Researchers at the University of Maine are theorizing that human beings may be in the midst of a major evolutionary shift—driven not by genes, but by culture. Subscribe to our newsletter for the ...

Think of evolution, and you might think of Darwin’s finches and natural selection. But according to researchers writing in the journal BioScience, it is not our genes that are determining our current ...

It’s widely accepted conventional wisdom that when it comes to creative works—TV shows, films, music, books—consumers crave an optimal balance between novelty and familiarity. What we choose to ...

Scientists at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and the University of Bordeaux in France report that human cultural know-how grew through a long, measured shift from casual ...

Your smartphone probably matters more for your survival than your DNA. That’s the startling implication of new research suggesting humans are in the midst of a fundamental evolutionary shift, with ...

Humans really do rule the world. We took over fast and far, more than any other wild vertebrates. We inhabit nearly every corner of the world, and can thrive in deserts, tropical rainforests and even ...

In Part One of this series, we saw that culture doesn't suffer from the problem that Darwin's theory of natural selection successfully solved: the problem of how change accumulates in biological ...

The killer whale on boat “violence” doesn’t seem to be going away. Last week, an orca (Orcinus orca) reportedly launched itself into a yacht off the coast of the North Sea. The event, which wasn’t ...

In Part One of this series, we saw that culture doesn't suffer from the problem that Darwin's theory of natural selection successfully solved: the problem of how change accumulates in biological ...

Recently, I was walking with some fellow parents after nursery drop-off when we came across a five-pound note lying on the pavement. We stood around it for a moment, a bit awkwardly, until someone ...