Fruit and honey fuelled the early evolution of the human brain

HeidiB/Getty Images Intelligence is an energetically expensive luxury – as the rise of artificial intelligence has reminded us. The human brain is no exception. Comprising roughly 2% of the body weight, it uses one fifth the body’s energy in the resting state – compared with less than half of this in non-human primates. A five-year-old child devotes 66% of the energy they need to stay alive to their brain. How did our ancestors foot the energy bill to run their uniquely large brains? Eating…