Life on Earth began in a way that still boggles the mind. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process called abiogenesis occurred, where life emerged from non-life. Imagine a hot, watery mix of ...

Around 74,000 years ago, Earth experienced one of the most devastating volcanic events in its recent history. The Toba supereruption, centered in what is now Indonesia, blasted 672 cubic miles of ...

For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the ancient genomes of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old. The study, led by the ...

Walking on two legs has long been considered a milestone in human evolution and one of our most defining characteristics. Until now, researchers assumed that the first humans originated in Africa and ...

For more than a century, human origins have been told as a story of expansion, migration, and survival. But deep in that story sits a long, quiet stretch when almost nothing seems to happen.

Food processing has been a part of human adaptation since deep in the past. The softening and breaking down of food left its testimony on the human body. For example, the massive teeth of our early ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: An algorithm scanned 78 million genetic variants and found patterns that shouldn't exist. Most human DNA tells a familiar story—but some of it defies ...

History is typically shaped by battles, revolutions, and inventions, but some of the most consequential turning points began ...