Tidbits:
Stories, Quotes, and FAQs.
The wisdom builder tidbits that feed the columns, articles, and trainer.
EVOLUTION
Featured Story
Science
Story
First Life: Self-Replicating Molecules
Pre-LUCA Evolution
Self-replicating molecules mark the moment chemistry began acting like evolution. Once molecules could copy themselves, preserve information, and make imperfect copies. RNA-like molecules may have stored information and helped chemical reactions happen. That reaction-helping ability is called catalysis, and catalytic RNA is called a ribozyme. With memory, variation, and chemical helpers, evolution had its first spark.
Featured QUOTE
Science
Quote
“Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.”
- Charles Darwin
- 1859
Ancient Humans
In On the Origin of Species, first published in 1859 in London, Darwin gave only a short nod to human origins, but it was enough to point the future in a new direction. That small sentence rang the bell for what would later become paleoanthropology.
Featured FAQ
Science
FAQ
Was T. Rex feathered?
Dinosaur Evolution
The T. rex feather question is a great example of how ideas move through categories. Scaly skin impressions are empirical. Comparisons to feathered relatives are rational. A fuzzy young T. rex or partly feathered adult remains speculative. Good thinking means keeping each piece in its proper place.
Updated Tidbits
06 Jun 2026
(Updated 2 weeks ago)
Science
Story
Great Apes: Medicine Emerges
- Medicine Evolves Slowly in Animals
The Dawn of Medical Treatments
06 Jun 2026
(Updated 2 weeks ago)
Science
Story
Skin Color Diversity Across and within Primate Species
Ancient adaptive patterns
06 Jun 2026
(Updated 3 weeks ago)
No more posts to show
Evolution
The Ever-Changing Tree of Life!
From space dust to sapiens and beyond.
The process by which new species arise is well-understood, the evidence compelling and conclusive, our knowledge complete. We can read the fossil record like a book and on these pages we see changes gradually accumulate over millennia.
Aricle Series
Multi-Part Reads
Ancient Humans
Ancient humans were humans on a long evolutionary journey, shaped by both biology and culture.
Evolution
Evolution is the story of how life changes over time through variation, selection, and inheritance, shaping everything from single-celled organisms to human minds, culture, and civilization.
Deep-Dive Articles
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
Michael Alan Prestwood
August 1, 2024
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically at 4,000 BCE.
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
Michael Alan Prestwood
July 6, 2024
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication included things like gestures, postures, and grunts.
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
July 6, 2024
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication ...
Dawn of Humanity: Sapiens in Their First Millennia
May 29, 2024
Our first 1,000 years as Homo sapiens were not crude half-humans waiting to become us. From the beginning, we were already remarkably capable, adaptable people ...
Human Extinction: A New Look From Homo habilis to the Neanderthals
May 5, 2024
Human extinction is not the story of one straight line leading neatly to us. It is the story of many ancient human species living at ...
Must-Reads
Ancient Humans
The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans
The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication ...
Ancient Humans
Neanderthal Clue: Reassessing Intelligence Beyond Human Bias
Neanderthals were not dim, brutish failures of human evolution. Growing evidence shows they were intelligent ancient humans with symbolic thought, culture, and abilities that challenge ...
Animals
Cultural Transmission: The Sharing of Knowledge from Crows to Libraries
Cultural transmission is the passing of learned behavior, knowledge, and traditions from one generation to the next in all animals.
New Ideas
Ancient Humans
Holistic Paleolithic Framework: A New Look at Prehistory
A new look at dividing up the paleolithic era switches from lower, middle, and upper to Stone, Fire, Cultural, Symbolic, Cognitive, and prehistory ending specifically ...
Ancient Humans
EQ: The Story of Ancient Human Brains
Ancient human brains evolved gradually over millions of years, with important bursts of change, producing minds that were often far more capable than traditional stories ...
Ancient Humans
Hominin Census: A Speculative Journey to 700,000 and 300,000 BCE
Estimates of ancient human populations of a few hundred are misleading. They lean too heavily on surviving DNA lines. DNA traces direct surviving lines, not ...
Updated Articles
TST COLUMN
24 Apr 2024
Debut
Science
Article
Hominin Census: A Speculative Journey to 700,000 and 300,000 BCE
Human Evolution
Wed 24 Apr 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 4 weeks ago.
TST COLUMN
05 May 2024
Debut
History
Article
Human Extinction: A New Look From Homo habilis to the Neanderthals
Ancient Humans
Sun 5 May 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 1 month ago.
TST COLUMN
29 May 2024
History
Article
Dawn of Humanity: Sapiens in Their First Millennia
Ancient Humans
Wed 29 May 2024
(2 years ago)
Updated 1 month ago.
The Timelines
Great Apes Evolution Timeline
Michael Alan Prestwood
May 4, 2024
Primates, Hominids, Hominins, & Humans.
TST Evolution Timeline
Michael Alan Prestwood
June 20, 2021
From LUCA 3.75 billion years ago to primates.
All Evolution Timelines
March to Consciousness: The Soul Timeline
April 2, 2021
Animal consciousness is the combination of cognition and sensory input, with human consciousness being the most advanced on Earth.



























