CSBS News

A colossal simulation of the past two million years of Earth’s climate provides evidence that temperature and other planetary conditions influenced early human migration.

Groups of humans follow basic social rules: They build relationships, form alliances and exchange favors to help one another survive.

The evolutionary transition toward human-like traits is often linked to a major dietary shift involving greater meat consumption.

“One of the main, big motivators for the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs was that they were just enthralled by the amount of gold,” stated Richard Paine.

Despite its name, the ice age saw its fair share of wildfires, particularly towards the end. Humans were partly to blame, as was likely a catastrophic comet that burned some 10% of the earth’s surface almost 13,000 years ago. But Faith and his colleagues found another surprising culprit: the disappearance of large grazers.