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Brain

Representative image of the impact of ancient retrovirus on evolution. Source: alexkich / Adobe Stock

Brain’s Evolutionary Explosion Linked to Ancient Retrovirus Infection

A new study has unraveled a mystery that is key to understanding the course of human and animal evolution. A team of genetic researchers from Altos Labs at the Cambridge Institute of Science in the...
Modern human and Homo erectus man compared.   Source: AlienCat / Adobe Stock

Did a Superhuman Genetic Mutation Rewire Human Evolution? (Video)

Did a superhuman genetic mutation reshape human evolution ? The abrupt emergence of advanced human culture over a short period remains a mystery. Anthropological evidence suggests a radical shift in...
AI generated composite of time, scrolls and ancient ruins.	Source: Bazoom

Human Measurement of Intelligence Through the Ages

Have you ever wondered how our ancestors measured intelligence? It’s a concept that has intrigued societies for millennia. From the examining of head bumps in ancient phrenology to the modern-day IQ...
Two of the wigs on the test dummy used to test the performance of different hair in heat control.  Source: George Havenith/ Loughborough University

Hair Texture Helped Ancient Human Brains Expand 2-Million-Years-Ago

A team of scientists has unveiled fascinating insights into the evolutionary significance of human hair texture. By testing various wigs on a specially designed dummy exposed to solar radiation in a...
Trepanned skulls have been found worldwide, from Siberia to Turkey to Peru. Pictured: Peruvian trepanation patients. Source: University of Miami

Was this Trepanned Skull Found in Turkey the Work of Magicians or Medics?

Researchers in Turkey have unearthed yet another trepanned skull. But was this brutal operation the work of magicians or medics? While the academic disciplines of neurology and neurosurgery didn't...
Neanderthal and modern human skulls. Source: Bruder / Adobe Stock

Big Difference Between Neanderthal and Modern Human Brains Discovered

Neanderthals, a subspecies of archaic humans who split from modern humans sometime between 300,000 and 80,000 years ago, have been the subject of a new study. This study has revealed the presence of...
Conceptual image of a large stone in the shape of a human brain.     Source: Orlando Florin Rosu / Adobe Stock

Searching for Genius: Einstein’s Stolen Brain

When you think of intelligent people, Albert Einstein may be the first name to come to mind. Known as one of history’s greatest geniuses, he fascinated the world with his many contributions to...
A relief depicting the god Anubis attending to the mummy of a worker. The recent study seems to indicate that Egyptian physicians were familiar with stroke victims and how to treat them. Source: Jean Robert Thibault / CC BY-SA 2.0

Scientists Discover 2,700-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Stroke Victim

A detailed medical examination of the remains of one Egyptian mummy led to a surprising and unprecedented discovery. A team of researchers from New Jersey University in the United States, Alcalá...
The human brain has three parts and for millions of years it grew in size but 3,000 years ago it began to get smaller! 						Source: alionaprof / Adobe Stock

Three Thousand Years Ago Human Brain Size Decreased, Says Study

Through the process of greater efficiency, the human brain size began to shrink about 3,000 years ago and this is a huge new revelation in human evolution. The latest research study conclusions...
Study analyzed genus Homo fossils, some of which are shown in this image. Source: Dr. Manuel Will / Nature

New Findings On How Climate Affected Body and Brain Size in Genus Homo

A new study of fossils from the genus Homo from all over the world has concluded that human body size is linked to differences in climate and temperature. In essence they have found that cold...
Engraved giant deer phalanx from a late Middle Palaeolithic context (layer 4.5) at Einhornhöhle, Lower Saxony, Germany.

51,000-year-old Carving Reveals Neanderthals Produced Art

51,000 years ago, our Stone Age hominin cousins, the Neanderthals, left behind a thoughtfully carved and decorated deer toe bone. This piece of conceptual art found in northern Germany has just been...
Discovery of Genetic Mutation Separating Humans and Neanderthals

Discovery of Genetic Mutation That Separates Humans and Neanderthals

An international team of scientists representing Russia, Germany, and the United States have found a unique mechanism at work in the DNA of human beings that helped shape our species’ evolution, the...
It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

It Really Was a Planet of the Apes Two Million Years Ago

New genetic research shows early humans’ brains were “much more ape-like” than what is measured in modern humans. What this means is that the first waves of human ancestors to migrate out of Africa...
Scientists Create Fully Functioning Neanderthal Mini Brain

Scientists Create Fully Functioning Neanderthal Mini Brain

A deep and detailed analysis of Neanderthal DNA has revealed the existence of a distinct gene, called NOVA1, that would have significantly influenced early brain development in this long-extinct...
Monkeys Genetically Engineered with Human Brains!

Monkeys Genetically Engineered with Human Brains!

A human gene injected into monkey brains not only made them larger, but it increased neuron function, making the animals more human. Marmoset brains are much smaller and smoother than human brains...
Republicans and Democrats

US Election: Origins of the Democratic Donkey and Republican Elephant

In case you happen to be one of those people who wonder how everything started, you would be amazed to learn that the two extremely popular party animals have been on the political scene since the...
Vesuvius Eruption Turned Victim’s Brain to Glass!

Vesuvius Eruption Turned Victim’s Brain to Glass!

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius is perhaps the best-known natural disaster in the ancient world. It preserved whole towns and human remains, which have all been priceless from an archaeological point...
The brain was found wrapped in aluminum foil on the shore of Lake Michigan in the USA. Source: James Senda

Sherlock Holmes and the Foil Covered Brain of Lake Michigan

On Tuesday morning, Jimmy Senda, a 47-year-old construction worker and part-time artist from Racine, U.S.A., was strolling along the shore of Lake Michigan at Samuel Myers Park in search of sea glass...
Evolutionary geneticists conducting a genome study have found that Neanderthals had a lower pain threshold than the majority of modern humans. Source: proct_ab / Adobe Stock

Do You Have a Low Pain Threshold? Blame Your Neanderthal Genes

Researchers believe that Neanderthals had a lower pain threshold than modern humans. A study has shown that because of genetic mutations our extinct relatives were more sensitive to pain. We...
Research shows that Egypt’s pyramids and other megaliths worldwide are able to collect and focus electromagnetic energy. Could this be linked to accessing genetic memory and savant-like abilities? Pictured: a representation of the power of the mind. Source: agsandrew / Adobe stock

How the Ancients Accessed Genetic Memory and Savant-Like Abilities

The concept known as “genetic memory” is much less studied and far more controversial than what we know as “regular” memory. Whilst there are a multitude of other examples in animals (see: Gallagher...
Detail of “A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg.’ Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495. Source: Public Domain

Brain Surgeons Performed Complex Procedures on Byzantine Warriors

Human remains found on a Greek island are changing how experts view the development of surgical interventions in the proto-Byzantine period. A skull shows the traces of complex brain surgery . The...
Ectocranial view of the brain surgery of paleopathological specimen: a) red arrow points to orifice on the mastoid process, and b) surgical preparation dimensions peripheral to trephination.         Source: Anagnostis P. Agelarakis / Adelphi University

Researchers Reveal Early Complex Brain Surgery in Ancient Greece

New research from Adelphi University has revealed the first forensically-assessed archaeological discovery of remains of a group of domineering mounted archer-lancers and their kin of the Eastern...
The Heslington skull and brain. Source: Top 5 Scary Videos / YouTube.

The Strange Phenomenon of the 2,600-year-old Heslington Brain

Sometime between 673 BC to 482 BC, in a region that would one day be known as East Heslington York, a mysterious man was hung by the rope and then decapitated ceremoniously. His severed head was...
20-million-year-old skull discovered in the Andes Mountains of Chile. Source: AMNH / Facebook .

20-Million-Year-Old Skull Whispers Evolutionary Secrets

A visually entrapping 20-million-year-old skull is providing new data on the evolution of brains in primates. Imagine looking through a wormhole into the past and seeing your ancient origins up close...

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