Life on Earth began in a way that still boggles the mind. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process called abiogenesis ...

Human evolution is often told as a tidy story of adaptation, yet some of our most familiar body parts still defy straightforward explanation. From the jut of the human chin to the curve of the outer ...

Human newborns arrive remarkably underdeveloped. The reason lies in a deep evolutionary trade-off between big brains, bipedalism and the limits of motherhood.

The study of human origins provides a fundamental narrative for our biological and cultural evolution. By combining fossil evidence with archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data, we can trace the ...

UCL scientists found that human skulls evolved much faster than those of other apes, reflecting the powerful forces driving our brain growth and facial flattening. By comparing 3D models of ape skulls ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years ...

What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)? Plenty of thinkers have applied themselves to questions like this, considering how AI will alter ...

CRISPR will get easier and easier to administer. What does that mean for the future of our species? In 2016, I attended a large meeting of journalists in Washington, DC. The keynote speaker was ...

Our DNA reveals extinct "ghost lineages" that shaped human evolution, painting a complex, "braided stream" of history rather than a simple progression. These ancient groups, leaving no fossils, ...

Human evolution has long been tied to growing brain size, and new research suggests prenatal hormones may have played a surprising role. By studying the relative lengths of index and ring fingers — a ...