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What crying baby mice could teach us about human speech

A newborn lies in the maternity ward of the Lens hospital, northern France. A study of crying mice could help explain some building blocks of human infant cries and adult speech. Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty Images

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What crying baby mice could teach us about human speech

Scientists have found a cluster of rhythmic brain cells in newborn mice that may explain why spoken languages around the world share a common tempo.

What crying baby mice could teach us about human speech

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Ancient Human Remains Document Migration From Asia To America

Here's what archaeologists think the Upward Sun River camp in what is now central Alaska looked like 11,500 years ago. Eric S. Carlson and Ben A. Potter/Nature hide caption

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Eric S. Carlson and Ben A. Potter/Nature

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Ancient Human Remains Document Migration From Asia To America

A discovery of the remains of two infants in central Alaska provides evidence of the earliest wave of people to move from Asia into the Americas.

Ancient Human Remains Document Migration From Asia To America

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Human Brains Have Evolved Unique 'Feel-Good' Circuits

A chimpanzee skull, at left, and a human skull. Scientists are probing why our brains evolved so differently despite many similarities. D. Roberts/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

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D. Roberts/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

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Human Brains Have Evolved Unique 'Feel-Good' Circuits

A comparison of brain tissue from monkeys, chimps and humans suggests that our brains produce the chemical messenger dopamine, which plays a major role in pleasure and rewards, far differently.

Chew On This: Slicing Meat Helped Shape Modern Humans
Katherine Du/NPR

The Salt

Chew On This: Slicing Meat Helped Shape Modern Humans

Long before cooking was common, early humans needed extra energy to fuel bigger bodies and brains. Scientists say simple stone cutting tools likely allowed small-toothed meat eaters to thrive.

Chew On This: Slicing Meat Helped Shape Modern Humans

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When Humans Quit Hunting And Gathering, Their Bones Got Wimpy

Farming helped fuel the rise of civilizations, but it may also have given us less robust bones. Leemage/UIG via Getty Images hide caption

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Leemage/UIG via Getty Images

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When Humans Quit Hunting And Gathering, Their Bones Got Wimpy

Humans have lighter bones than other primates, and that change happened a lot later than anthropologists had thought. Blame our sedentary ways after our ancestors took up farming.

When Humans Quit Hunting And Gathering, Their Bones Got Wimpy

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