Anthropology

When something dies, a telltale radioactive signal ticks like a natural clock. Discovering it helped us solve all sorts of natural mysteries.

In 1960, Jane Goodall began her groundbreaking field study by living among chimpanzees in Tanzania. In 1986, she told the BBC how similar chimps and humans really are.

For centuries, an intriguing sequel to the tale of Merlin has sat unseen within the bindings of an Elizabethan register. Cutting-edge techniques have revealed it for the first time.

Michael Norton has spent decades studying why human relationships last. Sharing rituals – from a clink of a glass to Christmas Day traditions – have a powerful positive effect.

Teaching rats to drive a tiny car around a laboratory taught scientists a lot about the benefits of anticipating the joy brought by the things we love.

In Ancient Babylonia, soups and stews reigned supreme. Food historians are now using taste-tests to recover their forgotten flavours.

The brains of modern humans are around 13% smaller than those of Homo sapiens who lived 100,000 years ago. Exactly why is still puzzling researchers.

The way Pacific Islanders used to navigate using only cues found in the environment may seem irrelevant today. But natural navigation still holds surprising lessons.