Humans news stories

Skeletons from ‘green Sahara’ offer genetic peek at a lost human population
3rd April 2025 | science.org | Ancient, Earth, Humans

Today, the Sahara Desert is a sea of sand, but 7000 years ago it was a lush savanna full of hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and giraffes. During a humid, monsoon-heavy interval that spanned more than 5 millennia, people hunted, fished, and eventually herded livestock in a landscape now covered by shifting dunes. The findings are reported in a paper this week in Nature.

‘City-Killer’ Asteroid Impact Still a Possibility (Just Not With Earth)
2nd April 2025 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

According to a report led by planetary astronomer Andrew Rivkin of Johns Hopkins University, 2024 YR4 has a small chance of smacking into the Moon when the asteroid next flies close to Earth in December 2032.

Stone tool discovery in China shows people in East Asia were innovating during the Middle Paleolithic, like in Europe and Middle East
1st April 2025 theconversation.com | Ancient, Humans

In a study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of international collaborators describe their discovery in China of the first complete example of a Middle Paleolithic technology previously seen only in Europe and the Middle East.

Why children may have taken part in creating prehistoric cave art
1st April 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

A team of Tel Aviv University researchers from the field of prehistoric archaeology has proposed an innovative hypothesis regarding an intriguing question: Why did ancient humans bring their young children to cave-painting sites—deep underground—through dark, meandering, hazardous passages? The paper is published in the journal Arts.

Scientists find genetic basis for how much people enjoy music
31st March 2025 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

A new twin study published in Nature Communications provides evidence that how much people enjoy music is partly influenced by genetic factors. Researchers found that over half the variation in people’s sensitivity to musical pleasure can be traced back to genetic differences.

A ‘landmark finding’: Homo naledi buried their dead 250,000 years ago, according to newly updated research
31st March 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans

Controversial claim that Homo naledi buried its dead gets new proof from 2025 research study.

A Huge Discovery in Morocco Could Rewrite The History of Africa
31st March 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

A new archaeological discovery at Kach Kouch in Morocco challenges the long-held belief that the Maghreb (north-west Africa) was an empty land before the arrival of the Phoenicians from the Middle East in around 800 BCE. It reveals a much richer and more complex history than previously thought.

Searching for green in a concrete world
28th March 2025 | bbc.co.uk | Animal Life, Earth, Humans

Kwesia X grew up in south east London, surrounded by busy roads and tower blocks. When faced with tragedy and homelessness, she turned to nature to find peace. Now she’s working hard to bring the experience of the natural world to young people in the city, and they’re often amazed by the plants and creatures living in the concrete jungle. You can find her videos on her YouTube channel, City Girl in Nature.

New study shows LSD changes brain connectivity in unique ways compared to MDMA and amphetamines
28th March 2025 sp-ao.shortpixel.ai | Humans, Misc.

A new brain imaging study has revealed that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) alters brain connectivity in ways that are notably different from methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA) and d-amphetamine…The research was published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Mysterious Giants May Be a Whole New Kind of Life That No Longer Exists
28th March 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

Researchers in the UK have now suggested in a report that is yet to be peer reviewed that there’s a very good reason these oddities don’t fit neatly on the tree of life – they belong to a branch all of their own, with no modern equivalent.

The Colorado psychedelic mushroom experiment has arrived
26th March 2025 abcnews.go.com | Humans, Misc.

Colorado regulators are issuing licenses for providing psychedelic mushrooms and are planning to authorize the state’s first “healing centers,” where the mushrooms can be ingested under supervision, in late spring or early summer.

How ancient stone kitchens preserve food secrets
26th March 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Humans

The mortar, pestle and cutting board in your kitchen are modern versions of manos and metates—ancient cooking implements found in archaeological sites around the world. The latest findings were published last month in the journal American Antiquity.

25,000-year-old mammoth bones reveal culture of ancient humans
26th March 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Humans

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of at least five woolly mammoths at a site in Austria. The remains suggest that ancient humans processed the mammoths’ ivory tusks 25,000 years ago.

1.5 million-year-old bone tools discovered in Tanzania rewrite the history of human evolution
25th March 2025 theconversation.com | Ancient, Humans

The discovery of bone implements that are the oldest ever found, by far, casts light on human evolution. It shows that our hominin ancestors were able to think about and make this technology a lot earlier than anyone realised. The research was published in Nature.

Can ibogaine repair brain damage in multiple sclerosis? New case reports spark interest
24th March 2025 | psypost.org | Humans, Misc.

In a recent case report published in Frontiers in Immunology, scientists in Canada described how an experimental treatment using a naturally derived substance called ibogaine appeared to improve symptoms and brain health in two individuals with multiple sclerosis.

This Ancient Scratch May Be One of Humanity’s Oldest Rock Symbols
24th March 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Humans

It may look like just another random boulder, but this old Spanish rock bears engraved lines that could be an astounding 200,000 years old, according to government officials.

News stories covering humans, psychology and health.