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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AI will influence human evolution. Here’s how
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more common and sophisticated, its effects on human lives and societies raises new questions. A ...
Human consciousness: How and why it evolved?
Why did the experience of consciousness evolve from our underlying brain physiology? Despite being a vibrant area of neuroscience, current ...
A.L. 288-1, better known as Lucy, was unearthed 50 years ago. Here is how a pile of bones reshaped our knowledge of human evolution
In 1974, researchers unearthed fossil AL 288-1, more commonly known as “Lucy”, in a 3.2-million-year-old deposit in the Hadar region of ...
The queasy possibility that humans and AI could ‘evolve’ in tandem
For the sake of engaging in a wholehearted discussion, assume that AI is evolving.... We then have these two ideas ...
If humanity goes extinct, this is the likeliest creature to ascend and become the next civilization builder
Professor Tim Coulson, a leading zoologist and biologist at the University of Oxford, suggested that octopuses could evolve into the ...
Will 23andMe survive after the ancestral data leak fiasco?
The genetic testing firm 23andMe said on Monday it would cut about 40%, or 200 employees, from its workforce and ...
Viewpoint: The story of RP11, whose DNA mostly defines the first genetic blueprint of humanity
It sounds as if the donor knows who he is,” wrote Francis Collins, former director of the then-called National Center for ...
Just in case: If humans near extinction, a 5-D ‘memory crystal’ might revive us
Researchers have encoded the entire human genome onto a “5D memory crystal” in the off chance our species finds itself ...
In the evolutionary race, humans are running the distance
Many experts, such as professor Dan Lieberman, think that humans have evolved to be distance runners – the better to ...
‘Nature’s little alchemist: Microbes and the origin of life
A story about the origins of life in the cosmos starts at Earth’s equator, where Dian Fiantis, a professor of ...
Ancient DNA can be an indicator of your ability to digest carbs
If you’ve ever struggled to reduce your carb intake, ancient DNA might be to blame. It has long been known ...
GLP podcast: Busting myths about seed oils; Can AI solve our loneliness epidemic? Idaho’s incendiary medical consent law for minors
Health influencers often declare that seed oils are driving an epidemic of non-communicable diseases. The science says otherwise. Can we ...
Rethinking the 10,000 year existential overlap of Neanderthals and modern humans
The idea that two different human species, Homo sapiens (us) and Neanderthals, coexisted in Western Eurasia 50,000–40,000 years ago has long captured ...
Brains and risk: The genetics of politics
Elections tend to bring out strong emotions in people. As voters evaluate the candidates, emotions can rise. Political disagreements may ...
Viewpoint: Should doctors stop using ‘race’ when evaluating patients for treatment?
Embedded Bias: Doctors use problematic race-based algorithms to guide care every day. Why are they so hard to change? [Editors ...
Electrostatic ‘thinking’: How insects evolved to navigate the world
For years, biologists have wondered whether bees have [some] grand sense that we lack. The static electricity they accumulate by ...
Why many mathematicians say that ‘the number zero is mankind’s greatest achievement’
From zero sprang the laws of the universe, number theory, and modern mathematics. “Zero is, by many mathematicians, definitely considered ...
Consciousness: More than nothing is going on in the mind of a bees and other animals
In 2022, researchers at the Bee Sensory and Behavioral Ecology Lab at Queen Mary University of London observed bumblebees doing ...
Supercentenarians: What are the limits of human life expectancy?
Life expectancy saw dramatic increases throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, driven by healthier diets, medical advances, and numerous other ...
Perhaps carbohydrates, not meat, provided early humans the energy needed to evolve bigger brains
From crispy French fries to crusty sourdough loaves, carbs are an integral (and delicious) part of the human diet. But why ...
Want to increase the odds of having a boy or a girl? Looking for the genetic underpinnings of sex
Each year, roughly the same numbers of boys and girls are born. But in individual families, some couples have four ...
555 million years ago: Meet Quaestio who scientists believe may have been Earth’s first mobile animal
Paleontologists have revealed the fossilized remains of a curious creature that is not only one of Earth's oldest animals, but ...
‘We’ve not found evidence that Neanderthals wore clothes
Braving the cold weather in Northern Europe required Neanderthals to have robust bodies and a facility for making fire. But did ...
Did Neanderthals go extinct or were they absorbed?
Ever since the first Neanderthal bones were discovered, people have wondered about these ancient hominins. How are they different from ...
Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Geneticists battle over contentious claim
The documentary Columbus DNA His True Origin, broadcast on Spain’s National Holiday suggests that [Christopher Columbus] was not Genoese and ...
Richard Dawkins’ reverie on the twists and turns of evolution is a ‘do not miss’ book
What, do you suppose, is the closest living relative of the hippopotamus? The rhinoceros, perhaps? The pig? In fact, it’s ...
‘The Japanese population isn’t as genetically homogenous as everyone thinks’
By studying the genomes of more than 3,000 people across Japan, researchers have shed light on the population’s complex ancestry ...
