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Are we all related?

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Basic math tells us that all humans share ancestors, but it’s amazing how recently those shared ancestors lived. Thanks to genetic data in the 21st century, scientists are discovering that we really are all descended from one mother. It’s Okay To Be Smart explores our common human ancestry.

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Just 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, Earth was home to three or four separate human species, including our most famous cousins: the Neanderthals. New research has shown that Neanderthals were not the brutish, unintelligent cavemen that cartoons make them out to be. So why did they go extinct as soon as Homo sapiens moved into their territory? Find out why we're the only humans left

Are humans still evolving? And just how fast is that adaptation taking place? Explore genetic adaptions in the past 3,000 years, and find out how technological innovation is impacting our evolution. 

We rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but how accurate are these DNA tests? Explore what DNA tests can and can’t tell us about our ancestry. 

Listen to this TED Radio Hour with geneticist Spencer Wells looking for the “Mitochondrial Eve” and examining the spread of humanity over the last 200,000 years as told by our mitochondria.

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