Evolution
Life inside the Extinction
These are startling times, but there’s a way out
"evolution"
Evolution
Self-Terminating Biospheres
Is life’s persistence on Earth really the norm?
Evolution
The Noninevitability of Life
In a vast game of chance and competition, things can get ugly
Evolution
The Urgency of Agency
Our consciousness gets in the way of thinking about evolution
The Science Behind the Debates
People say that they trust scientists, yet evidence often takes a back seat to emotions. In fact, for issues that cause the loudest public furor - like vaccine safety - there is almost no debate in the scientific community...
Revolution in Evolution Wins 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Three scientists sped up evolutionary changes in the lab to make cleaner fuels and cancer drugs
Space & Physics
Maximum Alienness
What might make life hard to recognize as life?
Evolution
Book Review: God's Word or Human Reason? An Inside Perspective on Creationism
The claims of young-Earth creationists are easily checked and easily countered. And a new book—written by former creationists themselves—does this in substantive, compelling detail.....
Biology
Anatomy of a Hunt: Speed, Strategy and Survival
In the race for survival, predators can achieve impressive strengths and speeds—but research reveals that when it comes to strategy, their prey may have the upper hand. This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on January 24, 2018...
Biology
Smooth Surfaces Are a Bat Blind Spot
Glass and metal surfaces temporarily "blind" a bat by bouncing sound waves in the wrong direction, which sometimes results in a collision. This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on September 7, 2017...
Space & Physics
The Real Expanse
Human colonization of space would be terrifyingly hard, and that's the best thing about it
Evolution
Nonstandard Ideas in Amphibian Evolution, Part 3: Could Sirens Not Be Salamanders?
Sirens—long-bodied, aquatic salamanders—are weird. But are they really so weird that they might not be salamanders at all? It's a radical idea that has at least been considered...
Evolution
Nonstandard Ideas in Amphibian Evolution, Part 2: Salamanders and Caecilians Evolved Independently of all other tetrapods
Might it be that salamanders (and caecilians) are not close kin of frogs, that they evolved wholly independently of all other tetrapods?
Evolution
The Stem-Mammals--a Brief Primer
Mammals are but the only surviving members of a far grander, older lineage
Evolution
How Hobbits Happened: The Evolution of Homo floresiensis
New fossils shed light on the origin of the unusual human relative known as ‘the hobbit’. This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on June 8, 2016. ..
Evolution
The Integrated Maniraptoran, Part 3: Feathers Did Not Evolve in an Aerodynamic Context
Once upon a time, maniraptoran dinosaurs evolved small body size and complex feathers...
Evolution
2.7-Billion-Year-Old Bubbles, Raindrops and Mitochondria
A brief roundup of two intriguing pieces of recent research
Evolution
The Integrated Maniraptoran, Part 2: Meet the Maniraptorans
Of paravians, oviraptorosaurs, therizinosaurs, alvarezsaurs and more - a galaxy of bird-like, feathered dinosaurs...
Evolution
The Integrated Maniraptoran, Part 1
The evolutionary history of maniraptoran dinosaurs was complex, perhaps messy. But all is not lost...
Evolution
Treating the Origins of Life like Physics
A simple proposal for a way to pursue some answers to the origins of life
