Lovecraft report: Proto-organism found in remote lake sludge.
PhysOrg calls it “man’s remotest relative,” a living thing that has no branch on the tree of life. Why can’t they just call a shoggoth […]
evolution
Robot buddies.
Science Mag produces proof – actual, empirical proof – that nice guys really can finish first and that even killer robots can learn to care […]
Malarial evolution.
Scientific American notices that the mosquitoes that carry malaria seem to be splitting off into their own species: “We can see that mosquitoes are evolving […]
Evolution made us conservative, not smart.
LabSpaces shares some interesting research on the role of novelty in human development: An earlier study by Kanazawa found that more intelligent individuals were more […]
Hydrogen: a different perspective.
Yeah, so I kind of really want this poster now.
Running barefoot.
ScienceDaily keeps up with the latest research into the health benefits of running without shoes: [S]ays Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at […]
Science Art: “A Pigeon Fancier’s Manual,” by Ruth Padel.
I found this poem among three books of scientific poetry reviewed in Science Magazine, 2 October 2009. It’s from Darwin: A Life in Poems by […]
Birdfeeder evolution.
Wired reveals one strange way humans are changing the natural world – by accidentally creating new species: “This is reproductive isolation, the first step of […]
The Crocodile Goat of Majorca
Discovery tells the strange story of the island-dwelling goat that was more like a reptile than a mammal: The tiny goat, which stood about 19 […]
Walking in the trees.
New Scientist goes out on a limb with a new study that hints that humans may have learned to walk up in the branches before […]
SONG: Iguana Rosada
SONG: “Iguana Rosada” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: “Rare, Storied Pink Iguana Discovered”, Popular Science, 5 Jan 2009, as used […]
“Charlie” by Chumbawumba. A Darwinian folk song.
Chumbawumba are, of course, best known for that inexplicable “I Get Knocked Down” song. They’re actually a keenly politically aware group of protest poets, about […]
Sorry, Charlie.
I suppose this has been all over the British press by now, but the Church of England recently apologized to Charles Darwin: Scientific American: “The […]
Give junk DNA a hand.
Because, New Scientist reports, it may have given us ours: When genetically engineered into mice, the human DNA seems to activate genes in the budding […]
SONG: We Climb.
SONG: “We Climb.” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: “Fossil fills out water-land leap”, BBC News, 25 Jun 2008, as used […]