Our Brains Evolved Thanks to… Lead? New Study Surprises Scientists SciTechDaily Human ancestors were exposed to lead millions of years ago, and it shaped our evolution The Conversation Ancient lead exposure may have influenced how our brains evolved New Scientist The strange role of lead poisoning in humanity’s success The Economist Ancient lead exposure may have helped humans evolve over Neanderthals, study finds ABC News …
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New evidence humans evolved from an African ape-like ancestor
Humans have always wondered where they came from. Fossils hold clues, and scientists search for them carefully. Each discovery reshapes what we know about evolution. A new study from Washington University in St. Louis has revived a century-old debate. The researchers revisited Ardipithecus ramidus, or “Ardi,” the 4.4-million-year-old ancestor that may bridge the gap between apes and humans. Ardi lived long …
Read More »How the Trump-Zelensky relationship evolved after explosive Oval Office meet – Axios
How the Trump-Zelensky relationship evolved after explosive Oval Office meet Axios Latest on the Trump administration: Zelensky visits White House as shutdown drags on CNN Zelenskyy expected to press Trump for increased long-range weapons and targeting help CBS News Trump to meet Zelensky at White House after ‘productive’ call with Putin BBC Trump to Meet With Zelensky on Ukraine War After Putin Phone Call: …
Read More »Our Brains Evolved to Socialize—but Max Out at About 150 Friends – The Wall Street Journal
Our Brains Evolved to Socialize—but Max Out at About 150 Friends The Wall Street Journal Professor claims humans can only sustain around 150 meaningful social relationships The Independent How many friends is too many friends? The scientific debate is raging The Independent Source link
Read More »Evolutionary Mystery of Psilocybin Deepens With Discovery That Mushrooms Twice Evolved the Psychedelic Compound
The psychedelic compound psilocybin has fascinated humans for years. It alters perception, expands consciousness, and is even being tested as a treatment for depression. However, researchers are still puzzled by the purpose of psilocybin for the fungi that produce it. A recent study has shown that different groups of mushrooms developed the ability to produce psilocybin on separate occasions. These …
Read More »Hobbits of Flores evolved to be small by slowing down growth during childhood, new research on teeth and brain size suggests
Until Homo floresiensis was discovered, scientists assumed that the evolution of the human lineage was defined by bigger and bigger brains. Via a process called encephalization, human brains evolved to be relatively more massive than would be expected based on corresponding body size. This proportionally bigger brain is what anthropologists argued enabled us and our relatives to perform more complex …
Read More »You can hold on to your butts thanks to DNA that evolved in fish
There were some indications that the same thing is true in fish, where the elimination of equivalent hox genes also interfered with the formation of the rays at the ends of fins. This would suggest that digits formed by elaborating on a genetic system that already existed in order to produce fins. However, when a US-French team started looking at …
Read More »One of the earliest galaxies in the universe was rich in oxygen. Could it mean life evolved earlier than we thought?
A monster galaxy from the early universe shows that the cosmos was rich with oxygen when it was only less than 3% of its present age, astronomers have found. The discovery raises questions about how early life could have first appeared in the universe. This isn’t the first time astronomers have looked at that enigmatic galaxy, named JADES-GS-z11-0. It was …
Read More »Our primate ancestors evolved in the cold – not the tropics
Most people imagine our early primate ancestors swinging through lush tropical forests. But new research shows that they were braving the cold. As an ecologist who has studied chimpanzees and lemurs in the field in Uganda and Madagascar, I am fascinated by the environments that shaped our primate ancestors. These new findings overturn decades of assumptions about how – and …
Read More »Staggering Finds Show Early Humans Lived Alongside the Very Apes They Evolved from
Skull of a female A africanus – credit, Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, From Ethiopia comes an incredible discovery—early humans seem to have potentially lived alongside the very apes they evolved from. The discovery centers around teeth: that of a member of the genus Homo, of which we are a part, found next to the tooth of Australopithecus, the last in …
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