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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Have humans reached the end of evolution? Not under these 3 scenarios
Is natural selection still a major force in human evolution? Or have vaccines, water purification, modern medical care and other ...
DNA from museum artifacts could help solve ancient mysteries—but there’s a risk
To fill some of the gaps in our understanding of aurochs evolution, [paleogenomics researcher Mikkel] Sinding looks for genetic clues ...
WTF? Did the rise of agriculture—and soft foods—give us the ability to drop F bombs?
How the foods we eat influence the sounds our languages develop ...
Evolutionary riddle: Why humans have breasts?
Over the years, researchers have proposed a number of explanations for human breasts. Some claimed evolution favored “pendulous” breasts — as scientists ...
‘Second genesis’: Assessing the evidence for life on Mars
Today, the burning question isn’t whether Mars might once have been habitable – at various times in its distant past, ...
What can we learn from Mendel’s peas, onions and GM tomatoes?
A quick look at Gregor Mendel's groundbreaking peas, 'junk' DNA and the first GMO crop ...
How languages and genetics explain our origins and evolution
The twists and turns of both language and genetics offer stunning insights into human history ...
‘Good Reasons for Bad Feelings’: Understanding evolution’s role in anxiety, depression and making us human
[In] the thought-provoking Good Reasons for Bad Feelings, [evolutionary] psychiatrist Randolph Nesse offers insights that radically reframe psychiatric conditions. In his ...
Do these fossilized ‘tracks’ mean life gained mobility 600 million years earlier than we thought?
On February 11, Abderrazak El Albani, a sedimentologist at the University of Poitiers in France, published a study in Proceedings of the National ...
Who were the Denisovans? This Siberian cave could offer answers
Samantha Brown didn’t have high hopes when she opened the ziplock bag containing some 700 shards of bone. It would ...
Why human evolution is far from over—and may be speeding up
Global studies of human DNA show that natural selection continues to change who we are ...
Far from ape-like: Neanderthals walked upright, just like us
Neanderthals walked with an upright posture just like modern humans, according to a new analysis. Over the years, reconstructions of ancient ...
What spider genetics can tell us about evolutionary relationships and cut-throat competition
What’s the most famous — or even the most infamous — spider in the world? The tarantula? The black widow? ...
Were Neanderthals doomed by their inbreeding?
Mounting evidence suggests Neanderthals also had a habit of inbreeding, or conceiving with close relatives. Several studies have now reported ...
Glowing squid’s genome sheds light on how animals and microbes evolve to work together
Every evening, nocturnal Hawaiian bobtail squids ... emerge from their burrows in shallow waters of the Pacific to hunt for ...
Purposeful evolution: Can humanity create its own ‘prosperous’ future?
[H]ow, exactly, do we create a “good” future? What does such a future look like to begin with? In Future Consciousness: ...
‘Humble beginnings’: Newly discovered T. rex ancestor was quite small
A new dinosaur shows that even Tyrannosaurus rex had humble beginnings. Dubbed Moros intrepidus, or “the harbinger of doom,” the new species is one of ...
Keen sense of smell? You’re probably good at not getting lost, study suggests
Watch a bacterium chase down the source of an enticing molecular trail using chemo-taxis, and it’s clear that its sensory ...
Viewpoint: What is ‘consciousness’ and what role does it play in evolution?
One of the biggest challenges in evolutionary science is to explain the evolution of consciousness. While that is widely recognized, ...
Could this fossilized footprint belong to one of the last Neanderthals ‘ever to walk the Earth’?
Researchers have discovered an array of fossilized footprints in an ancient sand dune in Gibraltar, the small British territory on ...
Grasses that genetically modify themselves could help prevent spread of GMOs in nature
Scientists have discovered that grasses are able to short cut evolution by taking genes from their neighbors. The findings suggest ...
Is gender identity fluid or fixed? What we know about other animals might help inform the debate.
Distinguishing between sex and gender is a vital first step in understanding gender identity ...
Ancient African DNA reveals insights before slavery, colonialism
[B]ones between 5,000 and 15,000 years old — surrounding the start of the Holocene, our current geologic epoch — can ...
Podcast: Celebrating Charles Darwin’s 210th birthday
[February 12 was] Darwin Day. Charles Darwin was born 210 years ago … . Ten years ago I went to a ...
Ancient DNA study reveals South America’s first peoples
A cross-border, multi-disciplinary study has revealed new insights into the story of the earliest migrants into South America. Using powerful ...
Pew survey exposes Americans’ complicated views on evolution and religion
Most biologists and other scientists contend that evolutionary theory convincingly explains the origins and development of life on Earth. So ...
Is love a mystery of the heart? Or hard-wired in our genes?
Scientists have identified a number of genetic markers that 'code' humans for attraction--genes for intelligence, subtle human body odors, height ...
