on documentation for astronomers.