Press Announcements

Oldest Evidence of Stone Tool Production Discovered in Ethiopia

Associate Professor of Anthropology David Braun joined an archaeological team in Ethiopia that discovered the oldest evidence of stone tool production, dating back more than 2.58 million years. The excavation took several years before the researchers exposed a layer of animal bones and hundreds of pieces of chipped stone representing the earliest evidence of our direct ancestors making and using stone knives.

New Frog Species Discovered in Southern India Biodiversity Hotspot

S.P. Vijayakumar, a postdoctoral scientist in biology, led a team of researchers on an expedition to  isolated hills in Southern India where they discovered a new, ancient lineage of frogs. With a group of scientists that included R. Alexander Pyron, the Robert F. Griggs Associate Professor of Biology, Vijayakumar located the new species—Astrobatrachus kurichiyana, or the “Starry Dwarf Frog”—on a forest floor within the remote Western Ghats mountain range. The discovery could solve evolutionary questions in one of the world’s major biodiversity hotspots.

Rare Fossils Reveal Bird-Like Dinosaur Clues

James Clark, the Ronald Weintraub Professor of Biology, led an international team of researchers who discovered a new bird-like species of dinosaur called Xiyunykus pengi during an expedition to Xinjiang, China. The discovery fills in a missing evolutionary link for an enigmatic group of dinosaurs that share many characteristics with birds, including bird-like skulls and many small teeth instead of the large, sharp teeth seen in other dinosaurs.

Corcoran Acquires Historic Art Trove

The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design acquired hundreds of sculptures, paintings and photographs from the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s permanent collection, laying the foundation for an estimable research collection that will be accessible to Corcoran students as well as faculty, staff and the public. The 18 paintings, 642 photographs, 93 prints and 15 sculptures gifted to the Corcoran School include works by Ansel Adams, Eugene Delacroix, Sally Mann, Mary Ellen Mark and William Wegman.

Researchers Discover Evidence of Technology and Behaviors Linked to Emergence of Human Species

Professor of Anthropology Alison Brooks led a team of international collaborators, including scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, that discovered evidence of early humans in East Africa using coloring materials and obtaining a range of raw materials from distant sources— activities which imply the existence of social networks—about 320,000 years ago, much earlier than previously thought.

Astrophysicists Identify 'Monumental' Kilonova Blast

Four Columbian College astrophysicists are part of a global group of scientists who collaborated to identify and study the first confirmed observation of two merging neutron stars, a so-called kilonova. The existence of a kilonova—an explosive event roughly 1,000 times brighter than a nova—had long been suggested but was never definitively witnessed until now.

Early Drafts of a Classic Work of Islamic Thought Discovered

GW Assistant Professor of History Joel Blecher recently discovered the new manuscripts of two previously unknown versions of “Fath al-Bari,” a classic work that shaped the way Sunni Muslims understand Muhammad’s sayings and practices. Dr. Blecher visited the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul in 2014 to examine a database of digitized manuscripts that can only be accessed in person, with the goal of learning more about how medieval Muslims interpreted Muhammad’s sayings and practices, called hadith. The manuscripts reveal how medieval Islamic scholars drafted and revised their understanding of Muhammad’s teachings to the early Muslim community.