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Human Evolution
A 1.5-million-year-old hominin bone shows signs that the victim was eaten by lions — and humans.
The structure is fully developed in humans, partially developed in chimps, and completely absent in Old World monkeys.
Metaphors like the Great Chain of Being can lead people to misunderstand evolution and humanity’s place in the web of life.
In polarized times, our shared cellular origin can unite us in solidarity and awe — from the embryonic scale to the grandest cosmic perspective.
There were at least eight other human species, some of whom existed for far longer than we have. Who were they?
From the laying out of the body plan to the organization and functioning of our nervous system, cells rule gene expression and make us who and what we are.
Modern memory athletes use this ancient technique to memorize thousands of digits of pi.
In numerous cultures worldwide, women were just as involved in bringing home the prehistoric bacon as their male counterparts.
There's an entire Universe out there. So, with all that space, all those planets, and all those chances at life, why do we all live here?
Genetic profiles of many dog breeds appear as if siblings mated.
The fear of deep bodies of water may be evolutionarily ingrained.
On the menu: stews, cheese, and fermented drinks.
If we manage to avoid a large catastrophe, we are living at the early beginnings of human history.
Evolutionary pressures drove the formation of tribes who encoded their values in myths and symbols. Was this cooperation cursed?
7mins
Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Nurse defines the 5 core principles of life.
Some say that the Sun is a green-yellow color, but our human eyes see it as white, or yellow-to-red during sunset. What color is it really?
The chances that a newborn survives childhood have increased from 50% to 96% globally.
4mins
Forget AI. Gene editing is still our most powerful — and dangerous — technology.
Nobody knows where the word "penguin" comes from.
Left-handed humans were likelier to get stabbed in the heart.
How humans came to feel comfortable among strangers, like those in a café, is an under-explored mystery.
John Templeton Foundation
4mins
People say we are better off than ever. Are they right?
Science isn't synonymous with technology; it's about a way of thinking.
Most male mammals have little or nothing to do with their kids. Why is our own species different?
Brian C. Muraresku, New York Times best-selling author of "The Immortality Key," unpacks ancient evidence for the widespread ritual use of psychoactive plants.
Researchers discovered something modern humans had never before seen—a flashy Neanderthal horn collection.
A new discovery pushes back the origin of these technologies by about 40,000 years.
7mins
Find food, have sex, not die. That’s pretty much all we need to do — but why do we make it so complicated?