10 Sept 2026 The World, the Universe and Us
The first evidence has been discovered that Denisovans lived in south-west China. This ancient species of human spent over 100,000 years in the region and left behind incredible artefacts that tell us how they lived.
64,000 fragments of bone have been discovered from Bianfu Cave in Yunnan province. And the site tells us a lot about the food they ate and the animals they hunted – including rhinoceroses, hyenas and prime-age deers.
As we discover an increasingly sophisticated culture in this previously mysterious species, what does it teach us about ourselves, and how exceptional Homo sapiens really are?
To discuss the findings, Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet are joined by science writer Michael Marshall.
8 Sept 2026
In which John explores the question of historical life expectancy, and how sometimes a misleading narrative is corrected by … a misleading narrative.
If you want to understand historical and present life expectancy in granular detail, I recommend these Our World in Data articles, where I got most of the information in this video:
How Does the Risk of Death Change as We Age? https://ourworldindata.org/how-do-the…
Life Expectancy Has Increased at All Ages: https://ourworldindata.org/life-expec…
It’s Not Just about Child Mortality: https://ourworldindata.org/its-not-ju…
5 Sept 2024
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In this episode of Howtown, we explore how scientists discovered that modern humans carry Neanderthal DNA, and what that reveals about human evolution, ancient interbreeding, and our shared ancestry. The episode traces the story from the first Neanderthal fossils and the old misconceptions surrounding them, through the rise of ancient DNA research, contamination challenges, and the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome, to the genetic evidence showing that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens mixed tens of thousands of years ago. We also examine newer research suggesting that all modern human populations, including Africans, may carry some Neanderthal ancestry, plus a remarkable archaeological discovery in France that may capture one of the closest known encounters between Neanderthals and modern humans. If you’ve ever wondered how scientists know Neanderthals interbred with humans, how ancient DNA is recovered, or whether Neanderthals are really part of our family tree, this episode breaks down the evidence.
Chapters:
00:00 intro
01:06 discovering Neanderthals
03:00 why it’s not easy
04:35 extracting DNA
06:34 assembling the genome
08:00 proving they did it
09:57 the species problem
11:01 Neanderthal DNA in Africa
12:08 a new mystery
15:34 dating problems
16:36 fossilized smoke
18:34 conclusion
19:48 ground news
