Evolution

There is a presumption among many people that extraterrestrial life is a foregone conclusion and that it is only awaiting our discovery.  The Drake equation is usually highlighted as many…

In an article published this week in Science, Monash University biochemists say they have discovered the process by which bacteria developed into more complex cells and that this crucial evolutionary…

Go check out Carnival of Evolution # 20 at Skeptic Wonder. This month's issue includes a metagenomic analysis of the carnival submissions. (I get a fairly long phylogenetic branch of my own!) Go…

As addressed in other posts, there is a significant difference between "selfishness" and "self-interest".  However, it seems that there is still a general insistence on perpetuating the…

The traditional view in biology is that ecology shapes evolution. The environment defines a template and the process of evolution by natural selection shapes organisms to fit that template. Some…

What kinds of genetic changes are required to evolve significant changes in body shape and size? The availability of affordable, state-of-the-art DNA sequencing and array technology has made it…

Researchers from George Washington University and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology have discovered a new species of Jurassic theropod dinosaur called Haplocheirus…

When aliens come to Earth to investigate life here, they don’t simply beam up a specimen and start probing. (And they’re also, by the way, not disproportionately interested in the anus.) Only a…

A series of articles in the January 26 issue of PNAS illustrates recent progress in applying evolutionary theory to a range of questions in medicine and public health, and may lead to medical…

Using high resolution genome sequencing, an international team of researchers has tracked a particularly virulent strain of MRSA as it traveled between South America, Europe and Southeast Asia. The…