People's bodies now run cooler than 'normal' – even in the Bolivian Amazon

'Normal' body temperature has declined in urban, industrialized settings like the US and UK. Anthropologists find the trend extends to Indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon – but why?

Thomas Kraft, Postdoctoral Scholar in Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara • conversation
Oct. 28, 2020 • ~8 min

Turbulent environment set the stage for leaps in human evolution and technology 320,000 years ago

A new environmental record for a prehistoric site in Kenya helped researchers figure out how external conditions influenced which of our ancient ancestors lived there, with what way of life.

Richard Potts, Director of the Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
Oct. 21, 2020 • ~11 min

When did we become fully human? What fossils and DNA tell us about the evolution of modern intelligence

Artefacts suggest a ‘great leap’, a recent evolution of modern intelligence. Fossils and DNA argue that’s an illusion.

Nick Longrich, Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology and Paleontology, University of Bath • conversation
Sept. 9, 2020 • ~9 min

Nature and nurture both contribute to gender inequality in leadership – but that doesn't mean patriarchy is forever

Recognizing the influence of evolution on behavior and gender norms suggests ways to reduce gender inequality in leadership in the real world.

Christopher von Rueden, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond • conversation
Aug. 18, 2020 • ~9 min

Humanizing the coronavirus as an invisible enemy is human nature

Thinking of SARS-CoV-2 as an invisible enemy with an evil personality and humanlike motivations is a natural offshoot of the way people evolved to anthropomorphize so as not to overlook threats.

Stewart Guthrie, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Fordham University • conversation
May 22, 2020 • ~7 min

Prehistoric human footprints reveal a rare snapshot of ancient human group behavior

The footprints of over 20 different prehistoric people, pressed into volcanic ash thousands of years ago in Tanzania, show possible evidence for sexual division of labor in this ancient community.

Briana Pobiner, Research Scientist and Museum Educator, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
May 14, 2020 • ~8 min

These ostrich eggshell beads were social currency

People traded beads made from ostrich eggshells in vast exchange networks in Africa, researchers find. The practice was a way to maintain relationships.

U. Michigan • futurity
March 11, 2020 • ~7 min

A closer look at the diabetes disaster

In a new book, Amy Moran-Thomas examines how diabetes is reaching epidemic levels in countries across the world.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office • mit
Dec. 17, 2019 • ~9 min

Researcher looks at plaque to gain insight about the past

Christina Warinner says ancient dental plaque offers insights into diets, disease, dairying, and women’s roles of the period.

Peter Reuell • harvard
Nov. 19, 2019 • ~11 min

After his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Arthur Kleinman shares what he learned

Harvard Professor Arthur Kleinman’s wife, Joan, began to struggle with a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease at 59. Eight years after losing her, he chronicles their journey in “The Soul of Care: The Moral Education of a Husband and a Doctor.”

Jill Radsken • harvard
Oct. 31, 2019 • ~10 min

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