Christine Kenneally

Whale song, human song.

Songs that travel for thousand of miles. Songs that replicate over thousands of years.

Humanity's first home

Modern humans originated in Sub-saharan Africa, and from there spread all over the globe. Cambridge scientists, who published their study today in Nature, used genetic information combined with the measurements of 6000 skulls from collections all over the world in order to confirm what's known as the 'Out of Africa' theory. The idea of African origins for humans has become very widely accepted over the last ten or so years--this new study deals a final blow to scholars hanging onto the notion that humans may have originated in separate locations all over the world. SciAM.

Walking is good for you

In this week's PNAS, scientists have compared how much energy is used in human bipedal walking compared to the four-legged gait of chimpanzees (and even bipedal walking in chimpanzees). In general, they found that energy is saved with longer steps and less active muscle mass, and in fact that humans use about 75% less energy getting around than apes do. The difference is huge. It is said that natural selection generally proceeds by very small advantages but if the first human to start walking more upright was able to conserve even a percentage of this, it must have given them a great opportunity to spend that energy elsewhere (Feeding a large brain? Using language?).  USA Today, NatGeo.

The oldest human symbols

Shell beads that were once strung together and covered in red ochre have been found in Grotte des Pigeons, Morocco. The beads date to 82,000 years ago, five thousand years older than similar artifacts found in South Africa's Blombos Caves (previously thought to be the oldest human artifacts). Together they suggest that bead-making was not an isolated, rare activity but was spread amongst different human groups at this time. NatGeo, PNAS.