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NEWS ABOUT: human evolution

human evolution stories: 24 news summaries

1 - 20 of 24 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Skull Find Shakes Up Theories on Early Humanity

Remains found in Georgia suggest mankind's evolution had Eurasian chapter

Sep 9, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Theories of human evolution have been thrown into disarray by ancient human remains found in Georgia, the Independent reports. The skulls, unearthed near Tbilisi, are from 1.8 million years ago, 800,000 years before modern humanity's ancestors were believed to have first moved out of Africa. The find, scientists... More »

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origins of humanity • Georgia • skull • human evolution • homo sapiens • hominids • Homo erectus

INTERVIEW

Cooking: What Separates Men From Apes (and Women)

And anthropologically speaking, women are always the cooks

Jul 29, 09 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cooking—not just eating—meat is what prompted human evolution, Richard Wrangham argues in his book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, and he discusses his beliefs—including an opposition to the trend of raw diets—with Salon. “Raw foodists argue quite strongly that it is our... More »

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evolution • cooking • human evolution • human • anthropology • book • raw food • Richard Wrangham

 Apes, Humans Share a Laugh 

Commonalities
show laughter
is pre-human

Jun 4, 09 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - After tickling two dozen apes and several children, scientists have concluded that laughter developed long before humans did. In fact, a common ancestor of both apes and humans probably emitted the first chuckle at least 10 million years ago. The study measuring 800 vocalizations found that all subjects shared the... More »

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apes • human evolution • human • laughter • scientific study

 Staring at 
 Disfigured 
 Faces Is 
 'Instinctive' 

Distorted or frozen features trigger a 'primal response' in viewers, scientists believe

May 26, 09 2:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - The stares people like face transplant patient Connie Culp deal with are likely the result of instinct rather than insensitivity, Wired reports. Scientists believe that disfigured faces flummox the screening system the brain has developed to judge whether a person poses a potential threat, causing people to become transfixed when... More »

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human evolution • face recognition • face transplant • facial expressions • Connie Culp

 Bird Culture Innate: Study 

Isolated finches develop the same song over time

May 4, 09 2:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - DNA may carry the blueprint for culture, a study of zebra finches has revealed. When raised in isolation, the birds' complex mating song—usually taught by male elders—develops into a harsh clamor. But as their offspring learn the song, they tweak it slightly and recreate the melody within a... More »

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birds • DNA • human evolution • scientific study • Zebra finch

 Africans Have World's 
 Greatest Genetic Diversity 

Landmark study tracks modern humanity's origins to area in South Africa

May 1, 09 6:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - The people of Africa have by far the world's most diverse genes, says a new study that sheds light on humanity's origins. Researchers—who traveled deep into remote areas of Africa to study more than a hundred populations—have pinpointed the origin of modern humans to an area near the... More »

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Africa • African Americans • genetics • human evolution • human • genetic research

 Skull Hints 
 at Caveman 
 Compassion 

Skull suggests ancient humans cared for sick

Mar 31, 09 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have pieced together the skull of an ancient human who appears to have been deformed, but survived to at least age 5—suggesting he or she was cared for in spite of the handicap. That’s evidence for the existence of compassion in early humans, a trait other primates... More »

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skull • human behavior • human evolution • prehistoric • prehistoric mammals

(Newser) - Horses were domesticated 1,000 years earlier than thought, a finding that could prompt a rethinking of ancient human history, the BBC reports. A team from Exeter University found evidence of the use of harness bits on teeth—as well as horse meat and horse milk beverages—in Kazakhstan that... More »

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domestication • horse • Kazakhstan • human evolution • prehistoric • prehistoric mammals • ancient history • Bronze Age

analysis

How Music Boosted Human Evolution—or Didn't


Dec 19, 08 7:35 PM CST
(Newser) - We love our iPods and stereos, but what evolutionary purpose does all of this music serve? The Shakespearean idea that "music be the food of love" is popular among experts, who say music aids courtship and therefore human survival. Another theory says music replaced another social activity: ... More »

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music • evolution • human evolution

 Multitasking 
 Is a Myth 

Imaging shows brain quickly switches among tasks instead

Oct 4, 08 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pull your ears away from that cell phone: Multitasking is a myth. New research shows we can’t really concentrate on two things at once; rather, the executive functions of the brain sweep quickly between multiple tasks. It’s thought that survival and the hunt made this rapid refocusing of... More »

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MIT • human evolution • MRI • multitask • University of Michigan • natural selection • scientific research • executive function

 Did We Slaughter
 the Neanderthals?

DNA probe sheds light on early humans' doom 

Aug 8, 08 8:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Analysis of DNA from a thigh bone is helping solve the longstanding question of what happened to Neanderthals. Did they simply die off, were they killed by more modern humans—or did the two groups interbreed? DNA from the Neanderthal bone is so different from that of modern humans that... More »

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human evolution • Neanderthals • prehistoric • DNA evidence

Humans Wired to Fear Snakes

Scientists find innate ability to discern slithering critters in the wild

Mar 5, 08 4:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Evolution seems to have given humans a hard-wired ability to recognize snakes and spiders, LiveScience reports. Intrigued by the widespread fear of serpents despite the fact that most humans rarely interact with them, researchers showed groups of adults and 3-year-olds natural scenes containing various hidden animals. Both groups were consistently... More »

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snakes • genes • human evolution • fear • spiders • phobias • natural selection • psychological research • fear of spiders

Africans Have Most Diverse DNA

Testing confirms man evolved on continent before migrating

Feb 21, 08 1:47 PM CST
(Newser) - A pair of wide-ranging genetic studies, published yesterday in the journal Nature, back up the idea that humanity first evolved in Africa before migrating elsewhere, Reuters reports. DNA testing of African Americans and European Americans found that people with African roots had much more genetic diversity. Other tests discovered that... More »

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Africa • genetics • DNA • genetic mutation • human evolution • genetic research

Baby Blues Come From Single Ancestor

A long-ago genetic mutation diluted brown eyes, scientists say

Jan 31, 08 7:21 PM CST
(Newser) - All blue-eyed people have a single, shared ancestor, scientists say. And all those baby blues are the result of a genetic mutation that occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, LiveScience reports. Before that, everyone had brown eyes. The mutation limits the effects of the gene that produces... More »

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genetics • science • genetic mutation • Denmark • human evolution • eyes

Humans Evolving
at Warp Speed

New research contradicts theory that easier life slowed development

Dec 11, 07 3:59 AM CST
(Newser) - The pace of human evolution switched to the fast track when people began forming agrarian societies 10,000 years ago, researchers have discovered. Scientists had theorized that evolution would slow as challenges to survival waned, but the opposite appears to be the case with changes occurring surprisingly quickly, the Los ... More »

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evolution • milk • disease • malaria • genetic mutation • genes • population • human evolution

Religion Remains Flashpoint With Huckabee

GOP candidate sounds off on creationism in schools, Romney's Mormon faith

Dec 5, 07 10:40 PM CST
(Newser) - A month before the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reacted with frustration when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools, the AP reports. Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has said he does not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, said his personal views on religion... More »

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education • evolution • Iowa • presidential campaign • GOP • religion • creationism • Mike Huckabee • presidential politics • human evolution • campaign trail • Iowa caucus • public schools

Female Hunters May Have Doomed Neanderthals

Study says feminist practices put the 'reproductive core' in harm's way

Nov 11, 07 11:11 AM CST
(Newser) - "Stone Age feminism" may have contributed to the Neanderthals' extinction, says a recent study, which uses archaeological evidence to argue that Neanderthal females hunted—and were "stomped, gored, and worse"—alongside males. Pitting the "reproductive core" of a population that never topped 10,000 against giant... More »

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feminism • human evolution • homo sapiens • Neanderthals

'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind
of Human

Wrist-bone analysis shows link to apes

Sep 21, 07 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new study of three wrist bones from an 18,000-year-old fossil shows that the so-called hobbits of Indonesia were, indeed, a separate human species. When the bones were discovered in 2003, scientists trumpeted the find as evidence of a smaller species, Homo floresiensis. But skeptics argued that the... More »

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Indonesia • archaeology • fossil • homo sapien • human evolution • anthropology • Homo erectus • skeleton • primitive • hobbits

New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

Less-evolved specimens in Europe indicate earlier emigration from Africa

Sep 20, 07 6:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Archaeologists have unearthed four fossilized skeletons of a human ancestor that shares characteristics with the humanesque Homo erectus and the earlier, smaller Australopithicus afarensis, of which the famous 'Lucy' skeleton is a member. The fossils in the republic of Georgia contradict the previously held idea that hominids developed all key... More »

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fossil • human evolution • Lucy

Lucy Debuts
in Houston

But dem bones ain't made for traveling,
say scientists

Aug 29, 07 5:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lucy kicks off her public debut  at the Houston Museum of Natural Science tomorrow amid controversy that the world's favorite human ancestor should never have left her home in Ethiopia. The public wants the chance to the 3.2 million-year-old remains, but scientists say Lucy's too fragile to travel. More »

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evolution • Ethiopia • Houston • fossil • human evolution • Lucy

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