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Human Evolution
Who's for dinner?
Cooperation was the first technology.
An increase in genetic regulatory elements explains how modern humans evolved bigger brains than other hominins.
We got lucky with our evolutionary history.
Tracing the origin and development of jaws — and other anatomical features that humans share — sheds some light on how we came to be.
The same brain differences that contribute to left-handedness also contribute to psychotic disorders. But there's a bright side.
There were many other species of human on the planet. Svante Pääbo discovered one of them.
The researchers and patients are excited to see if color vision will develop over time.
From politics to culture, we blame “tribalism” for humanity’s problems. This explanation is entirely wrong.
John Templeton Foundation
Just as human beings diversified so that people in Asia look different from people in Europe, so too did their microbiomes.
Was our distant ancestor a biped or not – i.e., human or not human?
One tiny change might have made a huge difference.
Despite the fact that both species shared a similarly large neocortex, scientists still have many questions about how closely the function of their brains resembled our own.
Many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too.
Thanks to genetics and improving nutrition, denizens of the Western Balkans have surpassed the Dutch in height.
Nietzsche both wished he was as stupid as a cow so he wouldn’t have to contemplate existence, and pitied cows for being so stupid that they couldn’t contemplate existence.
While becoming a monk is an evolutionary dead end for the individual, celibacy reaps benefits for the group as a whole.
Not too hot, not too cold...
More humans are being born with a third arm artery, an example of microevolution happening right before our eyes.
Fossils of Australopithecus in a South African cave are one million years older than previously thought. This challenges the consensus that humans first evolved in East Africa.
More than 90% of human faces are home to mites that live in our skin pores. These friendly guests might be merging with us.
Humans are already so integrated with technology that the dream of transhumanism is a reality. Can we handle what comes next?
The chemistry of cooking over an open flame.
The simulation gave researchers some of the first concrete data linking climate change to human evolution and speciation.
Instead of a mental illness, some research suggests that psychopathy — in moderation — is a reasonable life strategy.
Archaic humans ventured into Eurasia in waves, not always successfully. They may have started their journey in North Africa or West Asia.
Many atheists think of themselves as intellectually gifted individuals, guiding humanity on the path of reason. Scientific data shows otherwise.
John Templeton Foundation
The Human Genome Project put together 92% of our DNA blueprint. Here's what it took to complete the rest.