New Scientist - Human Evolution

Genes give Africans a better sense of taste

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

People from Cameroon and Kenya have far more variation in a gene that controls sensitivity to bitterness, say researchers – could it be a survival adaptation?

Darwin's dangerous idea: Top 10 evolution articles

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:29:00 GMT

One hundred and fifty years after it was first proposed, natural selection continues to be a battleground and a hotbed of new ideas. Here are the best stories from 2008

2008: A good year for Neanderthals

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:20:00 GMT

Discoveries about our ancient relatives have arrived thick and fast – experts have revealed that they ate dolphins, what they sounded like, and shown that they didn't sleep with modern humans

Did warfare drive out-of-Africa migration?

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:08:00 GMT

Roving bands of men might have waged history's first traceable war against the ancestors of all non-Africans, some 60,000 years ago

DNA is recovered from ancestral snack

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:14:00 GMT

The discovery that genetic information can be extracted from ancient cooked bones could tell us more about what early communities ate for dinner

Justice may be hard-wired into the human brain

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:45:00 GMT

When judging the guilt or innocence of alleged criminals, our brains seem to respond as if we were personally wronged, say researchers

Are daughters-in-law to blame for the menopause?

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Why do women lose their ability to reproduce long before they grow old? It may all to do with competition, discovers

Neanderthal genome already giving up its secrets

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:05:00 GMT

The decoding of the nuclear genome should be complete by year's end, say researchers – early glimpses are already ruling some theories about our extinct close relatives

Deep-voiced men not guaranteed to impress

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMT

Women might swoon over Barry White's deep bass, yet when looking for a provider, they find Justin Timberlake's falsetto sounds sexier

Did Neanderthal cells cook as the climate warmed?

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:49:00 GMT

Neanderthals may have gone extinct because adaptations to an Ice Age climate meant their bodies couldn't cope as temperatures climbed

The dizzying diversity of human sexual strategies

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

If our biology has designed us to procreate, why do people have such widely different attitudes to sex? investigates

Were Neanderthals stoned to death by modern humans?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:25:00 GMT

Changes in bone shape left by a life of overhand throwing hint that Stone Age humans regularly threw heavy objects, while Neanderthals did not

Monkey gossip hints at social origins of language

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The discovery that female macaques are far chattier than males helps bolster the theory that human language evolved to forge social bonds

Ancient grave reveals 'Flintstone' nuclear family

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:50:00 GMT

A Stone Age massacre has provided evidence of the earliest known nuclear family – something that was missing until now

Rare fossil find sheds light on evolution of women

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Pelvis of shows adaptations for a large birth canal to accommodate large-brained babies

How warfare shaped human evolution

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Not only is war as old as humanity itself, it may even be the driver behind cooperative behaviour

In search of the missing Stone Age tribes

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Little evidence has been unearthed of those who lived in Europe during the last big bout of climate change. Have we been looking in the wrong place, asks

Proto-humans mastered fire 790,000 years ago

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:32:00 GMT

The charred remains of flint from prehistoric firesides suggest that our ancestors were creating fires long before modern humans

Why did Neanderthals have such big noses?

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:28:00 GMT

People who theorise the Neanderthal's huge nose is good for an icy climate or due to a super-strong jaw are mistaken, say researchers

'Devils' trails' are world's oldest human footprints

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:28:00 GMT

The marks, preserved in volcanic ash after an ancient eruption, have been dated, confirming they are the oldest known footprints of modern humans

Neanderthals feasted on seals and dolphins

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Ancient marine mammal bones, some showing signs of butchery, suggest that Neanderthals were adaptable and intelligent hunters

Did we out-breed slow-maturing Neanderthals?

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Skull reconstructions suggest we might have traded some intelligence for smaller, cheaper brains that meant we could reproduce faster

The ice age that never was

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Did a few million stone-axe-wielding farmers avert an ice age? The evidence supporting this controversial idea is growing stronger

Was sound the secret weapon of the Andean elites?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT

A series of acoustical finds in the ruins of a Peruvian temple amounts to evidence of an almighty racket, finds

Viruses: The unsung heroes of evolution

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Without these tiny parasites and their genetic creativity, we'd be up the primordial creek without a paddle. investigates