Evolution

Where Does Everything Come From? The Life And Death Of Stars

    Last week I described how a boulder-sized meteorite exploded in the skies over Murchison, Australia, forty years ago. The remarkable mix of organic compounds discovered in samples of the meteorite, which included amino acids, confirmed that some of th ...

Article - Dave Deamer - Apr 9 2009 - 12:05pm

For The Good Of The Species?

In works on evolution written by a certain class of biologist we can often see “for the good of the species” references derided in no uncertain terms. Comments such as “fuzzy thinking”, “they got it wrong” and so on have become so habitual that they almost ...

Article - Steve Davis - Apr 9 2009 - 11:58pm

Neanderthal Diversity: Three Sub-Groups, Say Researchers

Neanderthals, a distinct Middle Pleistocene population, inhabited a vast geographical area extending from Europe to western Asia and the Middle East from 30,000 to 100,000 years ago. Were they a homogenous group or separate sub-groups in which  differences ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 14 2009 - 7:53pm

The Game Of Life In An Organic Universe

    Last week I described how Fred Hoyle, in 1946,  came up with the idea that carbon is synthesized in hot stars toward the end of their lifetime, and we now know that carbon and the other elements of life are strewn into interstellar space when the star ...

Article - Dave Deamer - Apr 16 2009 - 12:33am

We Evolved as Alcoholics

Human alcoholic tendencies go way back, as described in one of the most interesting paragraphs I've ever read in a scientific paper: ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Apr 17 2009 - 12:21pm

Was Ichthyostega The Earliest Land-Water Transition Of Tetrapod?

New evidence gleaned from CT scans of fossils locked inside rocks may flip the order in which two kinds of four-limbed animals with backbones were known to have moved from fish to landlubber. Both extinct species, known as Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, li ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 18 2009 - 12:59pm

Ichthyostega And Acanthostega- Different Life Histories Of The Earliest Land Animals

The fossil record usually shows what adult animals looked like. But the appearance and lifestyle of juvenile animals often differ dramatically from those of the adults. A classic example is provided by frogs and salamanders. New discoveries from Uppsala, C ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 20 2009 - 10:15am

Hamilton's Rule, Or Hamilton's Folly

I recently came across a radio lecture given by Dr Lee Alan Dugatkin on 7.6.2007, titled "Is Goodness Natural?" It deserves comment. (An article on the same subject but with some differences in text was published at Huffington Post.) The talk be ...

Article - Steve Davis - Apr 22 2009 - 3:15am

Puijila Darwini- 'Missing Link' In Evolution Of Seals, Sea Lions And Walruses

Researchers writing in Nature magazine say the fossil skeleton of a newly discovered carnivorous animal, Puijila darwini, is a "missing link" in the evolution of the group that today includes seals, sea lions, and the walrus.  Modern seals, sea l ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 22 2009 - 4:03pm

Interstellar Cosmochemistry And Yellow Stuff From Outer Space

In last week’s column I described how Bill Irvine uses radio astronomy techniques to detect and identify organic compounds in interstellar space. Why is it so important for the origin of life on Earth that organic compounds are scattered throughout our ga ...

Article - Dave Deamer - Apr 23 2009 - 12:32pm