Ancestry & Evolution
The desire to understand our origins is primal. By examining our DNA over successive generations through the evolutionary process of inherited characteristics of human and animal populations–as well as from those species from which humans share a common ancestry–we can decipher our individual and collective past and develop medical innovations for the future.
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Here’s how curly hair helped early humans survive
Tightly coiled locks protected our ancestors against the burning sun, scientists have revealed ...
Brains and sex: There are developmental, cognitive and maturation differences between boys and girls
Do differences in cognition reflect differences in brain connectivity between boys and girls in late childhood? ...
Do you find horses flighty, anxious or affable? Dozens of genes shape equine personalities — and are linked to traits in humans
Eighteen potential personality-related genes in horses have been identified by researchers in Japan. The efforts of Tamu Yokomori and his ...
‘Will you have sex with me?’ How evolution has shaped differences between male and female desire
Human sexual psychology evolved to cope with ancestral adaptive problems over millions of years. Males and females face different evolutionary ...
68% decline in animal populations? Journalists misreport Living Planet Index study. Here are the facts
The Living Planet Index is the biodiversity metric that always claims the headlines. It’s often misinterpreted. How should we understand ...
Sudan connection: Are Ethiopian Jews descendants of the ancient Israelites?
A broad suite of genetic and historical evidence points to an ancient Jewish heritage for Ethiopian Jews, contradicting established theory ...
Dog breeds do not always determine behavior: Inside the quest to recategorize dog lineages
Genetic studies of dogs have often found that breed does not determine a dog's behavior. New research suggests lineages, not ...
Evolution of expression: Why is the ability to read faces so important to humans?
Among the many distinctive traits of humans istheir ability to communicate with each other. While the most readily apparent form ...
Can we know for sure COVID’s origins? Why is Omicron so persistent? Knowing how evolution works provides guidance
The latest phrase borrowed from biology in COVID conversations is convergent evolution. It refers to pairs of unrelated species that ...
Clues to possible new treatments for tuberculosis: Genetic mutation that leads to Gaucher disease may protect Ashkenazi Jews from TB
In research published February 6 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Cambridge scientists – with colleagues in ...
Johann Gregor Mendel: The victory of statistics over human imagination
In 2022, we celebrated 200 years since the birth of Johann Gregor Mendel. Although his contributions to science went unrecognized ...
How cats got their stripes: The mystery of color patterns in mammals
In 1902’s Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling famously explained how the leopard got his spots in what would today be deemed an ...
Psychologist Steven Pinker: ‘Language is a window to the human mind’
Language reveals that our long-term memory storage is sizable, but that we mostly remember in abstractions. It also shows that ...
‘The level of infrastructure is mind-boggling’: Laser mapping reveals sprawling Mayan ruins in Guatemala dating back 2,000 years
Vast Maya kingdom is revealed in Guatemalan jungle: Archaeologists identify a sprawling network of ancient ruins using laser mapping technology ...
HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ under the microscope: Could a zombie fungus really infect humans?
The hit HBO series "The Last Of Us" describes a post-pandemic world devastated by a mass outbreak of a "zombie ...
How humans adapt: Research on 1,000 ancient genomes reveals how genetic variants swept through populations
Humans may be just as vulnerable to environmental change as other animals, according to our new research analysing genetic data ...
‘Genealogy for all humanity’: What does the world’s most comprehensive family tree tell us about our 27 million ancestors?
Ancestry has become a pretty mainstream passion, with tens of thousands of people spending their spare time tracing family lines ...
Neanderthals R Us: An exploration of ‘sensitive genetics’
The differences between us and our forebears always fired the imagination. New research shows that these ancient 'extinct' folks are ...
Natural crops untouched by human tinkering? Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts are genetically-altered variants of the Brassica family
The cruciferous vegetable family, also known as the Brassicaceae or Cruciferae family, originally hails from the Mediterranean and Central Asia ...
‘Love hormone’ in doubt? Research on monogamous prairie voles raises doubts about oxytocin’s role in social bonding
For 40 years, oxytocin has been believed to be the ‘love hormone’ or the ‘cuddle hormone’ which inspires love and ...
Here is how agriculture has evolved over the centuries… and how the science of farming continues to change
Crop production evolved independently in several regions of the world. However, historians believe the first instance of agriculture took place ...
‘Sleep is a need, but it’s also a ritual’: Exploring the scientific mystery of snoozing
Why do living things sleep? “Ask researchers this question, and listen as, like clockwork, a sense of awe and frustration ...
8 billion milestone: Here’s the story of how Homo sapiens came to rule the earth
November 15 2022 marks a milestone for our species, as the global population hits 8 billion. Just 70 years ago, ...
Challenging ‘blank slate’ theories: Most evolutionary researchers agree genes play outsized role in shaping human behavior
Research in evolutionary psychology attracts considerable attention, from both enthusiasts and critics. Evolutionary researchers devote substantial effort to correcting misperceptions ...
How Neanderthals thrived hunting prehistoric elephants
Neanderthals may have lived in larger groups than previously believed, hunting massive elephants that were up to three times bigger ...
No extinct species has yet been brought back to life. Not discouraged, Colossal Biosciences adds the Dodo to its list of de-extinction targets
Genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences said [January 31] that it will try to resurrect the extinct dodo bird, and it’s ...
Have any of Earth’s creatures stopped evolving?
Some of the planet's more bizarre creatures have prompted some observers to suggest that evolution, on occasion, is stopped in ...
