Evolution and its meaning in the future of organisms and the human being is a subject widely discussed in scientific and non-scientific literature. In the 19th century, Charles Darwin contributed a crucial idea to understand how species originate: natural selection. Since then, the debates have continued. His book From Him On the Origin of Species , published in 1859, opened […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: evolution
Can you be religious and accept evolution?
Evolution: how Victorian sexism influenced Darwin’s theories – new research
Sex is an expensive business, biologically speaking. Finding a suitable mate takes time and energy. Offspring are also a huge investment of resources. But sex does offer a rewarding possibility: children who are fitter than their parents thanks to new and “better” combinations of genes. Darwin realised that many animal species therefore carefully select their […] … learn more→
Turkey bans teaching of evolution – but science is more than a belief system
In the US there have been many attempts to expunge evolution from the school curriculm or demand that creationism – the idea that all life was uniquely created by God – is given equal treatment in science textbooks. While all these have failed, the government in Turkey has now banned evolution from its national curriculum. […] … learn more→
What do aliens look like? The clue is in evolution
Speculating about what aliens look like has kept children, film producers and scientists amused for decades. If they exist, will extra terrestrials turn out to look similar to us, or might they take a form beyond our wildest imaginings? The answer to this question really depends on how we think evolution works at the deepest […] … learn more→
Evolution vs creation: teachers try to balance faith and their lessons
Some faiths reject the idea of evolution. Their followers adhere instead to creationist views – a god or many gods created the earth and all its creatures. These divergent views have led to conflict in schools around the world and even resulted in a number of court cases. South Africa is home to a number […] … learn more→
Life on Earth still favours evolution over creationism
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, first published in 1859, offered a bold new explanation for how animals and plants diversified and still serves as the foundation underpinning all medical and biological research today. But the theory remains under attack by creationists in various parts of the world, particularly the US, Turkey, Indonesia and the Middle […] … learn more→
How small birds evolved from giant meat eating dinosaurs
Spectacular transitional fossils, many from northern China, provide overwhelming evidence that dinosaurs evolved into birds and thus didn’t all perish when the deadly meteorite struck at the end of the Cretaceous period. We now know that many bipedal, meat-eating dinosaurs (theropods) – including relatives of T. rex and Velociraptor – were adorned with a variety […] … learn more→
Canine and able: how dogs made us human
What role have dogs played in human evolution? Woof … now there’s a question. Anthropologist Pat Shipman, in a recent issue of American Scientist, suggests dogs gave our human ancestors an advantage over Neanderthals when they arrived in Europe. Dogs, she argues, made a real difference to the success of the hunt. They respond to […] … learn more→
Not a one-way street: Evolution shapes environment
Environmental change is the selective force that preserves adaptive traits in organisms and is a primary driver of evolution. However, it is less well known that evolutionary change in organisms also trigger fundamental changes in the environment. Yale University researchers found a prime example of this evolutionary feedback loop in a few lakes in Connecticut, […] … learn more→
Earlier relatives may have climbed out of family tree
The first study into rarely-documented ground nest-building by wild chimpanzees has offered new clues about the ancient transition of early hominins – our “human-like” ancestors – from sleeping in trees to sleeping on the ground. While most apes build nests in trees, the study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, focused on a […] … learn more→
