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Human Evolution

New Research

A Starchy Sixth Sense Could Explain Why Humans Love Carbs

Our tongues may be even more sensitive than once thought

New Research

Unnerving Find: Cells That Control Goosebumps and Nipple Erections

A new study documents eight new types of nerve cells, including ones that control sweating and blood flow

Reconstruction of Lucy’s vertical deceleration event, by the authors of the new study.

Did Anthropologists Just Solve the 3-Million-Year-Old Mystery of Lucy’s Death?

Researchers think they’ve reconstructed the fatal plunge and last terrifying seconds of the hominin’s life

A reconstruction of Ötzi the Iceman at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

New Research

DNA Analysis Reveals What Ötzi the Iceman Wore to His Grave

He rocked surprisingly complex fashion for the Copper Age

An ancient stone tool used to butcher a rhinoceros.

New Research

Ancient Hominids Used These 250,000-Year-Old Tools for Butchery

Traces of blood on the prehistoric tools, suggest our ancestors had a much more varied diet than once thought

Thanks, evolution.

New Research

The Evolutionary Reason Why Women Orgasm

New research suggests the female orgasm is tied to ovulation, not reproduction

Sperm whales, giant squid and humans all have a mitochondrial "Eve."

No, a Mitochondrial ‘Eve’ Is Not the First Female in a Species

The latest story about a sperm whale “Eve” shows how people misunderstand the evolutionary term. Fear not: We can clarify

New Research

Mammals May Have Dinosaurs to Thank for Their Night Vision

Mammals most likely developed a new pathway to night vision to avoid the jaws of dinos and other daytime predators

New Research

This Tropical Fish Can Be Taught to Recognize Human Faces

New study trained fish to spit at human faces

An artist's reconstruction of what the hobbit may have looked like housed in Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought

A new find hints that the short-statured hominins could have been living in Indonesia over a half a million years earlier than previous estimates

New Research

Bison Fossils Offer Clues to Track Human Migration Into the Americas

DNA analysis of bison fossils show that people likely migrated down the Pacific coast and not through the Rocky Mountains

Playtime with baby can help expand a child’s attention span, a new study shows.

Infants Learn to Pay Attention (or Not) From Watching Mom and Dad

Parents who focus on play may help babies develop critical skills that predict future success

New Research

Human Diseases May Have Doomed the Neanderthals

Stomach ulcers, herpes, ringworm and other tropical diseases may have all contributed to the Neanderthal demise

New Research

Humans and Neanderthals May Have Had Trouble Making Male Babies

The Neanderthal Y chromosome hasn’t persisted in modern humans

The remnants of a supernova.

New Research

Radioactive Isotopes in The Oceans May Be Remnants of Ancient Supernovae

Cosmic dust may have altered life on Earth as we know it

In a reconstruction, by artist John Gurche, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum displays what the Hobbit would have looked like in the Hall of Human Origins.

“Hobbits” Disappeared Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

If the tiny hominins ever coexisted with modern humans, the arrangement apparently didn’t last long

The Right Body Language Can Boost Odds of Online Dating Success

Potential partners size you up in seconds, and the way you sit or stand matters

What a Tiny Fish Can Tell Us About How Humans Stood Upright

What is the root of why our ancestors gained the power to walk on two feet and chimpanzees didn’t?

The museum has generated controversy over gentrification of Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

Age of Humans

Imagining an Alarming Future at Brazil’s Museum of Tomorrow

The ambitious museum looks at where humankind is headed—and asks how they’ll live in a post-climate-change world

The fossil skull of the human ancestor Australopithecus africanus, which had more robust teeth and jaws than modern humans.

New Research

A Taste for Raw Meat May Have Helped Shape Human Evolution

Stone tools might have let our ancestors more easily chew and digest meat, which in turn may have changed our teeth and jaws

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