Adaptibility: Humanity’s Superpower, with Herman Pontzer

What’s the science of what makes humans special? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore how we evolved to be different from eachother, what's up with Neanderthal DNA, and humanity's superpower with Herman Pontzer, evolutionary anthropologist and author of Adaptable: How Your Unique Body Works and Why Biology Unites Us. Is there such a thing as a textbook average human? Herman explains how biological diversity is not a dividing factor but an expression of our shared humanity. Are skin color and race scientifically meaningful? Why are we all “shape-shifters” biologically? Explore why cultural and biological inheritance together make us uniquely versatile in the animal kingdom, and where our individual differences come from. How many of them are adaptations versus random noise? Learn how body shapes adapted to latitude, why high-altitude populations thrive where others struggle, and how Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA shaped modern humans. Did the gene that helps Himalayan people come from an extinct hominin? The team examines whether modern life mismatches our evolutionary design. From heart disease to sedentary lifestyles, what do ancient bodies face in modern cities? Discover why natural selection needs individual mutation to work and how genetic diversity is what gives humanity our superpower. Thanks to our Patrons PMC, Nannette Bartels, Dawn Dudzinski, Bernd Hendricks, crobarian, jobe, Malik, Christopher Jones, Jason Antone, Sean G, Hunky DOrk, Soumik Das, Wayne Arnold, Elizabeth, Rajan Thankurdesai, Wesley Westandorf, Philip Heller, james Liggett, Steve Lustig, Tan, Jimmy Golightly, Juniel Lugo, Patrick Hill, Tan Ngyuyen, kirenia, Flynn Dockery, Gabor Kalman, Roger L Chamorro, PlanetJomo, Rees Jones, Stacy Ford, t, Ash, Cesar Moya, Jacob, Jacob Kelley, Raymond Daigneault, Tyler Fleck, Tatiana Corleto, Paulo Dutra, Ryan Parish, Nic D., JKW, Allison Bergseng, Thomas Jones, Amelia Joselow, Austin Blair, Christian lara, Eric Bayer, Christopher Martin, David Gavrin, UntraProGamerNL, Vance Uribe, Marissa, K.D., Collin Wolfert, and Stephen Mueller for supporting us this week. Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson