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Human Adaptation

All articles tagged with #human adaptation

science4 months ago

Ancient Space Event Altered Human Evolution 41,000 Years Ago

Approximately 41,000 years ago, a significant geomagnetic disruption called the Laschamps Excursion weakened Earth's magnetic field, leading to increased solar radiation exposure, which likely influenced human behavior and adaptation, such as increased sheltering and use of ochre for protection. This interdisciplinary research links space weather to human history, highlighting how ancient environmental changes impacted our ancestors' lives.

via SciTechDaily|
#geomagnetic-event#human-adaptation#laschamps-excursion
health1 year ago

Canadian Teen's Bird Flu Strain Shows Human Adaptation Signs

A Canadian teenager hospitalized with the H5N1 bird flu virus has shown mutations that could potentially allow the virus to spread more easily among humans, though no further cases have been identified. The mutations enable the virus to attach to human cells more effectively, raising concerns among scientists about the virus's potential to adapt further. Despite these findings, experts stress that this is not the start of a pandemic, as the virus has not shown effective human-to-human transmission.

via CNN|
#bird-flu#h5n1#health
archaeologyanthropology1 year ago

"Surviving the 74,000-Year-Old Supervolcano Eruption"

Microscopic glass shards from the Toba supervolcano eruption in Ethiopia suggest that early modern humans survived the event by adapting to extreme arid conditions, shifting their diet to include more fish. This challenges the idea that humans couldn't survive in such climates and offers an alternate theory for human dispersal out of Africa. The study also provides evidence that humans were flexible in their adaptations and could overcome environmental challenges, contradicting the popular belief that the Toba eruption nearly drove humans to extinction.

via The Washington Post|
#ancient-humans#archaeologyanthropology#climate-change
science2 years ago

The Surprising Ways Hair Helped Early Humans Stay Cool and Regrow Hair Today

A new study has found that tightly curled hair provides the best protection from the sun's radiative heat while minimizing the need to sweat to stay cool. The research examined the role human hair textures play in regulating body temperature and can shed light on an evolutionary adaptation that enabled the human brain to grow to modern-day sizes. As early humans evolved to walk upright in equatorial Africa, the tops of their heads increasingly took the brunt of solar radiation, and scalp hair likely evolved as a way to reduce the amount of heat gain from solar radiation, thereby keeping humans cool without the body having to expend extra resources.

via Phys.org|
#body-temperature#evolution#hair