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13 of the most profound questions about the cosmos and ourselves

18 November 2021

Questions that are just as enigmatic now as when we first asked them

How ancient proteins are untangling humanity's family tree

9 September 2020

We can't extract DNA from some of the most perplexing ancient human fossils. But ancient proteins sometimes survive better, and they are finally starting to give up their secrets

Your body's hidden language: How smell reveals more than you ever knew

9 October 2019

We can sniff out fear, find solace in the smell of a loved one, breathe in the scent of happiness. How we're deciphering the subliminal signals of human scent

Mystery of why humans walk upright may be explained by surprise fossil

20 September 2019

We thought that walking on all fours like a gorilla is more primitive than walking on two legs as humans do. But new fossils suggest even very ancient apes walked upright

Stone tools hint that our first human ancestors lived all over Africa

29 November 2018

We thought the first Homo species evolved in East Africa 2.8 million years ago, but stone tools from Algeria suggest our origins may have spanned the continent

Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives

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

We may have got the evolution of our big brains entirely wrong

23 May 2018

Many scientists think that our big brains evolved to help us cope with the complexities of social living, but a model suggests it was more to do with finding food and lighting fires

Ape ‘midwives’ spotted helping female bonobos give birth

18 May 2018

When female bonobos went into labour, other females gathered around to keep them safe, swatting away flies and even seemingly trying to catch the baby as it emerged

Can CGI finally convince us that Neanderthals were smart?

14 May 2018

We still see Neanderthals as dim, ape-people despite mounting evidence of their intelligence. Can a CGI makeover with Andy Serkis help transform their image?