Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Evolution of Bipedality, Human Pelvis, Muscle & Brain | Terence Capellini | 258
The genetic & developmental changes behind bipedalism & human anatomy.
Wide release date: October 15, 2025.
Episode Summary: Dr. Terence Capellini talks about the evolution of bipedalism in humans, exploring when and why it emerged, the anatomical changes required, and the genetic mechanisms behind these adaptations. They discuss how environmental shifts, like shrinking forests, drove the need for upright walking, the gradual skeletal changes in the pelvis and limbs, and how these changes may have facilitated larger brain sizes. Capellini highlights the complexity of evolutionary processes, emphasizing the role of multiple genetic changes in regulatory regions rather than single genes.
About the guest: Terence Capellini, PhD is a professor and chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on developmental genetics and human evolution.
Discussion Points:
- Bipedalism likely became common ~3.5 million years ago with Australopithecus afarensis, with earlier hominins like Ardipithecus showing mosaic traits.
- Environmental changes, such as shrinking forests and expanding grasslands, created selective pressures favoring bipedal locomotion.
- The human pelvis evolved to be shorter, wider, and curved, with muscles like the gluteus medius shifting to stabilize upright walking.
- Genetic changes in non-coding regulatory regions, not protein-coding genes, drive the developmental shifts in pelvic growth, with hundreds of small-effect changes involved.
- Bipedalism may have widened the birth canal, potentially enabling the evolution of larger brains in later hominins like Homo erectus.
- Humans have more slow-twitch muscle fibers than chimpanzees, supporting endurance activities like long-distance running, possibly linked to energetic trade-offs with brain growth.
- Shoulder and arm adaptations for throwing and tool use evolved more gradually, becoming prominent ~2 million years ago with Homo erectus.
Reference paper:
- Study: The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps
Related content:
- M&M 171: Comparative Brain Evolution: Mammals, Primates & Humans | Robert Barton
*Not medical advice.
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