Human

At the time of writing, there were an estimated 8,123,518,311 living humans on Earth – roughly the most there has ever been. But as fertility and birth rates continue to freefall, the numerical peak of humanity is quickly approaching.

Well-preserved bones of a two-tonne glyptodont revealed cut marks indicative of stone tools, suggesting that human hunter-gatherers had settled in the Americas around 21,000 years ago – some 5,000 years before people were thought to have arrived.

Harvard and Google Research have mapped thousands of cells and millions of synapses in a poppy seed-sized sample of tissue. The result is a set of truly stunning images and marks a major step towards understanding of the biggest challenges in science.

A genetically edited pig kidney has been successfully transplanted into a living patient for the first time. Reports indicate the man is doing well a few weeks on, raising hopes for a wider pool of donated organs in future.

In what may put some of us to shame, apes instantly recognize family and friends that they haven’t seen in more than two decades, which is the longest ‘social memory’ in a non-human animal ever documented.

A 2021 study caused a stir by claiming that a set of fossilized human footprints were 20,000 years old – much earlier earlier than humans were thought to have set foot in North America. Now two extra dating methods have seemingly confirmed the age.

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of artificial structures made of wood, dating back almost half a million years – predating the appearance of our own species and suggesting our relatives settled down much earlier than we thought.

Researchers have mapped where and how strongly we experience different kinds of love, covering everything from romantic love to love for strangers. The findings shed light on how context and the object of love affects our subjective feelings of it.

Ötzi the Iceman is one of the most well-studied individuals in human history, but there always seems to be more to learn about him. A new genomic study has now found that he looked very different from the way previous studies had imagined him.

Anthropologists have assembled the most complete Stone Age family tree, spanning 7 generations. Genetic studies of the remains of dozens of people in a burial site in France reveal some surprising insights into family and social dynamics of the time.

Reading someone’s facial expressions or body posture is important for understanding their personality, emotions, motivations, or intent. But can dogs draw information from faces and bodies like we do? A new study has provided the answer.

Scientists have created models of human embryos by programming stem cells. The models give a glimpse into a key stage of development that can reveal new insights into genetic disorders and preventing failure in early pregnancy.