Our ancient human relatives got around more than scientists previously thought. Researchers in China excavated stone tools that were likely made by our human ancestors some 2.12 million years ago — the earliest evidence ever discovered of the human lineage outside of Africa.

"It suggests a way earlier migration out of Africa than we ever would have imagined," said Michael Petraglia, a paleoanthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, who was not involved with the study. "It's very exciting."

I was 31 the last time I got pregnant. And after a lifetime of certainty that I did not want to be a mother, I felt an unexpected thing, cutting through the panic and the nausea: happiness.

Every morning since an intuitive nudge sent me to fetch a pregnancy test from the drugstore, my breasts oddly sore and my stomach in a low-level but constant state of turbulence, I would wake up with the thought: “I can do this. I want to do this.”

By the time I fell asleep at night, I was sure there was no possible way I could do this, this being raising a child on my own.

There has been a lot of hand-wringing about declining birth rates, the lowest in more than 30 years, across all race and class divides. We’re told millennial women “choosing” not to have children will be bad for the economy, it will be bad for the ageing baby boomer population, it will be bad for the real estate market. According to Forbes, it’s bad for older women desperate for grandchildren. But are people actually deciding to delay families, or are they finding themselves in unstable situations where the addition of a child seems unworkable? The reasons given when op-ed writers bother to ask millennials – too much debt, not enough financial security, a romantic market that is as rocky as the job market – point more to the latter.

If everyone makes it into the world safely, things that used to be taken for granted are now scarce resources one might fight and compete for. Vitally important systems like decent childcare, education and healthcare has disappeared, leaving parents to choose between inadequate choices or sacrificing untold amounts of money, time and energy to compete the limited amount of something better.

en residents slipped away from their retirement community one Sunday afternoon for a covert meeting in a grocery store cafe. They aimed to answer a taboo question: When they feel they have lived long enough, how can they carry out their own swift and peaceful death?

The seniors, who live in independent apartments at a high-end senior community near Philadelphia, showed no obvious signs of depression. They’re in their 70s and 80s and say they don’t intend to end their lives soon. But they say they want the option to take “preemptive action” before their health declines in their later years, particularly due to dementia.

More seniors are weighing the possibility of suicide, experts say, as the baby boomer generation — known for valuing autonomy and self-determination — reaches older age at a time when modern medicine can keep human bodies alive far longer than ever before.

The group gathered a few months ago to meet with Dena Davis, a bioethics professor at Lehigh University who defends “rational suicide” — the idea that suicide can be a well-reasoned decision, not a result of emotional or psychological problems. Davis, 72, has been vocal about her desire to end her life rather than experience a slow decline due to dementia, as her mother did.

A light pat on the back can draw a young child’s attention back to the task at hand, and sometimes a hug will help the hurt go away. But are these gestures appropriate coming from an educator? A teacher’s touch can be encouraging, corrective and, in some cases, inappropriate. But I wouldn’t want my kids in a school that banned it outright.

I’m comfortable with my kids’ teachers giving them a hug goodbye or placing a quieting hand on their shoulder when they are talking too much in class. I think of gentle physical contact as just another tool in a teacher’s arsenal—one that can often go beyond words. But that’s not the way everyone feels. Many school boards have unwritten “no touch” policies, while others have created rules against touching of any kind to appease concerned parents.

Bill Nye “the Science Guy” did exactly what scientists are supposed to do this week — ask questions — and people are blasting him for it.

The engineer-turned-comedian-turned-TV host has sparked widespread outrage on social media thanks to an idea he proposed Tuesday on his new Netflix series, “Bill Nye Saves the World.”

During a panel discussion, the 61-year-old Cornell grad asked: “Should we have policies that penalize people for having extra kids in the developed world?”

Travis Rieder, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University, said he believed it was a good idea.

“I do think that we should at least consider it,” he told Nye.

Evan Ruggiero has always moved to his own beat. At the age of 6, he fell in love with tap dancing. But, at age 19, a bone cancer diagnosis cost Evan his right leg and threatened to end his dancing dreams. Nevertheless, he kept his hopes up, fighting cancer one step at a time. Less than a week after his final chemo session, Evan was back in the studio, learning to dance with a prosthetic. Now, he’s lighting up the world with his unique brand of dance.