Evolution

Does Evolutionary Biology Make Predictions?

A commenter on a previous post seems to have objected to the claim that evolutionary science makes predictions. gimme 5 examples of predictions, i mean real predictions: not fit the model hogwash Marilyn Here's a list that I put together in around 10 ...

Article - T. Ryan Gregory - Sep 24 2009 - 8:49pm

New Meaning for the Phrase, "Crazy Creative."

This article was pretty interesting.  Apparently the gene that is responsible for psychosis is also responsible for creativity too.  I don't know if I can fit this into a larger national security and science picture but I did enjoy the article. ...

Blog Post - Sina Kashefipour - Sep 28 2009 - 4:24pm

Omnigenomics

Sometimes it is helpful to have a catchy word to describe one's type of research. I think that's why "omics" words are so popular-- they encapsulate a complex combination of approaches (usually something + genomics, or something-more-th ...

Article - T. Ryan Gregory - Sep 30 2009 - 8:30pm

Meet Ardipithecus Ramidus- Early Hominid Common Ancestor Was Neither Chimp Nor Human, Says Study

Researchers writing in Science have described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia.   The last common ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees is thought to have lived six or more million years a ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 1 2009 - 12:20pm

Humans Vs. Chimps-- Neither Is An Offshoot Of Ardipithecus Ramidus

Tomorrow's Science will be a special issue reporting tons of new information on the fossil hominid Ardipithecus ramidus ("Ardi"), which is really exciting (though not as much as Darwinius, which was " like a meteor hitting the Earth &q ...

Article - T. Ryan Gregory - Oct 1 2009 - 3:13pm

How well do grad students grasp evolution?

In my recent article on Understanding natural selection in E:EO, I reviewed a large number of studies that examined conceptions of evolution among students from the high school to undergraduate level, as well as among teachers. However, almost nothing seem ...

Blog Post - T. Ryan Gregory - Oct 1 2009 - 12:50pm

Blog Carnivals Galore

My real life has swamped my online one recently, and so I failed to note that the 16th Carnival of Evolution is up at the excellent blog Pleiotropy. Bjørn has managed to collect 50,228 words of blogging about evolution, covering the human brain, man-eating ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Oct 7 2009 - 3:47pm

An Evolutionary Root For 'Goo Goo' And 'Ga Ga' In Babies?

Researchers studying Rhesus Macaque mothers and writing on their results in Current Biology have determined that interactions of macaque mothers with their infants have a lot of similarity to human mothers in the first month of a newborn's life. " ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 8 2009 - 12:00pm

On The Belly: Evolution’s Hot Button

I need most of my body parts. I figure I have my various meaty chunks for good evolutionary reasons, and far be it from me to sell any, no matter how often that creepy guy shows up at my door with a cooler of dry ice offering me money. But if I ever were g ...

Article - Mark Changizi - Oct 10 2009 - 10:26pm

How detailed an understanding of evolution do we need?

The folks over at Science and Religion Today were interested in our study on graduate student conceptions of evolution, and asked me to give some thoughts on the question " How detailed an understanding of evolution do we need? " Here is my answe ...

Blog Post - T. Ryan Gregory - Oct 12 2009 - 8:30am