Today’s Big Story

First Kiss?

Scientists just mapped its unexpected origins

A first kiss is always memorable, even if it dates back millions and millions of years. It’s an intimate act, right? And a special one that tells you a lot about the person you’re locking lips with. A new study that examines how kissing evolved suggests that our ape ancestors and early humans like Neanderthals were locking lips with their friends and sexual partners. The behavior, they believe, dates back around 21 million years.

According to the BBC, the scientists studied kissing because it presents something of an evolutionary puzzle—it has no obvious survival or reproductive benefits, and yet it is something that is seen not just in many human societies, but across the animal kingdom. By finding evidence of other animals engaging in kissing, scientists were able to construct an “evolutionary family tree” to work out when it was most likely to have evolved.

In this study, scientists found behavior that matched their scientific definition of kissing in wolves, prairie dogs, polar bears (very sloppy, lots of tongue), and even albatrosses. They focused on primates—and apes in particular—in order to build an evolutionary picture of the origin of the human kiss.

They also determined that extinct human relatives were likely to have engaged in kissing, too. It’s also possible—since scientists know that our species, Homo sapiens, interbred with Neanderthals—that humans and Neanderthals kissed one another, the study noted. However, the model does not reveal why or how kissing evolved, Matilda Brindle, lead author of the research, told CNN. However, she pointed out that kissing is not a universal behavior in human society. Her team noted that it’s only documented in 46% of culture.

The study sets up future research in humans and other primates to explore more subtle differences in kissing behavior, including questions around who one chooses to kiss and how. “Kissing is both biological and cultural, it is a behavior that invokes the bodily senses and clearly has some evolutionary origins,” says Just Garcia, who is also the author of The Intimate Animal. “But we also know it varies across individuals and populations.”

Trump Approves the Release of the Epstein Files

But the bill has significant exceptions, so many documents could stay confidential

Bowing to political pressure from his own party, President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced in a long, wordy TRUTH social post that he signed legislation calling on the Justice Department to release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days. The president sought to take credit for the legislation, despite months of pressure to kill it.

Now, the bill requires the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in a federal prison in 2019. It allows for redactions about Epstein’s victims for ongoing federal investigations, but DOJ cannot withhold information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”

But what will the documents contain? Will the Pam Bondi-led DOJ seek to obfuscate or block some of the trove from being released—and will any of this satisfy a public hungry for every detail? Politico has doubts and says there are multiple ways that the Trump administration may still try to withhold much of the key material. The Justice Department is also directed to turn over any immunity deals, non-prosecution agreements, plea bargains, or sealed settlements involving Epstein or his associates, as well as internal DOJ communications.

The Deadliest States for Drivers

The study examined National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2014 to 2023

Are you driving next week for Thanksgiving? Holiday travel is expected to be heavy this year, with record numbers of people traveling, especially by car. The worst times to drive are Wednesday afternoon and evening, with the Sunday after Thanksgiving also being very busy as people return home. AAA is predicting that nearly 82 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

And you’ll want to be careful behind the wheel. The World Health Organization estimates that road-related injuries are a leading cause of death among children and young adults aged 5 to 29 years. Although technology has cushioned the dangers of driving in the U.S., there are still worrisome rates of fatalities, but these figures vary from state to state. The underlying reasons vary, too. Jalopnik points out that while some states are notorious for having dangerous roads, others have particularly bad drivers.

They used nearly a decade’s worth of data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), compiling the number of deaths per state relative to population and miles traveled—and identified when these accidents are most likely to occur, including the most common crash days and the riskiest hours on the road. Topping the list of the deadliest states to drive in is Mississippi, followed by New Mexico, South Carolina and Alabama. In fact, there were a lot of Southern States in the top 10, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. But Montana and Wyoming were in there, too. So be careful out there.

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