New research led by Max-Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and University of Cambridge scientists suggests malaria did more than sicken ancient populations, it steered where early humans could live, fragmenting groups and influencing the genetic map of our species. Colucci et al. explored whether Plasmodium falciparum-induced malaria drove habitat choice in human societies 74,000 to 5,000…
Hominins at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel relied on driftwood gathered along a lakeshore to fuel their hearths, according to new research led by archaeologists from the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social and Bar-Ilan University; 780,000-year-old charcoal fragments from the site show that survival wasn’t about finding the…
New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that large language models (LLMs) form structured ‘trust’ assessments much like humans do, yet apply them more mechanically and, sometimes, with stronger, more consistent demographic bias. Large language models implement a coherent but rigid and sometimes biased model of interpersonal trust that only partially aligns with…
Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of fossil ape that lived about 17-18 million years ago in northern Egypt. The discovery suggests that the ancestors of modern apes — and humans — may have emerged not in East Africa, but at a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. Life reconstruction of Masripithecus moghraensis. Image…
Examining 31 ancient societies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, researchers found that democratic systems were more widespread than once believed — and not determined by population size or geography. The Acropolis at Athens by Leo von Klenze. The word ‘democracy’ was, of course, invented by the Greeks — demokratia meant simply that people (demos)…
Paleontologists analyzing fossils from Ethiopia have described a previously unknown crocodile species that shared the landscape with a hominid species called Australopithecus afarensis. Named Crocodylus lucivenator, the formidable predator may have stalked Australopithecus afarensis at watering holes in the wetlands and woodlands of the Pliocene. Crocodylus lucivenator overlapped with the famed Lucy and her hominin…
