Human Origins

The Sperm Crisis: A Tough Nut to Crack

Bad food, bad genes, and monogamy are sucking the life out of human sperm. But conceptive gels and stem cells could bring some virility back. 11.08.2011

Egypt's Ancient Fleet: Lost for Thousands of Years, Discovered in a Desolate Cave

An ancient harbor on 
the Red Sea proves 
ancient Egyptians 
mastered oceangoing technology and 
launched a series of 
ambitious expeditions 
to far-off lands. 
 09.06.2011

Homo Sapiens, Meet Your New Astounding Family

Once we shared the planet with other 
human species, 
competing with them and interbreeding with them. Today 
we stand alone, but our rivals’ genes live on inside us—even as their remarkable stories are only 
now coming to light. 07.28.2011

Monkeys 
& Morality

The institutions of science are slowly unwinding and assessing the problems that have been revealed in psychologist Marc Hauser's research. 06.20.2011

5 Questions for the Woman Who Found Somalia's History

After Sada Mire returned to her homeland, she found archaeological treasures that hadn't been seen in thousands of years. 06.19.2011

How Societies Slowly Rise—and Suddenly Fall

New models suggest groups of humans evolve following some universal rules, and not unlike how organisms evolve. 06.16.2011

Bronze Age Brain Surgeons

5,000 years ago, people living in Turkey were surprisingly good at what seems like a purely modern practice. 06.08.2011

Lost Civilizations Found in the Jungle

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Amazon may have been a much different landscape, with millions of human inhabitants managing the land. 05.10.2011

#5: Family Genomics Links DNA to Disease

04.28.2011

If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?

Here are some leading theories about the why the human brain has been getting smaller since the Stone Age. 01.20.2011

The Alien Seekers of SETI Are Just Getting Started

For 50 years a devoted group of scientists has been listening for signals from intelligent life. Despite all the dead air, the true believers say the odds of success are now better than ever. 01.03.2011

#89: Chinese Pompeii Unearthed

12.16.2010

#81: Melting Ice Exposes the Past


12.16.2010

#75: Social Life Begins in the Womb

12.16.2010

#72: Stone-Age Romeos and Juliets


12.16.2010

#53: Medical Secrets Inside a 2,000-Year-Old Pill


12.16.2010