Biological Anthropology

Biological Anthropology

Top-down view of assorted wild mushrooms arranged in a circle with beige and orange cutout shapes on a black background.
Well before plants and animals, there were fungi.
A collection of differently colored skull replicas arranged in three rows on a black background.
New research challenges old assumptions about the evolution of the human brain.
Green and yellow abstract scientific illustration depicting molecular structures interconnected with arrows, set against a dark background.
It's deceptively tricky to distinguish living systems from non-living systems. Physics may be key to solving the problem.
The discovery suggests that the "Boring Billion" period of evolution on Earth wasn't so boring after all.
A man in a blue shirt is holding his neck in front of a laptop, possibly experiencing inflammation.
Western societies seem to be getting inflammation achingly wrong.
An image of a moon with lava on it.
Looking back on our planet's early history offers a new (and less crazy) meaning for the idea of a "flat Earth."
A wizard owl soars over an orange background.
The space‑specific neurons in the owl’s specialized auditory brain can do advanced math.
An aztec calendar on a white background.
The answer largely centers on crops and cows.
a man sitting on the bow of a sailboat.
Biological age is a better health indicator than the number of years you’ve lived, but it’s tricky to measure.
If aliens are driven mostly by biological imperatives, humanity could be in big trouble if we ever meet technologically advanced beings.
Antibodies can start forming in intestines over 10 years before symptoms arise.
The researchers suggest that their results demonstrate intelligence in silico.
Tracing the origin and development of jaws — and other anatomical features that humans share — sheds some light on how we came to be.  
evolution
Organisms respond in similar ways to similar circumstances.
More humans are being born with a third arm artery, an example of microevolution happening right before our eyes.
biological age
Your old-fashioned chronological age is just a number. Your biological age can tell you how healthy you really are.
big bacteria
A gigantic bacterium evolved differently than fundamental models of biology would have predicted. Simply put, these bacteria shouldn't exist.
Rising Star cave
Fittingly, the skull was found in the Rising Star cave of South Africa, itself located at a site known to UNESCO as the Cradle of Mankind.
A composite image juxtaposing a celestial body with a cratered surface alongside an abstract representation of a human face with distorted features.
We’re a long way from the beginnings of life on Earth. Here’s the key to how we got there. The Universe was already two-thirds of its present age by the time […]
Who should sit atop the iron throne? Let your DNA decide. Here on Earth, we hold one important truth to be self-evident above all others: that all humans are created equal. […]