Ancient DNA has helped scientists reconstruct evolution and adaptation among people living in Eurasia over the course of 30,000 years. This long period of evolution – beginning about 85,000 years ago – would have helped humanity adapt to changing climate conditions so they could leave the Middle East and migrate to cooler climates in Asia and Europe. Analysis of thousands of ancient genome samples by scientists from the Australian National University, the University of Adelaide, UNSW and UTS sheds light on a period of stagnation in human movement, which they describe as the "Arabian Stagnation". "There are many more signs of very, very strong adaptive evolution in humans than previously thought," says study co-author Dr Yassine Souilmi. (Matthew Ward Agius, COSMOS)