Tag: evolution
Blog Posts (3)
September 2, 2008
Zimmer on "Spore"
In today’s Times, Carl Zimmer writes about the upcoming release of the Sims-gone-evolutionary-biology-style. Ditch the 2.1 kids and the built community–it’s time to create a herd of rapidly evolving creatures and to test your evolutionary adaptations against the environment.…
January 14, 2008
Steven Pinker on "The Moral Instinct"
Yesterday’s NYT Mag included an article by Steven Pinker about the science of morality:
… Illusions are a favorite tool of perception scientists for exposing the workings of the five senses, and of philosophers for shaking people out of the nave belief that our minds give us a transparent window onto the world (since if our eyes can be fooled by an illusion, why should we trust them at other times?).
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September 21, 2007
Evolution and morality, continued
Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist and science writer, has a piece in The Atlantic this month about evolution and altruism.…
News (6)
April 17, 2013 2:11 pm
Fish’s DNA May Explain How Fins Turned to Feet
In the hope of reconstructing a pivotal step in evolution researchers have decoded the genome of the coelacanth, a prehistoric-looking fish whose form closely resembles those seen in the fossils of 400 million years ago.
April 12, 2013 1:17 pm
Babbling Sounds of Monkeys Share Rhythms with Human Speech
Scientists studying the evolution of speech have long puzzled over why there are no good models in primates. While primates share many traits with humans — they’ve been known to play, grieve, fight, even laugh – speech isn’t one of them.
March 18, 2013 5:07 pm
Resurrecting the Extinct Frog with a Stomach for a Womb
The goal of a scientist was to bring the extinct gastric brooding frog back from oblivion and, in doing so, provide hope for the hundreds of other frogs that are heading that way.
May 29, 2012 10:44 am
To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die (New York Times)
As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are increasingly being called upon to rescue and sustain animals, and not just for marquee breeds like pandas and rhinos but also for all manner of mammals, frogs, birds and insects whose populations are suddenly crashing. To conserve animals effectively, however, zoo officials have concluded that they must winnow species in their care and devote more resources to a chosen few.
April 23, 2012 5:52 pm
Synthetic DNA Created, Evolves on Its Own (National Geographic)
Step aside, DNA—new synthetic compounds called XNAs can also store and copy genetic information, a new study says. And, in a “big advancement,” these artificial compounds can also be made to evolve in the lab, according to study co-author John Chaput of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.
April 12, 2012 9:58 pm
Confusion Reigns in Tennessee (Science Insider)
Teaching science in Tennessee may become more confusing now that an antievolution bill has been added to the state’s statutes. Governor Bill Haslam yesterday declined to either sign or veto HR 368, which prohibits school officials from stopping a teacher from helping students understand so-called controversial subjects such as evolution and global warming. Never mind that teachers say they need no such protection, or that thousands of educators and scientific societies (including AAAS, which publishes ScienceInsider) had urged Haslam to veto the bill because it wrongly suggests that the scientific community is divided on these issues.