These are the types of questions that evolutionary biologists like Rob Brooks have dedicated their career to answering. Rob is a professor of Evolution at the University of New south Wales, where he mostly writes about the evolution of mate choice, the reason animals age and the links between sex, diet, obesity and death.
At UNSW he also runs research group, the Sex Lab, where he and his collaborators explore the evolutionary and ecological consequences of sexual reproduction. He is also especially interested in the interactions between evolution and economics, the evolution of human life histories, the reasons for sex differences in aging and longevity, the unfolding obesity crisis, the relationship between evolution and equity feminism, the evolution of human bodies, the purpose of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and what we can and cannot infer about morality from studying the natural world.