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Human Evolution
A big open question in 21st-century science is how life began here on Earth. The metabolism-first scenario just might be the best one.
The unanswered questions about sex, love, and pregnancy in space could shape the future of humanity more than we think.
Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?
In this excerpt from "When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...," Steven Pinker examines how crying may have evolved as part of a suite of emotional expressions aimed at strengthening social bonds.
In this excerpt from "The Story of CO2," Peter Brennan explains how changes in the Earth's ecosystem led to fire, which in turn led our ancestors to become the "fire apes."
In “The Secret History of Denisovans,” Silvana Condemi and François Savatier trace the story of our mysterious hominin ancestor.
In "The Headache," Tom Zeller Jr. explores one of the human brain's most enduring, and painful, enigmas.
After more than a million years of separation, two branches of humanity reunited around 300,000 years ago, suggests new research.
"The stars made our minds, and now our minds look back."
Science writer Matt Ridley joins us to discuss how “Darwin’s strangest idea” makes us all a bit feather-brained (in a good way).
In his book, "Birds, Sex and Beauty," Matt Ridley explores why learning isn't always nature versus nurture.
These books helped build the empirical case that life's origins differ from those described in myths and legends.
New research challenges old assumptions about the evolution of the human brain.
“Could you create a god?” Nietzsche's titular character asks in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."
When it comes to behavior, genetics may play a larger role than you think.
From tribal hunts to Stonehenge and into the modern day, the peer instinct helps humans coordinate their efforts and learning.
The controversial theory about magic mushrooms and human evolution gets a much-needed update.
Early modern humans interbred with Neanderthals — and scientists recently pinpointed a key site of contact.
From hunter-gathers to desk jockeys, we work best when short, intense sessions are followed by lighter fare.
Religion is a product of, and not a source of, our evolutionary moral dispositions.
Slowing growth and limiting development isn’t living in harmony with nature—it is surrendering in a battle.
An analysis of Indonesian cave paintings is reframing the history of human art, though whether the paintings really were created by human hands remains an open question.
The true story of the shot that "reverberated through England" when science collided head-on with religion.
For most of human history, babies probably picked up language by overhearing.
On a cosmic scale, our existence seems insignificant and inconsequential. But from another perspective, humans are completely remarkable.
"Hardcore History" host Dan Carlin recently spoke with Big Think about the history of humanity's drive to create — and whether or not we can control it.
Although human beings arrived on Earth just ~300,000 years ago, we've transformed the entire planet completely. Here's how we did it.
Despite billions of years of life on Earth, humans first arose only ~300,000 years ago. It took all that time to make our arrival possible.
Although mammals may be the dominant form of life today, we're relative newcomers on planet Earth. Here's our place in natural history.
During the industrial era the cost of artificial light fell off a cliff — and the road to illumination was paved with ingenuity and slaughter.