Evolution

Cope’s Rule: Sea Creatures Are Going To Get Bigger- And So Will You

One day something will outgrow the blue whale – but it won't be another whale. EPA When life on Earth began around 3.6 billion years ago, all organisms were small. Indeed, it took some 2.5 billion years to evolve any organism that grows larger than a ...

Article - The Conversation - Feb 19 2015 - 3:43pm

When Humans And Neanderthals Interbred?

A partial human skull found in northern Israel  excited paleontologists because it seemed to hold clues about when and where humans and Neanderthals might have interbred. The Manot Cave is a natural limestone formation that had been sealed for 15,000 years ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 2 2015 - 5:34pm

These Humans Have Evolutionarily Adapted To Arsenic

High up in the high Andes mountains of Argentina, a population has adapted to tolerate the toxic chemical arsenic.  For thousands of years, in some regions of the Andes, people have been exposed to high levels of it, because arsenic in volcanic bedrock is ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 4 2015 - 9:30am

Menopause Is One Of Nature's Greatest Mysteries

Most female animals die around the same time they stop reproducing, only humans and two types of whale continue to live for many years after giving birth to their last baby.  But why?  Menopause is one of nature's greatest mysteries.   A new study say ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 5 2015 - 12:54pm

Origin Of Life Phenomenon: Some Amino Acids And Sugars Were Simply Meant To Be

The origin of life remains a mystery with more questions than answers. How were molecules created? How did they assemble into large structures?  Among the conundrums, the "homochirality" phenomenon upon which amino acids and sugars form is partic ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 11 2015 - 9:20pm

The Mystery Of 'Foreign' Genes Not From Our Ancestors

We have tens or hundreds of active 'foreign' genes, according to a new paper, and that may merit a rethink of how we discuss evolution, say the authors. ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2015 - 11:41am

Social Fitness: Did A Genetic Bottleneck Occur Because Of Wealth And Power?

DNA- inheritance- is more important than the color of your eyes or your hair, it can also influence whether you might develop certain diseases, like cystic fibrosis or hemophilia. Evolution- survival of the fittest- may seem like the great biological equal ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 16 2015 - 5:53pm

Sorry U.K. Celts, You're Probably Not

Whither The Celts? In the 1980s there was a terrific British documentary called simply "The Celts", made because of ongoing fascination by entitled western elites with indigenous people and perhaps the lingering hope/fear that maybe they were som ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Apr 2 2015 - 9:35am

Evolution Of The Dorso-Ventral Axis In Humans Revealed

Most animals have a dorso-ventral (back-to-belly) body axis which determines the position of the central nervous system- dorsal in humans, ventral in insects. Though there are obviously morphological differences, the same signaling molecules of bone morph ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 23 2015 - 7:00am

Maternal Genes And Letting Go Of The DNApron Strings

How does a mother transition genetic control to offspring early in development? It's part of a larger mystery regarding how embryos regulate cell division and differentiation into new types of cells. A new article in Cell provides some insight into th ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 20 2015 - 4:45pm