Evolution
- Science & Society
Longer gaps between births can halve infant deaths in developing nations
Leaving more time between successive pregnancies matters for infant survival, but only in less-developed countries.
- Anthropology
A Greek skull may belong to the oldest human found outside of Africa
Humans possibly reached southeastern Europe by 210,000 years ago.
- Genetics
DNA reveals a European Neandertal lineage that lasted 80,000 years
Ancient DNA from cave fossils in Belgium and Germany shows an unbroken genetic line of the extinct hominids emerged at least 120,000 years ago.
- Science & Society
Lost wallets are more likely to be returned if they hold cash
Worldwide, return rates of lost wallets goes up as the money inside increases, contradicting the idea that people act in their own self-interest.
- Genetics
DNA reveals ancient Siberians who set the stage for the first Americans
A previously unknown population of Ice Age people who traveled across Beringia was discovered in Russia.
- Archaeology
Cave debris may be the oldest known example of people eating starch
Charred material found in South Africa puts energy-rich roots and tubers on Stone Age menus, long before farming began.
- Anthropology
Africa’s first herders spread pastoralism by mating with foragers
DNA unveils long-ago hookups between early pastoralists and native hunter-gatherers in Africa.
- Anthropology
Fossil teeth push the human-Neandertal split back to about 1 million years ago
A study of fossilized teeth shifts the age of the last common ancestor between Neandertals and humans.
- Anthropology
A jawbone shows Denisovans lived on the Tibetan Plateau long before humans
A Denisovan jaw is the earliest evidence of hominids on the Tibetan Plateau, and the first fossil outside of Siberia from the mysterious human lineage.
- Anthropology
A new hominid species has been found in a Philippine cave, fossils suggest
Cave fossils found in the Philippines come from a newly discovered member of the human lineage, researchers say.
- Anthropology
The first known fossil of a Denisovan skull has been found in a Siberian cave
A new fossil and evidence that the hominids interbred with humans as recently as 15,000 years ago only add to Denisovans’ mystery.
- Humans
The rise of farming altered our bite and changed how people talk
Eating soft, processed foods refashioned adults' jaws, which added “f” and “v” sounds to speech and changed languages worldwide, a study finds.
