Sleep is one of the defining traits of human life. It's also one of the most mysterious. Dr. Horacio de la Iglesia is a neurobiologist who's on a quest to understand how patterns of human sleep evolved. His new research shows an unexpected connection between sleep and the cycles of the moon. Links de la Iglesia Lab Moonstruck Sleep  It's not just the pandemic. The moon may be messing with your sleep, too  The de la Iglesia Lab Sleep and Homelessness Project Science and Evolution of Sleep | Ask a Biologist Podcast Recommendation: Our Opinions Are Correct   The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. All donations to support the podcast will be quadruple-matched thanks to Jeanne Newman and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. Click leakeyfoundation.donorsupport.co/page/originstories to donate!   Lunch Break Science Lunch Break Science is The Leakey Foundation's web series featuring short talks and interviews with Leakey Foundation grantees. Episodes stream live on the first and third Thursdays of every month. Sign up for event reminders and watch past episodes at leakeyfoundation.org/live    

Sleep and the Moon

Explore human evolution one story at a time. This award-winning show blends storytelling with science that will change your understanding of who we are.

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Why do humans have most of our hair on our heads, not our bodies? Why do we have so many varieties of hair color, thickness, and curliness? Dr. Tina Lasisi is a biological anthropologist whose work explores these evolutionary mysteries. In this episode, she shares her research into why humans have scalp hair as well as her insights on why curly hair is uniquely human.  Links to learn more:  Dr. Tina Lasisi's website  Why Am I Like This? - PBS Terra series Dr. Lasisi's AMNH/Leakey Foundation SciCafe lecture Why Care About Hair? Leakey Foundation event  Quantifying variation in human scalp hair - research paper  Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to human origins research and education. Donate to support the show. Your gift will be quadruple-matched! Click here to give! This episode was produced by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Theme music by Henry Nagle, additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere.  

The Story of Human Hair

Music is universal in all human cultures, but why? What gives us the ability to hear sound as music? Are we the only musical species–or was Darwin right when he said every animal with a backbone should be able to perceive, if not enjoy music? Professor Henkjan Honing is on a mission to find out. Learn more  Henkjan Honing's website Music Cognition Group Blog The Evolving Animal Orchestra - Henkjan Honing What makes us musical animals - Henkjan Honing lecture Henkjan Honing TedX Amsterdam Snowball dancing to the Backstreet Boys Ronan the sea lion Songs to make the forest happy It turns out we were born to groove - beat perception study  Support the show All monthly or one-time donations will be quadruple-matched! Click here to turn $10 into $40 or $25 into $100! Credits This episode was written and produced by Ray Pang and Meredith Johnson. Sound design, mixing, and scoring by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Theme music by Henry Nagle, additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere.  This episode uses many sounds from Freesound.org, including: Neon Dreams: A Retro-Futuristic Synthwave Track - Instrument 02 by Robbnix  - License: Attribution 4.0 Music Box, Happy Birthday.wav - by InspectorJ - License: Attribution 4.0    

The Musical Ape

What is it like to be responsible for the safekeeping of the ancestors of everyone in the world? In this episode, we travel to the National Museum of Ethiopia to see our most famous fossil relative – Lucy – and meet Yared Assefa, the person who takes care of her and all of our Ethiopian fossil ancestors and relatives.  If you love fossils, you won't want to miss this episode! Special thanks Thanks to Yared Assefa, Dr. Berhane Asfaw, and Dr. Mulugeta Feseha, who hosted The Leakey Foundation at the National Museum of Ethiopia. Quadruple your impact! Support the show! Your donation will be quadruple-matched! Leave a note and let us know if you'd like a shoutout on the next episode. Click here to donate! ---> https://leakeyfoundation.donorsupport.co/page/originstories  Links to learn more  President Obama's speech to the African Union  Lucy: A marvelous specimen  Top ten human evolution discoveries in Ethiopia  Rare 3.8 million-year-old fossil skull recasts origins of iconic Lucy  Ethiopia is top choice for the cradle of Homo sapiens The Leakey Foundation Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. Funding provided by the Foundation has made many of the fossil hominin discoveries in Ethiopia possible. In addition, Our Baldwin Fellowship program has been building scientific capacity in Ethiopia and other countries since 1978. We also have a new program called the Francis H. Brown African Scholarship Fund that provides up to $25,000 for East African students or early career researchers in botany and geology. Learn about all of our grant programs at leakeyfoundation.org/grants Lunch Break Science Lunch Break Science is The Leakey Foundation's online series featuring short talks and interviews with Leakey Foundation grantees. Feed your brain with Lunch Break Science every third Thursday at 11 am Pacific on Facebook, YouTube, and leakeyfoundation.org/live. Credits Host and Producer: Meredith Johnson Editor: Audrey Quinn Theme Music: Henry Nagle Additional Music: Lee Rosevere "Tech Toys" and music from Blue Dot Sessions.  Sponsors Origin Stories is made possible by support from Jeanne Newman, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund, and donors like you!

Custodian of the Ancestors

Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability. Support the show Help us make more episodes! All tax-deductible donations to Origin Stories will be quadruple-matched! >>>> Please click here to make a one-time or monthly donation.  Guests  Dr. Jennifer Miller Dr. Yiming Wang  Links to learn more  Ostrich eggshell beads reveal 50,000-year-old social network in Africa (open access) An ancient social safety net in Africa was built on beads Are these snail shells the world's oldest known beads? Zambezi basin (Wikipedia)  Paleoclimatology info and interactive paleoclimate map (National Centers for Environmental Education   Sponsors and credits This episode was generously sponsored by Leakey Foundation Fellow Eddie Kislinger in honor of his wife, jewelry designer Cathy Waterman. Her designs are inspired by nature and influenced by her study of and connection with ancient human history. We are grateful to them for making this episode possible. Additional support comes from Jeanne Newman, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund, and our listener-supporters. Origin Stories is produced by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Theme music by Henry Nagle. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere.

A Brief History of Bling

2023 was another exciting year in human origins research! Fossil discoveries and long-term primate studies expanded our understanding of what makes us human. In this episode, four Leakey Foundation scientists shared their favorite human evolution discoveries from the past year. Help us make more episodes! All tax-deductible donations to Origin Stories will be quadruple-matched! >>>> Please click here to make a one-time or monthly donation.  Guests   Briana Pobiner Emma Finestone Nasser Malit  Risa Luther  Links to learn more   Top 13 Discoveries in Human Evolution, 2023 Edition Hunting and processing of straight-tusked elephants 125,000 years ago: Implications for Neanderthal behavior (open-access research paper)  Neanderthals lived in groups big enough to eat giant elephants Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago (open-access research paper Early Homo erectus lived at high altitudes and produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools (open-access research paper) The surprising toolbox of the early Homo erectus Demographic and hormonal evidence for menopause in wild chimpanzees (open-access research paper)  Wild chimpanzees experience menopause Chimpanzee menopause revealed ft. Melissa Emery Thompson (Lunch Break Science on YouTube)  Sponsors and credits Origin Stories is sponsored by Jeanne Newman, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation,  and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.  Origin Stories is produced by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Theme music by Henry Nagle. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere.

Sleep and the Moon

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