Another blow has been dealt to Darwin's opponents. Biologists have found new evidence that human evolution continues

In a couple of years, every sixteenth resident of the American city of Framingham will be in the clinic. Doctors themselves will persistently call them there. First, they will send polite letters of invitation to the townspeople. Then they start calling the home phone. As a result, doctors hope that 4,000 out of 60,000 residents of the town will come for a detailed medical examination. They will be measured and weighed, given blood tests and forced to fill out lengthy questionnaires. Framingham has long been accustomed to this.

Back in 1948, a large-scale medical study began here - scientists invited 5,000 people of all ages to participate in the experiment. Volunteers were examined every two years, and in 1971 the researchers switched to their children. Doctors are now working with the third generation of volunteers. 100 participants in the experiment served science even after their death - they bequeathed their brains to neurophysiologists.

The results of all studies are entered into a single database. With its help, scientists are trying to figure out to what extent the tendency to various diseases is inherited. More recently, a famous experiment has attracted the attention of scientists from another field of biology. Stephen Stearns of Yale University has studied how its participants have changed over the generations. He managed to prove: in the modern population of people, a real evolution is still taking place.

Many scientists believe that a person has long ceased to change. Seven years ago, the famous British geneticist Steve Jones sent to the cemetery all those who disagreed with this thesis. “Look at the old Victorian tombstones. You will immediately see how many people then died in early childhood, ”Jones told reporters before speaking at a seminar on evolutionary theory. The successes of modern medicine, he explained, put an end to human evolution: carriers of unfavorable genes now not only live to old age, but also leave offspring - what kind of natural selection is there. Stephen Stearns convincingly refutes his British namesake.

The researcher compared the results of medical examinations of 5,000 Framingham residents of different generations. He was interested exclusively in women - simply because the doctors watched their condition with special attention. Each participant in the experiment was examined at least nine times.

Stearns was able to discover a curious pattern - daughters differed markedly from their mothers in a number of ways. First of all, the scientist was struck by the difference in proportions. On average, daughters were slightly heavier than their mothers. It was not about obesity, but about a slight increase in body fat. But the blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the blood of daughters were lower than those of their parents. The difference between generations was not limited to these simple indicators. Representatives of the younger generation retained the ability to reproduce longer - their menopause came later. All differences between mothers and daughters were not very great - some fractions of a percent. However, Stearns proved that all of his observations were statistically valid.

Among the participants in the experiment were women of very different origins - with English, Irish, Italian and French roots. All of them fell under the regularity discovered by the biologist. The researcher also took into account possible social differences between the volunteers. All this had very little effect on medical indicators.

Finally, the difference between generations could be explained by the intervention of medicine - the results of the examination could not but be influenced by the drugs taken by women. First of all, these are strong hormonal agents. The biologist also refuted this version - during the experiment, women reported on the hormonal drugs they were taking. Stearns studied their list and came to the conclusion that they had no influence.

Now Stearns claims that his observations reflect nothing more than the course of evolution. Over many years of experimentation, natural selection has taken place in the modern human population, he says. And the difference between generations is the result of changes in the genotype. “You don't have to think too harshly about natural selection,” says Stearns. “In order for certain genes to spread in a population, they do not have to directly affect the survival of their owners.” It is quite sufficient that people with a certain genotype will, on average, have more offspring. The biologist supports his reasoning with statistics. For example, a slight increase in weight in daughters compared to mothers was correlated with an increase in the number of children.

“It is known that the hormonal status is highly dependent on the level of fat, says Stearns. “Changes in this parameter may well affect reproductive performance.” The number of children could not but be affected by another factor - a later menopause. According to the biologist, the selection of women on these grounds has been going on for more than one generation, and his study covers only an insignificant stage of such evolution. However, it cannot be said that it is going so slowly. "At the same rate, traits are changing in populations of some fish species," says Stearns. He cites the example of chinook salmon - one of the largest species of salmon. Fish, of course, are affected by real natural selection.

The biologist has built a mathematical model capable of predicting human evolution for many years to come. If things continue like this, after 300 years, the weight of a healthy woman will increase by about 2%, but menopause will, on average, occur almost a year later.

“This work is a strong argument in favor of the fact that selection continues in the modern population,” Jerry Coyne, a well-known scientist and fighter against creationism, argues in his blog. Comments on this entry are almost entirely composed of technical terms and links to publications - the news is discussed by professional biologists. Shamil Sunyaev, a professor at Harvard Medical School, is delighted with the new work: “No one has yet been able to follow the changes in the human body in such a short time for evolution.” True, according to him, only a large-scale genetic analysis can finally prove the existence of evolution in modern society.

Perhaps it will happen soon. More and more scientists are engaged in such observations. And even now, with the help of these studies, it is possible to prove that human evolution took place quite recently. In 2007, an international team of geneticists led by Leena Peltonen from the University of Helsinki conducted a large-scale comparison of the genomes of representatives of various nationalities. Scientists were looking for specific forms of genes responsible for the normal absorption of lactose. This carbohydrate found in milk can cause severe indigestion in some people.

After the first five years of life, the body begins to lose the ability to absorb this substance. How fast this happens depends on the genes. Lactose intolerance is the least common in Europe. But Asians are not so lucky. Almost all of them suffer from this congenital defect. You can read about it in any biology textbook.

Europeans started drinking milk almost 10,000 years ago. At that time, lactose resistance was not very common in the population. Over time, gene variants that allow you to drink milk without problems came to the fore - they were affected by selection. The Peltonen group proved that the classic school example is not so simple. Scientists have discovered in the genotype of the inhabitants of southern Italy and the Basque Country previously undescribed variants of the genes that determine resistance to lactose. These genes were not similar to each other, but something united them - the analysis showed that they arose only 1500 years ago. For evolution, this is a negligible time.

Similarities and differences between humans and animals. Ch. Darwin was the first to put the problem of the origin of man on a scientific basis. In The Descent of Man (1871), he argued that man has an animal origin and a common ancestor with the living great apes.

This is confirmed by the commonality of the structure of the skeleton, limbs, all major systems, intrauterine development of the embryo, the presence of mammary glands, diaphragms, general diseases and about 90 rudiments and atavisms (fold in the corner of the eyes, sparse delicate hair all over the body, polymammary, coccygeal bone, external ponytail and etc.).

As a biological species, a person belongs to the type of chordates, a subtype of vertebrates, a class of mammals, a detachment of primates, a genus - Homo, a species - Sapiens - a reasonable person.

Along with similarities, a person has a number of features that distinguish him from animals. Upright posture, the structure of the skull, a large volume of the brain, articulate speech, abstract thinking, the ability to make and use tools - all this is a consequence of different directions of evolution and, in particular, labor activity. Man lives in society, obeys social laws; the basis of his life is work in a team. He develops sciences and art, He has a second signal system. These qualities have developed under the influence of social factors. Their significance in the development of mankind (anthropogenesis) was revealed by F. Engels in his work “The Role of Labor in the Process of the Transformation of Apes into Man” (1896). He proved that labor was the main guiding factor in human evolution. “With the advent of labor, the biological patterns of human development are replaced by social ones. Man, influencing nature in the process of labor, transformed it. At the same time, he changed himself, his position in nature changed.

Stages of human evolution. The initial step in the transformation of ape-like creatures into humans was bipedalism. It arose in connection with climate change, the sparseness of forests and the transition of these creatures to a terrestrial way of life. Freed from the function of support and movement, the hands turned into an organ that uses tools. These advantages in individual creatures were fixed by natural selection. In the future, these creatures began to consciously manufacture tools and, having undergone significant changes, the hand became both an organ and a product of labor.

The development of labor activity contributed to the rapprochement of members of society. In the process of joint work, they exchanged gestures and sounds. Changed the structure and functions of the larynx. At a certain stage of development, articulate speech appeared.

The more complex tools and labor processes, the use of fire, meat food, the emergence of articulate speech contributed to the further development of the cerebral cortex and thinking.

All these qualities allowed ancient people to improve tools, settle in new, more severe places, build dwellings, make clothes, utensils, use fire, breed animals, grow plants. Labor became more diverse, there was a division of labor, people entered into new social relations. Trade, science, art, politics, religion arose; tribes formed nations and states. The human brain became capable of perceiving the experience of the material and spiritual culture of previous generations, and a “social program” arose. As mankind developed, it expanded and became more complex, and especially increased in the age of the scientific and technological revolution.

From generation to generation, in the process of training and education, the historical experience of mankind (its “social program”) was passed on. Human life was no longer governed by natural selection. A person has formed a social, suprabiological sphere.

The common ancestors of humans and modern, great apes are considered parapithecus. One of their branches gave gibbons and orangutans, and the other - driopithecus - extinct arboreal apes. One branch of the Dryopithecus led to chimpanzees and gorillas, and the other to modern man. Therefore, man and modern apes have common ancestors, but they are different branches of the family tree.

The evolution of human ancestors is presented in the table.

Human ancestors (fossil forms)	Where and when did you live	progressivetraits in appearance	Progressive lifestyle features	Tools
Initial forms - australopithecines (australo - southern, pithec - monkey)	South and East Africa, South Asia, 9-2 million years ago	Height 120-140 cm, skull volume 500-600 cm 3	They walked on two legs, lived among the rocks in open places, ate meat food	Stones, sticks, animal bones were used as tools.
The oldest people - Pithecanthropes (monkey-man)	Africa, Mediterranean, about. Java, about 10,000 years ago	Height 150 cm, brain volume 900-1000 cm 3 , low forehead, with superciliary ridge; jaws without chin protrusion	Lived in primitive herds in caves, without dwellings, used fire	They made primitive stone tools, used sticks
Sinanthropus (Chinese person)	China and others, 900 - 400 thousand years ago	Height 150-160 cm, brain volume 850-1220 cm 3 , low forehead, with superciliary ridge, lower jaw without chin protrusion	They lived in herds, built primitive shelters, used fire, dressed in skins	They made tools from stone and bones.
Ancient people - Neanderthals	Europe, Africa, Central Asia, 200-400 thousand years ago	Height 155-165 cm, brain volume 1400 cm 3, few convolutions, low forehead, with a superciliary ridge; chin protrusion is poorly developed	They lived in groups of 100 people in caves, used fire for cooking, dressed in skins. In communication, they used gestures and primitive speech. There was a division of labor	Manufactured a variety of tools from stone and wood
Modern people - Cro-Magnons	Everywhere, 40-30 thousand years ago	Height up to 180 cm, brain volume 1600 cm 3 , high forehead, no ridge, lower jaw	They lived in a tribal society, built dwellings, decorated them with drawings. Made clothes	Manufactured a variety of tools from stone and wood

Races of man.

In the early stages of evolution, the path of human development was the same. Later, the ancient ancestors of modern people settled in small groups in different parts of the globe, where environmental conditions were heterogeneous. So the main races arose: Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid. Each of them has its own morphological features, skin color, eye shape, shape of the nose, lips, hair, etc. But all these are external, secondary signs. The features that make up the human essence, such as consciousness, labor activity, speech, the ability to cognize and subdue nature, are the same for all races.

The phylogenetic tree of Homo sapiens has only been constructed in general terms. The main stages of human evolution are characterized in the table:

The main stages of human evolution

Anthropoids	hominids
Dryopithecus	Australopithecus (Australopithecine)	skillful man	Ancient people (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus)	Ancient people (Neanderthal)	New people (Cro-Magnon, human)
Age, years
18 million	5 million	2-3 million	2 million - 200 thousand	250-35 thousand	50-40 thousand
Appearance
Small animals with a rounded skull, binocular vision, a well-developed brain; can be upright	Weight up to 50 kg, height up to 150 cm, hands free, upright posture	The phalanges of the fingers are flattened, the first toe is not laid aside	Height is about 160 cm, massive skeleton, body position is half-bent	Height 155-165 cm, stocky people, walked somewhat bent over	Height is about 180 cm, the physical type of a modern person
Brain volume, cm 3
—	550-650	750	700-1200	Before 1400	Around 1400
Scull
The skull is close in structure to the skull of great apes	Massive jaws, small incisors and fangs	human type teeth	The bones of the skull are massive, the forehead is sloping, the superciliary ridges are pronounced	Sloping forehead and occiput, large supraorbital ridge, chin protrusion poorly developed	The brain skull predominates over the facial one, there is no continuous supraorbital ridge, the chin protrusion is well developed
Tools
Manipulation with surrounding objects	Systematic use of natural objects	Making primitive tools	Making well-crafted stone tools	Making various stone tools	Manufacture of complex tools and mechanisms
Lifestyle
herd lifestyle	Herd lifestyle, hunting, gathering	Cooperative hunting and group protection	Public lifestyle, keeping fire, primitive speech	Collective activity, caring for others, developed speech	Real speech, abstract thinking, development of agriculture and industry, technology, science, art

According to modern paleontological data, the ancestors of man are ancient primitive insectivorous mammals that gave rise to parapithecus.

Parapithecus appeared about 35 million years ago. These were tree monkeys, from which modern gibbons, orangutans and driopithecus descended.

Dryopithecus originated about 18 million years ago. They were semi-arboreal, semi-terrestrial apes that gave rise to modern gorillas, chimpanzees, and australopithecines.

australopithecines appeared about 5 million years ago in the treeless steppes of Africa. These were highly developed monkeys that moved on two hind limbs in a half-upright position. Their height was 120-150 cm, body weight - 20-50 kg, brain volume - about 600 cm 3. With the freed forelimbs, they could take sticks, stones, and other objects and use them for hunting and protection from enemies. The manufacture of tools by Australopithecus has not been established. They lived in groups, ate both plant and animal food. Australopithecus may have given rise to Homo habilis. This issue remains debatable.

skillful man formed 2-3 million years ago. Morphologically, it differed little from the Australopithecus, but it was at this stage that the ape turned into a man, since the Handyman made the first primitive tools. Since that moment, the conditions for the existence of human ancestors have changed, as a result of which individuals with traits that promote upright posture, the ability to work, improve the upper limbs and cognitive activity of the brain have received advantages in survival. A skilled man is considered the ancestor of the archanthropes.

Ancient people (archanthropes)

These include, in particular, Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus, belonging to the same species - Homo erectus. Remains Pithecanthropus were discovered in 1891 on the island of Java; remains Sinanthropus- in 1927 in a cave near Beijing. Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus were more similar to Australopithecus than to modern humans. They had a height of up to 160 cm, brain volume - 700-1200 cm 3 . They lived 2 million - 200 thousand years ago, mainly in caves and led a herd life. The tools they made were more varied and perfect than those of the Handyman. It is believed that they had the beginnings of speech. They used fire, which made food easier to digest, protected from predators and cold, and contributed to the expansion of their range.

Ancient people (paleoanthropes)

They include Neanderthals. For the first time their remains were found in the valley of the river. Neanderthal in Germany in 1856. Neanderthals were widely settled in Europe, Africa and Asia during the Ice Age 250-35 thousand years ago. The volume of their brain reached 1400 cm 3 . They still have superciliary ridges, a relatively low forehead, a massive lower jaw with a rudiment of a chin protrusion. They lived in caves in groups of 50-100 people, knew how to make and maintain fire, ate plant and animal food, made various stone, bone and wooden tools (knives, scrapers, axes, sticks, etc.). They had a division of labor: men hunted, made tools, women processed animal carcasses, collected edible plants.

Modern humans (neoanthropes)

Neanderthals were replaced by people of a modern physical type - cro-magnons- the first representatives of the species Homo sapiens. They appeared about 50-40 thousand years ago. For some time, paleoanthropes and neoanthropes coexisted, but then the Neanderthals were supplanted by the Cro-Magnons. Cro-Magnons possessed all the physical features of living people: tall (up to 180 cm), large brain volume (about 1400 cm 3), high forehead, smoothed brow ridges, developed chin protrusion. The latter indicates a developed articulate speech. The Cro-Magnons built dwellings, made clothes from skins sewn with bone needles, made products from horn, bone, flint and decorated them with carvings. Cro-Magnons learned to grind, drill, knew pottery. They lived in tribal communities, tamed animals, and were engaged in agriculture. They had the beginnings of religion and culture.

The world is changing, each subsequent decade, century or millennium brings its own changes, characteristic only of it, and the rate of change only increases. And along with the changing world, the person is changing. The evolution continues. At the moment, there are many different theories that give their own options for human development in the future. However, some anthropologists and researchers still believe that evolutionary processes no longer play the important role they once did.

Biological evolution is a natural process of development of wildlife, accompanied by a change in the genetic composition of populations, the formation of adaptations, speciation and extinction of species, the transformation of ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole (c) Wikipedia

So, for example, according to Professor Steve Jones from University College London, evolution goes by the wayside. If in the distant past, the strongest survived, then in the modern world, a person surrounded by comfort is unlikely to continue the mutation. At the same time, scientists do not exclude the possibility of changes and development of our bodies.

In addition, we must not forget the existence of the Hardy-Weinjerg law, which states that evolutionary change is mathematically necessary as long as the genetic population remains influenced by at least one of five factors:

• Mutation
• Non-random mating
• gene flow
• Gene drift
• Natural selection

On the basis of this law, one can draw a simple conclusion - there will be evolutionary processes. That is why many scientists do not stop at the argument “for” or “against” evolution, but put forward their own assumptions about how a person will look like in the future and what evolutionary changes we are threatened with in the next millennia.

Height change

The tendency to increase in growth is known and studied for certain. If we take into account at least the last 100-150 years, then it is not difficult to calculate that humanity has become 10 centimeters taller on average. So, for example, every fifth inhabitant of Italy has a height above 180 cm, and in the post-war period (after the Second World War), the number of people with such growth was no more than 6% of the total population.

Average height of men on the world map

According to the researchers, one of the main reasons for this change is the abundance of nutrients that are available to modern man. And if earlier hunger prevented the body from developing, now in a large part of the world such a question is already secondary.

human head size

Interestingly, there are two opinions on the issue of changing the size of the cranium. The first says that the size of the skull will increase. This is primarily due to the development of the person himself, because technological development implies the need for intellectual and brain development. That is why, according to some scientists, we will look like real standard "aliens" in the future.

However, there is an opinion opposite to this assumption, which says that the size of the cranium, if it undergoes changes, is insignificant. Paleontologist Peter Ward of the University of Washington in Seattle thinks otherwise. The reason is very simple - any woman who has given birth at least once in her life will tell you with full confidence that the baby's head is already quite large. That is why the Caesarean section is increasingly used these days and why evolution is unlikely to take such a step (no, we do not consider evolution to be something that has its own will - ed.).

Skin color and facial features

Monoethnicity is the word that comes to mind for many scientists when it comes to the distant future of humanity. Mixed marriages have long ceased to be something out of the ordinary, and “purity of blood” is preserved only among certain ethnic groups, which, as a rule, are in a certain isolation, territorial, religious or any other.

However, globalization and cultural convergence along with the availability of free movement are doing their job and sooner or later all this will lead to the averaging of facial features and skin color. This is what Yale University professor Steven Stearns says. According to the forecasts of various researchers, the color of the skin and hair will darken. Therefore, it is believed that in a few centuries or a little later, most of the world's population will look approximately like the Brazilians.

There is also a parallel point of view, the adherents of which believe that over time, humanity or individuals will be able to acquire the ability to mimicry, and therefore, it will be possible to change skin color at will. Such statements could be considered fiction, but scientists are already experimenting with the introduction of chromatophores (pigment-containing cells that are present in amphibians, reptiles, etc.).

human hair

It's no secret that ancient people were much hairier than we are. No, this does not mean that they had very long hair, not at all, just the hairline was much more noticeable than now. The famous scientist Charles Darwin once said that the hair on our bodies is nothing more than a rudiment, a kind of hello from the past of mankind.

In those distant times, the hairline replaced clothing for a person, but over time, such a need disappeared due to the spread and availability of clothing and heating. Therefore, there is no small probability that in the future humanity will become practically bald. However, even here one cannot speak of confidence in such changes. So, for example, hair acts as one of the indicators when choosing a sexual partner, which means that if the need for hair does not completely disappear, then the hair will not go anywhere, unless it becomes a little less.

Teeth

If you look at the jaws of a person who lived about 100,000 years ago and the jaws of a modern person, you will notice changes even with the naked eye. In the past, human teeth were twice the size. This was necessary in order to be able to crack nuts, tear raw meat with your teeth, etc. Later, the human brain developed, his diet changed and as a result, the jaws, like the teeth, began to decrease.

One of the most noticeable changes is the disappearance of wisdom teeth. Already, almost 25% of people are born without the rudiments of wisdom teeth, which can be attributed to the influence of natural selection, and in the future, this percentage will only increase. According to scientists, human teeth will continue to decrease, and possibly even disappear.

muscles

The fact that humanity will lose in muscle mass is just a matter of time, scientists are almost sure of this. Already now humanity is weaker than its past self. This is due to the ever smaller volumes of physical labor, which is not much replaced by technology. The faster the development of technology and automation, the faster humanity will become in terms of physical strength.

Meanwhile, serious developments are already underway to create artificial and reinforced body parts, muscle tissues, exoskeletons and other things. All this can lead to the fact that the limbs of people can begin to change. Reducing muscle mass, the legs will become shorter and the feet smaller.

In addition, there is a second scenario, which suggests that humanity will lose muscle mass in connection with the "resettlement" into space. Many people know that after returning to Earth from space, astronauts have to re-gain their physical form. Now imagine what would happen if such a flight dragged on for a very long time.

Brain Functions

Naturally, the brain will not remain unchanged. In the modern world, the influence of technology on our thinking is already visible. The human brain works in such a way as to perform the task as efficiently as possible, therefore, instead of remembering a certain amount of information, the brain prefers to remember the source directly, from where you can get the necessary data. So, for example, it is much easier to remember where you put the book, and not what is written on page 329 in paragraph 3. Therefore, in the future, there is a high probability of a deterioration in the state of our memory. On the other hand, mankind has not revealed its full "brain" potential, so you should not be too afraid for future generations.

Another interesting change may affect our hearing. Throughout the evolutionary process, a person has learned to focus his attention on certain sound waves that are caught by the ear and isolate what he needs more. Although, of course, such a skill is not omnipotent, however, during a noisy party, we are able to distinguish the speech of our interlocutor among the many conversations and noises. Of course, it is not the ear that has such a mechanism, but our brain, which plays the role of an analytical filter. At the same time, the development of media and the Internet is increasingly clogged with unnecessary "noise" and useless information that a person is already trying to sort out. Based on this, we can conclude that in the conditions of such an information environment, humanity will have to more effectively learn to determine what is useful for it and isolate it among the turbulent general flow.

That's all. No, of course, there are many more options for evolutionary changes, but it is rather difficult to list all of them, and it is not very necessary. We have tried to briefly describe the most notable of them and give a general idea of ​​what awaits our descendants in the distant (or not so) future. Good luck and evolve!

For example, Professor Steve Jones from University College London, says that the driving forces of evolution no longer play an important role in our lives. Among the people who lived a million years ago, in the truest sense of the word, the fittest survived, and the hostile environment had a direct impact on the human appearance. In today's world with central heating and plenty of food, mutations are much less likely.

However, there is a possibility that our bodies will develop further. Man can continue to adapt to the changes taking place on our planet, which is becoming more polluted and dependent on technology.

According to the theory, animals evolve faster in an isolated environment, while humans living in the 21st century are not isolated at all. However, this issue is also controversial. With new advances in science and technology, people have been able to exchange information instantly, but at the same time, they have become more isolated than ever before.

Color of the skin

Yale University professor Steven Stearns says that globalization, immigration, cultural diffusion and the availability of transportation contribute to the gradual homogenization of the population, which will lead to the averaging of facial features. Recessive traits in humans, such as freckles or blue eyes, will become very rare.

In 2002, a study by epidemiologists Mark Grant and Diana Lauderdale found that only 1 in 6 non-Hispanic white Americans had blue eyes, compared to 100 years ago, more than half of the US white population was blue-eyed. The average American's skin and hair color is predicted to darken, leaving very few blondes and people with very dark or very fair skin.

In some parts of the planet (for example, in the USA), genetic mixing is more active, in others - less. In some places, unique physical traits, adapted to the environment, have a strong evolutionary advantage, so people will not be able to say goodbye to them so easily. Immigration in some regions is much slower, so, according to Stearns, the complete homogenization of the human race may never happen. However, in general, the Earth is becoming more and more like a big melting pot, and the scientist said that in a few centuries we will all become like Brazilians.

It is possible that in the future people may acquire the ability to consciously change the color of their skin through the artificial introduction of chromatophores into the body. (pigment-containing cells present in amphibians, fish, reptiles). Maybe there is another method, but in any case it will give some advantages. First, interracial prejudice will finally come to naught. Secondly, by being able to change, it will be possible to stand out in modern society.

Growth

A trend towards an increase in growth has been reliably established. Primitive people are believed to have had an average height of 160 cm, and over the past centuries, human growth has been constantly increasing. A particularly noticeable leap has occurred in recent decades, when human height has increased by an average of 10 cm. This trend may continue in the future, as it largely depends on the diet, and food is becoming more nutritious and affordable. Of course, at the moment in some regions of the planet, due to poor nutrition with a low content of minerals, vitamins and proteins, this trend is not observed, but in most countries of the world people continue to grow. For example, every fifth inhabitant of Italy is taller than 180 centimeters, while after the Second World War there were only 6% of such people in the country.

the beauty

Researchers have previously found that more attractive women have more children. than less attractive ones, and most of the children born by them are girls. Their daughters grow up into attractive mature women, and the pattern repeats itself. Scientists from the University of Helsinki concluded that the trend towards an increase in the number of beautiful women is increasing with each new generation. However, the trend does not apply to men.

Nevertheless, the man of the future is likely to be more beautiful than he is now. His body structure and facial features will reflect what most are looking for in partners today. He will have finer features, an athletic build and a good figure.

Another idea, proposed by evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics, seems to be inspired by ideas from classic science fiction. According to his hypothesis, the human race over time will be divided into two subspecies: the lowest, consisting of short men, similar to underdeveloped goblins, and the highest class - tall, slender, attractive and intelligent superhumans, spoiled by technology. According to Curry's forecasts, this will not happen soon - in 100 thousand years.

big heads

If a person continues his development, turning into a more complex and intelligent being, his brain will become larger and larger.
With technological progress, we will depend more and more on the intellect and the brain and less and less on our other organs.

However, paleontologist Peter Ward of the University of Washington in Seattle disagrees with this theory. “If you have ever experienced or witnessed childbirth, then you know that with our anatomical structure, we are on the very edge - our large brains are already causing extreme problems during childbirth, and if they were getting bigger and bigger, then this would cause more maternal mortality during childbirth, and evolution will not follow this path.”

Obesity

The results of a recent study by scientists from Columbia and Oxford Universities predict that by 2030 half of the US population will be obese. That is, there will be 65 million more adults with problem weight in the country.

If you think that Europeans will be slim and elegant, then you are wrong. Obesity rates have more than doubled in most European Union member states over the past two decades, according to a report published by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. As a result, on average, more than 15% of adult Europeans and one in seven children suffer from obesity, and the trends are disappointing.

Will the people of the future become obese and lazy creatures, like the characters from the cartoon "Wally"? All in our hands. There are other points of view on this matter. The fact is that modern diets are high in fat and cheap "empty calories". Currently, there is enough negative attitude towards the problem of obesity, which will make people in the future better adapted and picky eaters. With the popularization of the concept of proper nutrition, as well as with new technologies "", everything will fall into place.

When humanity finally understands healthy food, it is likely that heart disease and diabetes, which are currently one of the leading causes of death in developed countries, will disappear.

hairline

Homo sapiens is often jokingly called a naked ape. But, like all mammals, humans grow hair, of course, much less than our cousins ​​and hominin ancestors. Even Darwin in The Descent of Man stated that the hair on our bodies is a vestige. Due to the ubiquity of heating and affordable clothing, the former purpose of body hair has become obsolete. But the evolutionary fate of hair is not easy to predict accurately, because it can act as one of the indicators in sexual selection. If the presence of body hair continues to be attractive to the opposite sex, then the gene responsible for it will remain in the population. But it is likely that people in the future will have much less hair than they do today.

Impact of technology

Computer technologies, which have become part of our daily lives, will undoubtedly affect the development of the human body. The constant use of keyboards and touch screens can cause our hands and fingers to become thinner, longer and more dexterous, and the number of nerve endings in them will increase dramatically.

As the need to use technical interfaces more frequently increases, priorities will change. With further technological progress, interfaces (naturally, not without surgical intervention) can migrate to the human body. Why shouldn't a person of the future have a keyboard in their palm and learn how to press the conditional OK button with a nod of the head, and answer an incoming call by connecting the index and thumb? Probably, in this new world, the human body will be stuffed with hundreds of tiny sensors that transmit data to external devices. An augmented reality display can be built into the retina of the human eye, and the user will control the interface using tongue movements along the front incisors.

Wisdom teeth and other rudiments

Vestigial organs such as wisdom teeth that are surgically removed can also disappear over time as they no longer serve their purpose. Our ancestors had larger jaws with more teeth. As their brains began to grow and their diets began to change and food became less rigid and easily digestible, their jaws began to shrink. It has recently been estimated that already about 25% of people today are born without the rudiments of wisdom teeth, which may be the result of natural selection. This percentage will only increase in the future. It is possible that the jaws and teeth will continue to shrink and even disappear.

bad memory
and low intelligence

The theory that people of the future will have higher intellectual abilities is also questionable. A study by Columbia University experts shows that our dependence on an Internet search engine greatly damages our memory. The Internet replaces the ability of our brain to remember information that we can easily find on the Web at any time. The brain began to use the Internet as a backup memory. “People are less likely to make an effort to remember something when they know they can always find this information later,” the authors of the study say.

Neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel also points out in his article that the Internet makes people dumber. The main problem is that too active use of the Internet does not allow you to focus on one thing. To master complex concepts, you need to pay serious attention to new information and diligently try to associate it with knowledge that is already in memory. Surfing the Web does not provide this opportunity: the user is constantly distracted and interrupted, because of which his brain is not able to establish strong neural connections.

physical weakness

As noted above, evolution follows the path of eliminating signs that are no longer needed. And one of them can be physical strength. Comfortable transportation of the future, exoskeletons and other machines and tools of our ingenuity will save humanity from the need for walking and any physical activity. Studies show that we have already become much weaker compared to our distant ancestors. Over time, the development of technology can lead to changes in limbs. The muscles will begin to contract. The legs will become shorter and the feet smaller.

Depression

According to a recent study, the population of the United States has fallen into a vicious cycle of constant stress and depression. Three out of ten Americans say they are depressed. These symptoms are most common among people between the ages of 45 and 65. 43% report regular outbursts of irritability and anger, 39% report nervousness and anxiety. Even dentists are faced with more patients with jaw pain and worn teeth than thirty years ago. Because of which? Due to the fact that from tension people tightly clench their jaws and literally grind their teeth in their sleep.

Stress, as experiments on laboratory rats show, is a clear sign that the animal is becoming increasingly unsuitable for the world in which it lives. And as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace astutely observed more than 150 years ago, when the habitat is no longer comfortable for a living creature, the species dies out.

Weak immunity

People of the future may have weakened immune systems and become more susceptible to pathogens. New medical technologies and antibiotics have greatly improved overall health and life expectancy, but have also made our immune systems more lazy. We are becoming more and more dependent on drugs, and over time our bodies may stop "thinking" for themselves and instead rely entirely on drugs to perform basic bodily functions. Thus, people from the future may actually become slaves to medical technology.

selective hearing

Humanity already has the ability to direct their attention to the specific things they hear. This feature is known as the "cocktail effect". At a noisy party amidst many conversations, you may well focus on one particular speaker who has caught your attention for some reason. The human ear has no physical mechanism for this; everything happens in the brain. But over time, this ability can become more important and useful. With the development of media and the Internet, our world is becoming crowded with various sources of information. The man of the future will have to learn to more effectively determine what is useful for him and what is just noise. As a result, people will be less prone to stress, which, of course, will benefit health, and, accordingly, will take root in the genes.

strange faces

Artist Nikolai Lamm and Dr. Alan Kwan presented their speculative vision of what the future will look like. Researchers base their predictions on how the human body will be affected by the environment - that is, climate and technological advances. One of the biggest changes, in their opinion, will affect the forehead, which has been getting wider since the 14th century. The researchers also said that our ability to control our own genome will affect evolution. Genetic engineering will become the norm, and the appearance of the face will be more determined by human preferences. The eyes will get bigger. Attempts to colonize other planets will cause the skin to become darker in order to reduce exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation outside the Earth's ozone layer. Kwan also expects people to have thicker eyelids and pronounced brow ridges due to low gravity conditions.

post-gender society

With the development of reproductive technologies, reproduction in the traditional way may go into oblivion. Cloning, parthenogenesis and the creation of artificial wombs can significantly expand the potential for human reproduction, and this, in turn, will finally erase the boundaries between a man and a woman. The people of the future will not be attached to a particular gender, enjoying the best aspects of life in both. It is likely that humanity will be completely mixed up, forming a single androgynous mass. Moreover, in the new post-gender society, not only will there be no physical sexes or their supposed signs, gender identity itself will be eliminated and the line between the role models of behavior of a man and a woman will be erased.

flexible skeleton

Many creatures, such as fish and sharks, have a lot of cartilage in their skeleton. Human beings could follow the same evolutionary path to have more flexible bones. Even if not thanks to evolution, but with the help of genetic engineering, this feature would give a lot of advantages and protect a person from injury. A more flexible skeleton would obviously be extremely useful in the process of childbearing, not to mention its potential for future ballet dancers.

Wings

According to Guardian columnist Dean Burnett, he once spoke to a colleague who doesn't believe in evolution. When he asked why, the main argument was that people do not have wings. According to the opponent, "evolution is the survival of the fittest", and what could be more convenient for adapting to any environment than wings. Even if Burnett's theory in this regard is based on immature observations and a limited understanding of how evolution works, it also has its right to exist.

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