Kennewick Man Goes Home: More than 9,000 years after his death and 20 years after being unearthed along the banks of the Columbia River, the skeletal remains of the so-called Kennewick Man will be reburied in a ceremony facilitated by five Pacific Northwestern Native American tribes. As one of the most complete skeletons of its age ever discovered in North America, scientists heralded Kennewick Man as a major find with the potential to inform the debate over the origins and timing of human arrival in North America. But as many Native Americans considered testing of the bones to be disrespectful, the discovery instead became the linchpin of a debate that pitted differing prehistory interpretations against each other and prompted reflection on a legacy of racism in anthropology. It also became a significant test case for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Time has more on this important story here.

More on Greenpeace and UW Fisheries Researchers: Because last week’s post on Greenpeace and its complaint against UW fisheries scientists has been generating some discussion, I thought I’d follow up this week with additional context on two points.

First, readers should consider Greenpeace’s public records request for UW professor Trevor Branch’s funding in light of the facts that (a) Branch already makes this information freely available online and has never had financial support from the industry, (b) the request itself demanded disclosure of all funding sources dating back to 1976, when Branch was only 12 years old, and (c) it came after Branch defended his colleague Ray Hilborn online and to the press. Branch, whose research spans everything from the status of marine fisheries to trends in citations, says that since Greenpeace can’t critique his science, “They are trying to find any way to attack me.”

Second, as several readers were wondering why scientists might not view disclosure of all industry funding as imperative, I thought I’d pass on a link to a post by ecologist Andrew Thaler for the blog Southern Fried Science that outlines some of the arguments. Among Thaler’s claims: “The idea scientists should declare every source of funding over the history of their career on every scientific paper is impractical and wholly unnecessary in a connected world where anyone can effortlessly access a researcher’s CV.” Be sure to read the ensuing comments.

A Small Ray of Hope for Tumor-Ridden Marsupial Predators: After the death of the last remaining thylacine in 1936, the bulldog-sized Tasmanian devil assumed the dubious honor of being the world’s largest surviving marsupial predator—dubious because large marsupial predators haven’t cohabitated well with Homo sapiens in the past. Sadly, following the discovery of a contagious facial tumor in 1996, the species has seemed doomed for extinction even without our help. Spread by biting, the devil facial tumor disease has resulted in nearly 100 percent mortality in infected populations and dropped overall devil numbers by 70 percent. This rapid spiral is partly due to the extremely limited genetic diversity among Tasmanian devils: Without sufficient standing genetic variation in a species, it’s unlikely any individual will carry copies of genes to confer resistance to a given disease.

But now, in a rare spot of good news for the animals, biologists have discovered a previously unknown population of devils containing genetic diversity absent from those in other regions. The find raises the potential for a captive breeding program to boost the species’ resilience, and, just maybe, save them.

Science Event of the Week: It’s Family Science Weekend at the Seattle Aquarium from Saturday, May 28, to Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day). Come to get your kids out of the house, and stay for the “octopus meet-and-greets.”