Human Evolution

For most humans, meditating in the snow would be highly uncomfortable. For Wim Hof, it's euphoric. Note: Wim Hof not pictured.

Science Explains How the Iceman Resists Extreme Cold

MRI scans reveal that Wim Hof artificially induces a stress response in his brain

Panga ya Saidi

People Lived in This Cave for 78,000 Years

Excavations in Panga ya Saidi suggest technological and cultural change came slowly over time and show early humans weren't reliant on coastal resources

Nisarg Desai observes wild chimps known as Sandi, Ferdinand and Siri in Tanzania.

What Can Chimpanzee Calls Tell Us About the Origins of Human Language?

Scientists follow and record chimps in the wild to find out if they talk to each other—and to fill in details about how and why language evolved in humans

Though the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may seem pronounced, scientists didn't always embrace the idea that humans evolved from other species.

How Do Scientists Identify New Species? For Neanderthals, It Was All About Timing and Luck

Even the most remarkable fossil find means nothing if scientists aren’t ready to see it for what it is

Immune system natural killer cell

Human Cell Atlas Releases First Major Data Set

The information includes data from over half a million immune cells from human cord blood and bone marrow

Human evolution is “one of the highest hurdles — if not the highest hurdle — to science education in America,” says Smithsonian's Rick Potts. Here, an early human fossil found in Broken Hill, Zambia.

How to Talk With Evangelicals About Evolution

For two years, researchers from the Smithsonian traveled the country explaining the science of our shared origins

Expressive Eyebrows May Have Given Modern Humans an Evolutionary Edge

A new study explores why ancient humans had pronounced brow ridges, and why they eventually lost them

Several views of a fossilized finger bone found Al Wusta site, Saudi Arabia.

Rare 85,000-year-old Finger Bone Complicates Our Understanding of African Migration

The fossil builds on the theory that humans left Africa in multiple waves, and suggests they made it as far as the Arabian Desert

These black- and red-colored pigments reveal that humans were using pigments, potentially to communicate status or identity, by around 300,000 years ago.

Colored Pigments and Complex Tools Suggest Humans Were Trading 100,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Believed

Transformations in climate and landscape may have spurred these key technological innovations

Human evolution is ongoing, and what we eat is a crucial part of the puzzle.

How Cheese, Wheat and Alcohol Shaped Human Evolution

Over time, diet causes dramatic changes to our anatomy, immune systems and maybe skin color

The handbones seen in the whale model in the center of this image tell the curious story of how whales went from land to water.

What’s a "Missing Link"?

While some still use the term, experts abhor it because it implies that life is a linear hierarchy

The genetics of the little skate changes our understanding of vertebrate evolution, from ocean to land-dweller.

What a Walking Fish Can Teach Us About Human Evolution

New research on the little skate reveals the genes it shares with land animals—and a common ancestor from 420 million years ago

Close-up view of the of jawbone, showing details of the crown topography and dental features.

Earliest Human Remains Outside Africa Were Just Discovered in Israel

If accepted as <i>Homo sapien</i>, the jaw-dropping jawbone would push back the human exodus out of Africa by nearly 100,000 years

Music might be more universal than we thought.

Your Brain Knows What Songs Are For, No Matter Where They Came From

Researchers find that people easily recognize lullabies and dance songs from around the world

Little Foot, the Most Complete Australopithecus Fossil, Goes on Display

After 20 years of excavation and cleaning, the 3.67-million year old hominin is ready for her closeup

Your Oldest Ancestor Was Probably Sponge Like

A new study may settle a long-running debate about which creature was the first to evolve from a universal common animal ancestor

Did you get that injury during the night or day? It might be telling about how long it'll take to heal.

Why Wounds Heal Faster During the Day Than at Night

A new study suggests that you should consider staying away from sharp objects at night

Does science support the idea that teens are more reckless and impulsive than their adult counterparts?

The Impulsive "Teen Brain" Isn't Based in Science

Yes, adolescent brains crave novelty. But they have the cognitive control to go with it

Scary pumpkins are the least of what frightens us at Halloween, a day devoted to being frightened.

What Happens in the Brain When We Feel Fear

And why some of us just can't get enough of it

Mothers Adopt a Universal Tone of Voice When They Talk To Babies

And other surprising facts about how we speak to infants

Page 11 of 19