Aging insight: Scientists have found that aging in the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (shown here) may result in part from a developmental pathway gone awry. Credit: Yelena Budovskaya

Environmental stresses and cell damage play a role in the longevity of humans and simple soil-dwelling nematodes. But new research from Stanford University shows that in the short-lived worm Caenorhabditis elegans, such stresses have no effect on the changes in gene expression that accompany worm aging, hinting that another process is at ...

Did the first modern humans in Europe share a bed with nearby Neanderthals? Almost certainly not, according to a new analysis of 28,000 year old Cro-Magnon DNA. The Cro-Magnons were the first modern Homo sapiens in Europe, living there between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago. Their DNA sequences match those of today's Europeans, says Guido ...

A new publication answers centuries' old questions regarding the mechanism and function of humour, identifying the reason humour is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of homo sapiens and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants. Alastair Clarke explains: "The theory is an ...

Louisiana's evolution education could see an overhaul soon, after lawmakers passed a bill protecting the rights of teachers who challenge the theory. The Louisiana Science Education Act breezed through the state senate June 16 with a 36-0 vote, after being approved by the house the week before. The landmark bill allows an "open and ...

For most folks, a nice hug and some sympathy can help a bit after we get pushed around. Turns out, chimpanzees use hugs and kisses the same way. And it works. Researchers studying people's closest genetic relatives found that stress was reduced in chimps that were victims of aggression if a third chimp stepped in to offer ...

What do parasites and mountains have in common? They both keep populations apart and drive evolution, say researchers. In the absence of geographical barriers such as mountains and oceans, parasite "wedges" keep populations of the same species apart, say Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico in the US. They ...

(Cross-posted from Metamagician and the Hellfire Club.)  When Hollywood movies depict mutated human beings — sometimes beautifully, grotesquely, or bizarrely transformed in appearance from the Homo sapiens norm — they draw upon traditions that are thousands of years old. Throughout recorded history, human myths, legends, and ...

To accompany the article So you think humans are unique? we have selected six articles from the New Scientist archive that tell a similar story. We have also asked the researchers involved to update us on their latest findings. Plus, we have rounded up six videos of animals displaying 'human' abilities. ...

Despite a court-ordered ban on the teaching of creationism in US schools, about one in eight high-school biology teachers still teach it as valid science, a survey reveals. And, although almost all teachers also taught evolution, those with less training in science – and especially evolutionary biology – tend to devote less class ...