The first institution we experience in life is family. As long as humans have existed, they have gathered in groups in order to survive—to pass down knowledge, lend protection, and form bonds. Not only does the institution ...
Social Sciences
Apr 20, 2023
0
40
Multilevel societies are among the most complex societies known in nature. They are organized like Russian nesting dolls—individuals belong to family groups, which belong to clans, which belong to tribes.
Plants & Animals
Mar 10, 2023
0
45
Human populations have waxed and waned over the millennia, with some cultures exploding and migrating to new areas or new continents, others dropping to such low numbers that their genetic diversity plummeted. In some small ...
Evolution
Jun 23, 2022
0
523
What smells we like or dislike is primarily determined by the structure of the particular odor molecule. A collaborative study involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and the University of Oxford, UK, shows ...
Social Sciences
Apr 4, 2022
0
162
Despite wide variety amongst hunger-gatherer cultures, a new analysis finds that a "small world" network configuration is common to the social structures of all such groups. These network structures are constrained by the ...
Social Sciences
Mar 16, 2022
0
21
New insight into how our early ancestors dealt with major shifts in climate is revealed in research, published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution, by an international team, led by Professor Rick Schulting from Oxford University's ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 27, 2022
3
845
One mystery many biologists want to solve is how complexity develops in nature. And among the many social systems in the natural world, multilevel societies stand out for their complexity. Individuals first organize into ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 10, 2022
0
8
Short growing seasons limited the possible size of hunter-gatherer societies by forcing people to rely on meat, according to a recent study by a team of international reseachers including McGill University professor Eric ...
Evolution
Nov 8, 2021
0
249
The evolutionary ability to identify sick individuals is crucial to reducing contagion and thereby improving chances of survival. Although most animals have this ability, whether humans have the same behavioral immune system ...
Evolution
Jul 14, 2021
0
308
Exactly 30 years ago, I was pondering a graph of primate group sizes plotted against the size of their brains: the larger the brain, the larger the group size. I was curious to know what group size this relationship might ...
Social Sciences
May 13, 2021
1
29
