Which came first – the running or the brain? Running could be the reason humans were able to hunt large game and consume the protein needed for a big brain.

Duke University psychologist Tanya Chartrand enlists Alan as a participant in her research, and shows that subtle mimicry can lead to positive emotions.

The Human Spark crew members had to keep our wits about us when we filmed on the Puerto Rican island of Cayo Santiago. It’s home to a free-ranging group of monkeys!

In this video, Laurie Santos pulls a switcheroo on her monkey research subjects. Will they notice when a fruit that starts rolling down a plank as a kiwi reaches the bottom as a lime?

A new study looked at how macaque monkeys respond to other monkeys’ efforts at communication in the form of drumming or vocalizing.

For John Shea, the way we posed our questions about the human spark got him pondering the evolution of our human uniqueness in a new way.

Here John Shea shares a bit more about his research interests – and what it’s like to be interviewed for television!

A new study suggests that chimpanzees do help out other chimps – but are much more likely to help if the chimp in need basically asks for it.

John Shea at Stony Brook University is keeping alive the stone toolmaking technologies used by our most ancient ancestors.

Dr. Svante Pääbo, an evolutionary biologist featured in The Human Spark, was recently awarded the 2009 Kistler Prize. Watch video of Dr. Pääbo with Alan Alda.