Sveriges mest populära poddar
Short Wave

What’s In A Kiss? 21 Million Years Of Evolution

9 min28 november 2025
How far back in evolutionary history does kissing go? Through phylogenetic analysis, an international team of scientists found that kissing was likely present in the ancestor of all apes – which lived 21 million years ago. Not only that: They were definitely kissing Neanderthals. The study was published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. In this news roundup, we also talk about new clues about the collision that created our moon and a moss surviving the hardships of space.

Interested in stories about human evolution? Email us your question at [email protected].

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Short Wave med NPR finns tillgänglig på flera plattformar. Informationen på denna sida kommer från offentliga podd-flöden.