The Best of SAPIENS
10+ most popular SAPIENS articles, as voted by our community.
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SAPIENS on Agriculture
With So Few Farmers, Why Are Video Games About Farming So Popular?
An archaeologist considers what farming simulators reveal about humanity’s ancient and evolving relationship with agriculture.
SAPIENS on Food
Confronting Xenophobia Through Food—and Comics
An anthropologist who migrated from India to the U.K. illustrates how fellow migrants from India maintain cultural heritage through food.
Is a “Sweet Tooth” Genetic?
An anthropologist explains the evolutionary origins of why so many people seem practically programmed to love sugar.
SAPIENS on History
Heritage Forensics Is Tackling Devastating New Forms of Cultural Erasure
In the Caucasus, researchers are using aerospace technology to expose the clandestine obliteration of Armenian cultural heritage.
SAPIENS on Nature
Monogamy. Grandmas. Milk. The Evolution of Childhood Is Very Strange.
In a new book, Growing Up Human, a bioarchaeologist chronicles the most surprising evolutionary adaptations of babies and parents.
Did Meat Do Neanderthals In?
An archaeologist examines zinc levels in bones to explore if the carnivorous diets of Neanderthals contributed to their extinction.
SAPIENS on Nutrition
Hunting Down the Facts About Paleo Diets
An evolutionary anthropologist argues that Paleolithic diets were more varied than people think based on research with the Hadza of Tanzania.
SAPIENS on Race
Untangling Race From Hair
One anthropologist has made it her mission to remove racial prejudices from the study of hair and find the evolutionary roots of hair diversity.
SAPIENS on Solar Energy
In Lebanon, Solar Power Is Booming. Why?
An anthropologist explores whether Lebanese turning to solar power is a story of resilience, environmental triumph, or something else.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
Finding Mental Health Issues Hidden in the Past
An archaeologist speculates about how to uncover evidence of depression, anxiety, and neurodiversities in ancient humans.
What the Vai Script Reveals About the Evolution of Writing
Linguistic anthropologists are digging into evolution of the West African Vai script for insights into human cognition and society.
Can We “See” Climate Change?
Climate change skeptics point to ice and snow to seed doubt about global warming—but visible evidence of the changing climate is all around us.
Why Do (Some) Humans Love Chili Peppers?
An anthropologist traces the origins and world travels of one of his favorite kinds of plants: chili peppers.
Did Neanderthals Make Art?
Experts debate whether Neanderthals created art. A paleoanthropologist explores the evidence and the sources of people’s skepticism.
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