Michael Marshall
New Scientist
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Michael:
The Earth Transformed review: The untold history of humans and climate
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 → Read More
Early hominin Paranthropus may have used sophisticated stone tools
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 → Read More
Largest ever animal may have been Triassic ichthyosaur super-predator
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 → Read More
Why are children catching so many illnesses this winter?
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 → Read More
DNA from 2 million years ago is the oldest ever recovered
DNA bound to mineral particles in ancient sediment reveals that north Greenland once had spruce forests populated by hares, reindeer and even mastodons → Read More
What Earth’s mysterious infancy tells us about the origins of life
Redrawing the geological timeline of Earth’s first billion years is casting new light on whether life emerged on land or in the oceans → Read More
When did humans start making art and were Neanderthals artists too?
On a visit to see ancient cave art in Spain, Michael Marshall explores why it's so hard to calculate the age of early human artworks and whether other hominins might also have created art. → Read More
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals review: how mammals found their way
The story of the emergence of mammals is told with elan in a clear, engaging book – with a nasty sting in the tale for us humans → Read More
Buried review: Did the Anglo-Saxons really invade Britain?
Who were the Anglo-Saxons? Biological anthropologist Alice Roberts's informed, sophisticated new take digs deep to re-examine their true origins → Read More
Transformer review: Could Krebs cycle play a part in consciousness?
Biologist Nick Lane has fun rethinking a key biochemical process called the Krebs cycle in his new book, even arguing for a role in consciousness. But it's not for the faint-hearted → Read More
A small Irish community survived a millennium of plagues and famines
Analysis of pollen preserved in peat at Slieveanorra in the Antrim hills reveals the resilience of a rural community through environmental changes → Read More
People visited Stonehenge site thousands of years before it was built
Archaeological work at Blick Mead, a site near Stonehenge, reveals that people were visiting the site thousands of years before the monument was built → Read More
Ancient Chilean tsunami scared local people away for 1000 years
A tsunami 3800 years ago devastated the coastline of Chile and encouraged hunter-gatherers to move inland, where they stayed for the next 1000 years → Read More
Zero-covid strategies are being ditched, but they were the best option
Several countries are now abandoning their goal of reducing the coronavirus's spread as much as possible, but the evidence shows this was the best route to have taken, says Michael Marshall → Read More
A 6-metre-long crocodile relative lived in China during the Bronze Age
A large species of gharial, an animal closely related to crocodiles, roamed China 3000 years ago, but was probably driven extinct by humans → Read More
Burst of animal evolution altered chemical make-up of Earth's mantle
The Cambrian explosion 500 million years ago saw a huge variety of animals evolve – and also led to carbon being buried in the seabed and ultimately carried into the planet’s mantle → Read More
We're closing in on the causes of long covid and possible treatments
Medicines for long covid will probably be with us within a year, as the mechanisms behind the disease are finally starting to be understood → Read More
Origin review: A genetic history of the Americas
A new book by geneticist Jennifer Raff updates our understanding of the first Americans, and confronts the crimes of the past → Read More
Ancient Andean leaders may have mixed hallucinogen with their beer
A concoction of vilca seeds and fermented alcohol may have provided a mild hallucinogenic experience, enabling Wari leaders in South America to bond with their people → Read More
Ancient humans may have started hunting 2 million years ago
Cut marks on animal bones suggest ancient hominins butchered them for their meat, and that they were first on the scene instead of having to scavenge from carnivores like big cats → Read More