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evolution

This shows different animals in a forest setting.

·May 17, 2025·6 min read

Hidden Patterns Shape Animal Behavior Across Species

Despite vast ecological differences, animals from meerkats to hyenas appear to follow a shared behavioral architecture in how they switch between activities. By tracking movement patterns with accelerometers and using machine learning, researchers discovered that the longer an animal stays in one behavior—like resting or foraging—the less likely it is to switch, a pattern known as a “decreasing hazard function.”

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 16, 2025·3 min read

Silent Switches in DNA Gave Rise to Human Intelligence

Despite sharing over 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, humans possess strikingly advanced cognitive and emotional abilities. A new study reveals that rapid shifts in gene regulation—rather than changes in protein-coding genes—may explain this leap.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 15, 2025·5 min read

Recessive Genes May Quietly Shape Health, Learning, and Fertility

Carriers of recessive gene mutations, long thought to be unaffected, may actually face subtle disadvantages, including more medical issues, shorter educational attainment, and reduced reproductive success. A study of over 300,000 individuals reveals that people who carry recessive genes for intellectual disability are especially impacted, despite having only one mutated gene copy.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 14, 2025·5 min read

Tiny Gene Fragment Key to Memory Revealed

Researchers have discovered that a nine–amino acid microexon spliced into the DAAM1 gene is critical for memory formation, functioning exclusively in neurons. Deleting this microexon in mice resulted in fewer synaptic spines—essential structures for learning and memory—and caused a 40% decline in memory performance.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 12, 2025·5 min read

Wasp Mothers Juggle Nests with Memory That Rivals Human Scheduling

A new study reveals that digger wasp mothers can keep track of up to nine burrows, feeding their offspring in precise order and adjusting schedules based on need or survival. Despite nesting among hundreds of nearly identical burrows, these wasps rarely make mistakes—delivering food with an error rate of just 1.5%.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 10, 2025·5 min read

From Calls to Communication: A New Look at Language Origins

A new study reveals that wild chimpanzees combine vocal calls in structured ways to create new or more specific meanings, echoing key features of human language. Researchers documented over 12,000 calls from chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire and found that they formed at least 16 different two-call combinations.

This shows people around a campfire talking.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·March 18, 2025·7 min read

When Did Humans First Speak? Genes Offer New Clues on Language Origins

New genetic research suggests that humans first developed language around 135,000 years ago when populations began geographically splitting, followed by widespread social use around 100,000 years ago. Using data from 15 genetic studies, researchers found that early human groups branched out approximately 135,000 years ago, which likely coincides with the origin of language as a cognitive system.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·February 26, 2025·4 min read

Rapidly Evolving DNA May Explain Human Brain Complexity

A new study reveals that human accelerated regions (HARs)—segments of DNA that evolved much faster than expected—may be key to the brain’s advanced cognitive abilities. Researchers compared human and chimpanzee neurons and found that HARs drive the growth of multiple neural projections, which enhance communication between brain cells.

This shows a modern human and a Neanderthal.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·February 18, 2025·8 min read

Genetic Link Between Humans and the Evolution of Speech Found

New research suggests a genetic variant in the NOVA1 protein may have played a key role in the emergence of human speech. Scientists introduced this exclusively human variant into mice and observed altered vocalizations, indicating a potential role in vocal communication.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 17, 2025·8 min read

AI Reveals How Brain Cells Evolved Over 320 Million Years

A new study reveals how AI-driven deep learning models can decode the genetic regulatory switches that define brain cell types across species. By analyzing human, mouse, and chicken brains, researchers found that some brain cell types remain highly conserved over 320 million years, while others have evolved uniquely.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 16, 2025·5 min read

Upper Body Strength Predicts Sexual Partner Count in Men and Women

A study revealed that both men and women with greater upper body strength report more lifetime sexual partners, challenging the sexual selection hypothesis, which emphasizes male physical competition for mates. While men’s strength is often linked to evolutionary advantages like hunting and mate competition, the findings also suggest stronger men are more likely to be in long-term relationships, supporting the "provisioning" theory.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 10, 2025·4 min read

Single Nerve Cord Revealed as Ancestor of Ecdysozoan Nervous Systems

A study analyzing Cambrian fossils uncovered that the ancestral ecdysozoan likely had a single ventral nerve cord, challenging long-standing views about the evolution of these structures. Fossil impressions from early Scalidophora species reveal similarities to modern priapulid nerve cords, supporting the single-cord hypothesis. This finding suggests that paired nerve cords in arthropods, kinorhynchs, and loriciferans evolved independently, linked to body segmentation and movement complexity.

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evolution

Hidden Patterns Shape Animal Behavior Across Species

Silent Switches in DNA Gave Rise to Human Intelligence

Recessive Genes May Quietly Shape Health, Learning, and Fertility

Tiny Gene Fragment Key to Memory Revealed

Wasp Mothers Juggle Nests with Memory That Rivals Human Scheduling

From Calls to Communication: A New Look at Language Origins

When Did Humans First Speak? Genes Offer New Clues on Language Origins

Rapidly Evolving DNA May Explain Human Brain Complexity

Genetic Link Between Humans and the Evolution of Speech Found

AI Reveals How Brain Cells Evolved Over 320 Million Years

Upper Body Strength Predicts Sexual Partner Count in Men and Women

Single Nerve Cord Revealed as Ancestor of Ecdysozoan Nervous Systems

Taming Tumor Chaos: Researchers Uncover Key to Improving Glioblastoma Treatment

Hippocampus Predicts Rewards by Reorganizing Memories

Memory Rewritten: Study Finds No Clear Line Between Episodic and Semantic Retrieval

Brain Stimulation Method Can Evaluate Consciousness in Alzheimer’s Disease

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