Culture is central to defining humanity. Throughout history, many definitions have been proposed to describe what we mean when we talk about culture, leading to considerable confusion. But while ...

Human beings are animals, evolved from ancestral great apes. We are part of nature and yet unique in many ways. It was once thought that humans were the only animals with culture: the learned rather ...

Of the 8.7 million species on Earth, why are human beings the only one that paints self-portraits, walks on the Moon and worships gods? For decades, many scholars have argued that the difference stems ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

Two chimpanzees meeting with each other apparently have a discussion using hand gestures, one of the human-like characteristics of other mammals. (Getty Images) Of the 8.7 million species on Earth, ...

Eli Elster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Did you know that there are ten quintillion—or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000—individual insects on the planet? That means that for each and every one of us humans, there are 1.25 billion insects hopping, ...

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Why is human culture — the shared body of knowledge passed down across generations — so much more powerful than animal cultures? “What’s special about our species?” is a question scientists have ...