Here's a thought. Who milked the first cow? And what the _hell_ were they thinking?

When he said, "Some say," I thought for sure he was going to continue with something that ended with, "All we know for sure is, they call him The Stig."

1:42 'Or a stick insect that can disguise itself as a Stig.'

Hah, I heard "insect that can disguise himself as a Stig" :D

Humans are still evolving, we've just changed the game a bit. More than likely we will eventually begin manipulating our own evolution by altering genes directly but that is probably a ways off yet though certainly foreseeable. There are people around the world with mutation so incredible that if we put them all together we would essentially have a "super-human" with hyper dense bones and muscles, resilience to even the most devastating diseases, ability to see farther into each end of the light spectrum, and many others. All kinds of things that natural evolution has already introduced into our genome. All that is needed is to find out which genes are responsible in these individuals/families and see if they can be made compatible with others. I know how all this might sound but science fiction was so last decade, the more we learn about the universe we live in the more the word "impossible" is becoming irrelevant.

I feel vaguely offended by the premise that my parents have done the deed. My father was a sperm donor, so he and my mother never did... that bit.

The x-factor remark at the end, almost wet myself :D Great stuff!

Wow. Just found this channel.Great knowledge packed in a small and easily understood form! Thanks for this and for the always so witty humor of James May

No better way to explain things than a british gentelman

Would we overpopulate out into space?

thanks that clears a lot.

Very interesting. Thank you!

Why do Humans think about things and do not just follow instincts?

"assuming we can find a willing partner" >implying

The most interesting episode yet!!!

I love the part with the primitive dude with a rock axe and the old-days smart gentleman. XDDD when the other throws the hammer... LOL!

I agree with Sir David Attenborough that human evolution has effectively stopped. I would go even further by saying that I believe we are working to reverse it. Not only are less intelligent people more likely to reproduce, many otherwise intelligent people actively seeking out less intelligent mates because a hopeful failure is more interesting than a boring success.

Your lactose comment is incorrect on a global scale. 95 percent of European people can digest lactose but somewhere down to 10 percent of African populations can and about 35 percent of Asians are lactose tolerant.

Thank you for making that very important point : )

This is fascinating to think about

we are still evolving, the proof: im more intelligent than anyone i ever interacted with there, i proved it :D

Although your conclusions are correct, your explanation is wrong. Or rather, it neglects an important field of science: Epigenetics. You, like many people, over value the role of random mutation. I could go on and on about the differences, but suffice to say that your body is capable of adapting to environmental conditions at a genetic level in real time. This is the only process of evolutionary science that has been directly proven by direct observation. In one example, scientists studied the different kinds of Finches of the Galapagos islands and found that the differences between the different "species" were not genetic at all, but rather they were Epigenetic. No mutation played a role in the changes. This idea is nothing new though. Back in the time of Darwin a competing theory had it that the Giraffe has a long neck simply because it stretched it out. Now, don't get me wrong, mutation does play a role. At the point that humans broke away from apes a mutation developed in the jaw muscles significantly weakening while preventing the skull plates from fusing. All humans have this broken gene. However, when comparing all the differences that developed later between humans and apes the vast majority are epigenetic. Not only does this work on a long term scale, but it works in a single generation with a link between nature and nurture being explained. Many terminal cancers once thought to be the result of random mutation can be explained as an adverse epigenetic change which can be corrected via drugs that alter the methyl markers. The mind has also been found to have a role in how these changes form, showing a possible explanation for how individual belief in getting better can correct cancers that are the result of such changes. Even more interesting is the role this process has in an Atavism and so-called "Junk DNA". Unused genetic traits don't simple "evolve away", they remain encoded - moved aside. The epigenome retains all of this information and can draw on it when circumstances require it. People may think of an Atavism as little more than an "evolutionary throwback", but if a trait helps the species survive it is moving forward. The anthropological record fully supports this interpretation. Evolutionary scientists who use the mutation approach will tell us that it is the result of many tiny changes over a long period of time, but the Anthropological record shows that a given species will go mostly unchanged for sometimes hundreds of thousands of years and then in the span of a relatively shorter period of time coinciding with a dramatic environmental change the biology will change just as dramatically. This very observation is used by anti-evolution theorists to support their argument, which wouldn't be possible if scientists would be quicker to embrace new knowledge instead of holding onto outdated models. This altogether is why humans continue to adapt to a changing set of conditions. Sickle cell anemia is an adaptation to avoid malaria, but comes with it's own problem. I myself never had an Appendix to begin with which is a great adaptation to the American diet which can lead to it being damaged, but as a consequence I don't have it as a safe house for beneficial bacteria and cannot as easily digest nuts and grains. I still have the genes for an Appendix, but those genes are turned off. I am "evolved" in the sense that I am adapted to a circumstance in the environment. My point is that you cannot fully understand evolutionary science or accurately explain it without including all of the relevant science. I wish people like you would make use of new knowledge.

Whaat the hell, vsauce did an episode on it, can't believe I've missed a vsauce video, thank you!

I have a quesion for you, we can levitate things with sound using an aucustic levitator, this works through things becoming suspended at the crossing point between the two wavelangths, can the same be done with light waves?

Content Warning: This video makes you think of your parents having sex.

Heres a question, Why did you leave Top Gear?

We're certainly taller than we were. Looking at old houses (1700s), the doorways were tiny.

for james, if i have the laptop on top of my body while i'm lying down, does that mean the wi-fi signal flows inside me as well as outside me? or is my body a barrier of this signal? if you could see the wi-fi signal how it will look like inside my room?

Brilliant. Thank you.

Existence of people like you, proves that we are still evolving. Thanks to your channel KZfaq just got a thousand times better:) Thanks a lot, James and co!

hello James! How come our eye lids get heavy when we get sleepy?

How is sound recorded? Whereas pictures and film is recorded by the use of light(which is elecromagnetic waves), sound is recorded from compressed and decompressed waves of air(or occasionaly water and other materials) which, as we know, is matter. How can we record that?

Awesome vid

I suppose you are right in that respect, I certainly hadn't looked at it from that point of view before. You defiantly have some interesting points that are worth investigating however, and have peaked my interest. It seems I have some research to keep myself busy with for the time being.

Could you do an episode on Quantum Physics, specifically the Uncertainty Principle? Love ya James

i didn't know that thanks for teaching me something new

i agree i believe we're still evolving. i like how you included different point of views though

You vids are cool James

That was a very interesting question.

You should explain pressure carburetors and why they work wrong way up and under high g-load.

Hey, James May, I have a question: How much energy (or what measures) would it take to stop earth from rotating?

Why are some people's second toes longer than the first one? (also I would love to wear one of the t-shirts if it's possible, thank you)

What?! Thats crazy! I've always thought about this. I have to taking chemistry next semester, and now I can't wait. Thank you so much for replying.

How fast is our reaction time? When for example a sudden noise occurs close by how quick do we humans react as part of our automated defence mechanism?

Head Squeeze, after this video. +1 sub Interesting stuff, keep it up!

Very good. Evolution is fascinating.

the animations in these clips crack me up

James, You are the MAN! Easily my favourite T.V personality. I also love how you owned Gordon Ramsay on the F word lol. That was too good.

This is one of my favorite channels so thank you very much. My question is : why ants carry large objects that may be four or five of their size ?!!!!!!

Hello James could you tell me if Language is necessary to Think?

What is the fastes a vehicle could theoretically go on land?

Hey James, In the London postcodes, why is there not a NE postcode?

how do you make airfix model kits

can we when we power up the pitch of a sound wave far enough actually see it?

Hey James, can you talk about stoichiometric ratios, in reference to cars maybe? And large exhaust pipes, which actually reduce power, right?

Great channel love how its to the point. Ive a question. Earth is round so from usa to the uk relative to the curvature of earth, if i tunneled a straight (non curve) line from the us to uk would that tunnel bore through magma or still be in the crust? And if its still in the crust would it be deep enough to be real hot (near the mantle)? Sorry for the useless question, ive always wondered this for years

This is getting strange i'm looking more at James in Head squeeze than in Top Gear. :P

Nice t-shirt :D. James May, could you tell how mirror neurons affected our evolution and, if this is related to, how it affected too the evolution of our cousins the chimpances and bonobos?

May, can you make a video about computation, turing machines and the limits of modern computers (that sad "not everything is computable" thing), and here's the tricky part: Do you think that sometime down the line we'll have different kinds of computers capable of doing what integrated circuits cannot do? Things like bio computation will handle what our silicon chips can't compute? Non linear/heuristic stuff... Brain simulation? Thanks for the videos, you're awesome! Greetings from SP, Brazil

QUESTION: Why do dowsing rods work? They kind of blow my mind. I would love to know the HOW behind them.

James, can you explain to us your pre-flight checks please?

I want that t-shirt please..... Question: can you please explain the reptilian, limbic and neocortex? There are interesting examples about the people who lost part of their cortex... It would be a good subject....

James, You focused mostly on physical evolution, have you put much thought into the internet, social media, databases, communications. Individually we may not be evolving but as a society we are, one might consider the internet & its traffic a sort of hive mind. 'I don't need to have a big amazing brain, just access to everyone elses' Thanks, Daniel

Captain Slow on KZfaq! That's awesome!

how do u ask james a question?

"Can we talk about evolution and creation?" - "Yes, we can!" - Proceeds to talk about evolution. I guess that goes back to "...but if it's too difficult, I'll ignore it."

Make a video on acne what it is and how its formed

I'm very interested about archaeology and ancient things including evolution, can you a video about an ancient interest?

Okay!.... Well thanks for clearing this up for us Captain Slow....

What is coulour bliendness and how did we manage to study it?

What is sapphire crystal made of and why it is so hard.

... And a stick insect that can disguise itself as a stick. Very technical, James, well done :)

Are there rainbows inside a bubble? If you look from the outside skin of a bubble you can see rainbows or refractions of lights but What can be seen on the inside?

James May, will we ever be able to replicate perpetual motion, or anything close to it (for example, something that would run for years without needing a refill of some kind)? My friend in my class is always planning a plan for a machine for perpetual motion, mostly including magnets, and whenever he presents his idea, our physics teacher explains why it won't work.

why is Track gauge?

How does an LCD screen work?

Hello Head Squeeze! I am from Mexico and hence my question: Is there any reason to believe that societies who live in significantly harsher gepgraphic and climatic conditions (I am thinking of northern Europe for example) will work more efficiently and be more prosperous as opposed to those living in places where the climate is good an resources are widely available? I hope that my Q. Turns out to be interesting, oh and I would also like a t-shirt! Thanks!

Highest Ive heard of a cat falling and surviving is 19 stories from an apartment window. Its only injury was bruised lungs. I remember hearing that because of a cats weight to surface area ratio it doesn't accelerate as quickly as a human that's falling.They also kinda spread out their legs once they are oriented so it makes a kind of umbrella. Takes longer to hit terminal velocity.Then when it lands the force is spread between it's four feet, instead of us dividing the force between our 2 feet.

Is the universe endless or maybe some sort of a circle, when you go long enough to one direction you will end up where you start?

I think you should do a video on what effects space travel has on the human body, and how living on Mars would affect a human growing up there

James,could you explain how planets are created?

@ James May: Why do we have seven days a week? Most cultures, alien to each other, have 7 days a week and sometimes represent similar "deities". Why?

Is the scientific method the definitive one? How can we think about a different one ?

Here's a question James. At what size does something have to be to stop acting on a quantum level and start acting (normally) as you would expect. From like a tennis ball through to a quark.

hey james! what makes a person left/right handed/footed?

How hot is hot?? Cause we say that 1000 degrees is hot but we also say that 30 defrees is hot (weather) so what is the specific hot temperature? ?

What exactly is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow?

Question: Since the Earth is spinning about its axis and, at the same time, hurtling around the sun, how do we stay in place on its surface?

That x factor joke gets me every time !

When was it "writing" developed/invented?

Question: Are there wormholes and if so how do we find one and what requirements would we need to make a spaceship to go threw it?

How do touchscreen's work and when and who invented it?

Surely, by definition, evolution can never be complete, in the same sense that perfection can never be fully achieved

How does an LCD tv work?

For example, questions such as "Why do people in general have a conscience?", "Why do we ponder the meaning of life?", "Why is nature so soothing and enjoyable to us?" "Why can we enjoy and create art, such as music?", and "Why are our feelings so dynamic compared to any other animal?" remain unanswered when it comes to evolution. The idea of a creator makes so much more sense.

Good vid Richard, but I've got a question.. How does the body know that wisdom teech aren't being used and are therefore not required? It's lot like the people without wisdom teeth are living longer or breeding more. So how does that information achieve gene alteration?

Hi Tom check out our Sci Guide on this! - 'Science behind falling in Love - Sci Guide (Ep 7) - Head Squeeze'

Mr. May, a question if I may: What makes one scent more pleasant than another?

I mean what causes it ? Thanks

Cycles (not frequency) per second is frequency which the unit is called a hertz. Usually measured from one peak to the next peak.