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Should We Care About The Preservation Of Our Species?

November 7, 2015 • Nobody wants species extinction to happen the wrong way, says guest blogger Joshua Glasgow. But what's the big deal if a smarter, kinder, more ethical species replaces us?

Chipping Away At The Mystery Of The Oldest Tools Ever Found

An ancient stone tool unearthed at the excavation site near Kenya's Lake Turkana. It's not just the shape and sharp edges that suggest it was deliberately crafted, the researchers say, but also the dozens of stone flakes next to it that were part of the same kit. MPK-WTAP hide caption

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MPK-WTAP

Science

Chipping Away At The Mystery Of The Oldest Tools Ever Found

May 20, 2015 • How do you prove a rock was actively shaped and used as a tool more than 3 million years ago? Scientists found a kit of more than 140 artifacts in one spot and say the tools' crafters were pre-human.

Chipping Away At The Mystery Of The Oldest Tools Ever Found

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Dance Of Human Evolution Was Herky-Jerky, Fossils Suggest

Our popular image of Homo erectus as the proto-guy who whose human-like traits all emerged at once needs overhauling, some anthropologists say. Sylvain Entressangle/Science Source hide caption

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Sylvain Entressangle/Science Source

Science

Dance Of Human Evolution Was Herky-Jerky, Fossils Suggest

July 4, 2014 • Maybe it was messier than we thought, some scientists now say. Big brains, long legs and long childhoods may have evolved piecemeal in different spots, in response to frequent swings in climate.

Dance Of Human Evolution Was Herky-Jerky, Fossils Suggest

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After Sandy: The Most Highly Evolved Compassion Of All

Blaine Badick walks through floodwaters with her dogs in Hoboken, N.J., on Wednesday. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

After Sandy: The Most Highly Evolved Compassion Of All

November 1, 2012 • In the wake of the terrible damage caused by superstorm Sandy, commentator Barbara J. King reflects on the animal rescues underway and asks if we can tap these selfless impulses to create a greater, sustained good.

A piece of red ochre with a deliberately engraved design is pictured here at Cape Town's Iziko/South African Museum in 2002. The piece was discovered in Blombos Cave near Stilbaai, about 300 kilometers from Cape Town. Anna Ziemenski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Anna Ziemenski/AFP/Getty Images

September 13, 2012 • It sounds like a straightforward question: When did we become human? But as commentator and anthropologist Barbara J. King suggests, the answers are multiple and entangled. An African archaeological site dated to 100,000 years ago holds some clues.

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Leaky Replacement: Human, Neanderthal And Denisovan Blends

February 3, 2011 • Understandings of human origins have undergone many seismic shifts since the accounts in Genesis and other sacred texts, but several findings this year might well be described as > 7 on the Richter scale.