A major question of human evolution is, given that we are 98.8% genetically the same as a chimpanzee, and that we diverged as a species in a relatively short period of time, how is that you and I are able to play the piano? (I can't actually play the piano, but I could.) How can we be so similar to our relatives, and be so different in our capacity for social behavior, abstract thought, and reasoning, which has made humans stand out so drastically from any other animal? Our DNA sequences are only 1.2% different, but what a whopping 1.2%. A study published this week in the journal Genome Research attempts to shed some light on that question. And like so many things, it's all about timing.