Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.

The cradle of humankind was wider than we thought (The New Yorker)
by Alan Burdick
Researchers recently found the most ancient human remains ever—and not where scientists would have expected. The discovery suggests that homo sapiens emerged not just in East Africa but all across the continent.

A rat eviction that backfired (Atlas Obscura)
by Shay Maunz
In 1902, the French colonial government in Vietnam was faced with a sewer system full of rats. When it put a bounty on the rodents’ tails, historians tell us, things didn’t go as planned.

Reviving the Confederate flag (Washington Post)
by Logan Strother, Thomas Ogorzalek, and Spencer Piston
For decades after the Civil War, southerners rarely displayed the Confederate battle flag. A new paper explains how that changed.

The trouble with mammograms (Wired)
by Megan Molteni
In recent decades, doctors have gotten really good at detecting tumors in patients’ breasts. The problem? According to a new study, the ones they’re most likely to detect are the ones least likely to become life-threatening.

The honest truth about loyalty (Vox)
By Julia Belluz and Brian Resnick
If you ask a subordinate for loyalty, will you get it? Psychologists weigh in on the dynamics behind President Trump and James Comey’s conversations.

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