Browsing: Evolution

Over 72 million Americans are obese—a condition associated with a plethora of negative health outcomes including diabetes, cancer, and heart problems. But Americans’ eating habits aren’t obesity’s only cause, and we’ve suspected as much for a long time now. In 1932, the California Medical Association noted that “the inborn disposition to obesity may be very […]

The growing role of grandparents in raising children is right in line with human biology.

Getting control of the molecular mechanisms that drive rapid mutations.

A collection of metal atoms called the “metallome” helped drive evolution.

When Arne Hendriks, a 6” 4’ Dutchman, faced audience members at TEDxBrainport in 2012, he smiled apologetically. “I have some bad news for you,” he said. “You’re not short enough.” Hendriks believes that the planet’s growing population—currently at 7 billion—is unsustainable. His solution? We should shrink ourselves to 50 cm, around the height of a […]

How “probiotic epidemics” help wildlife—and us—survive.

It’s become common to think about cultural change the same way we think about biological evolution—so common that it may obscure whether the comparison really works. Though there remain many questions yet to answer about biological evolution, it’s a process that’s well-understood. We know, in great detail, how variations emerge, how they’re passed on hereditarily, […]

From our knees to our eyeballs, our bodies are full of hack solutions.

Our inability to care for ourselves as babies is a key to the genius of our species.