The human race has always been curious. We have a knack for learning and passing down information. This has been going on for a long time. In fact, for the last 3. 3 million years, humans have been figuring out ways to share what they know with others. This is how culture has evolved over time. It is not just about one person learning something new. It is about...
The Denisovans were a group of ancient humans that roamed the Earth from around 370, 000 years ago until at least 30, 000 years ago. They are thought to be closely related to Neanderthals. Most of what we know about them comes from a few broken bones found in Siberia and China. A recent study has added a new piece to the puzzle. Scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Den...
In a remarkable discovery in Spain, scientists have found the earliest known human face fossil in Western Europe. This fossil, affectionately named Pink, was unearthed at the Atapuerca archaeological site in northern Spain. The discovery is significant because it pushes back the timeline of human settlement in Europe by hundreds of thousands of years. The fossilized...
Imagine this: humans thriving in lush rainforests way back when. The conventional wisdom was that humans started living in rainforests around 70, 000 years ago. But hold onto your hats, folks, because new findings suggest that humans were living in rainforests as early as 150, 000 years ago. This revelation comes from a team of researchers who took a fresh look at a ...
Imagine the human family tree is a big puzzle. Scientists have been adding new pieces for years. Recently, they found some bones in China that don't fit any known ancient human relative. These bones belong to a new species with a huge brain, even bigger than ours! Some scientists think this species might be linked to the mysterious Denisovans, who we know existed but...
The Y chromosome, which doesn't recombine, holds vital clues about paternal human history. Scientists have noticed something puzzling: some Y chromosome branches are much longer than others, especially those that are very different from the standard human Y chromosome. This length variation isn't explained yet. It could be due to changes in how often new generations ...
Picture this: about 50, 000 years ago, humans and Neanderthals started mixing. This genetic exchange lasted for around 7, 000 years. Today, non-African humans carry about 1% to 2% Neanderthal DNA. This blend might have strengthened our immune systems and influenced our skin colors. But not all Neanderthal genes were welcome. There are parts of our DNA that are comple...
Imagine digging up clues from the past with today's technology! That's what a global team of researchers did when they found the world's oldest ochre mine. This mine, located in Eswatini, Africa, is around 40, 000 years old. Ochre is a pigment used for art and decoration. By studying ochre from this mine, scientists can learn about ancient human thinking and creativi...
You might think humans fell in love with carbs when we started farming, but scientists say that's not true. They found a gene called AMY1 that helps us digest starches, and it's been around for a really long time – even before we had agriculture. This gene started duplicating around 800, 000 years ago in our ancestors. It's not just us modern humans who have this gen...
Did you know that our fondness for carbs has deep roots, possibly dating back to a time before humans even existed? Scientists from the University of Buffalo have found that our ability to digest carbs might be a bigger deal than we thought. They explored the ancient gene AMY1, which helps break down starchy foods in our mouths, and discovered something surprising. ...