Yes, laughter & speech are 2 different things. For biological preadaptations to speech, google “Speech originS 2017 Verhaegen”

For an update of the Littoral Theory (early-Pleistocene intercontinental dispersal of Homo along African & Eurasian coasts) please google:

Very interesting paper, but not really unexpected: Lucy had curved hand-bones, which indicate vertical climbing. But was she our direct ancestor? And did she walk upright? She lay in a small slow-moving stream, said Johanson & Taieb (1976): “Fossil preservation at this locality is excellent, remains of delicate items…