10 April 2021
The neurons of comb jellies are a peculiar shape and use chemicals not found in the brains of other animals – hinting they might have evolved independently of other neurons
26 April 2019
Is a written culture necessary to make a better culture or better citizens? A smart, satisfyingly deep exhibition at the British Library leaves us wondering
24 May 2018
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
23 May 2018
About 3 billion people speak Indo-European languages like English and Hindustani, and it seems the first such tongue was spoken south of the Caucasus mountains
28 February 2018
It’s an evolutionary mystery how humans and other primates found the energy to support their large brains, but now it seems sacrificing some muscle might have helped
25 January 2018
We thought that Homo sapiens were confined to Africa until 120,000 years ago, but a jawbone from an Israeli cave reveals an exodus over 170,000 years ago
13 December 2017
Is that rustle in the dark a predator, or just the wind? It pays to think something causes everything – a survival trait that makes us all hard-wired to believe
23 November 2017
Two “thinking” regions of human brains are much richer in a neurotransmitter called dopamine than the equivalent brain regions in apes and monkeys
