evolution – News Stories About evolution - Page 7

Middle-Aged Folks
Are Evolution's
'Pinnacle':
Scientist

Mar 8, 2012 5:21 PM CST

Middle-Aged Folks Are Evolution's 'Pinnacle': Scientist

They pass on vital knowledge to help societies thrive

(Newser) - Middle aged? Don't get down on yourself: You're the "pinnacle of evolution," according to a Cambridge scientist. Middle age is a period "not of decline but of development," says David Bainbridge. Humans are unusual in that they remain healthy well beyond their child-bearing years....

Human, Gorilla DNA:
Just 1.75% of It Is Different

scientists say

Mar 8, 2012 10:04 AM CST

Human, Gorilla DNA: Just 1.75% of It Is Different

Western lowland gorilla DNA decoded by scientists

(Newser) - In decoding the DNA of a western lowland gorilla, scientists made a discovery that may surprise you: Humans and gorillas differ in just 1.75% of their DNA, making our genomes more similar than previously thought. That percentage actually drops to 1.37% when compared to chimpanzees, our closest living...

Atheist Richard Dawkins: Slavery Profiteer?

Feb 19, 2012 4:38 PM CST

Atheist Richard Dawkins: Slavery Profiteer?

Telegraph newspaper: His family once owned slaves

(Newser) - Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins fired back at the Telegraph today after the paper accused him of profiting—albeit indirectly—from slavery, the Guardian reports. The Telegraph's article notes that Dawkins' great great great great great grandfather, Henry Dawkins, owned 1,013 Jamaican slaves before he died in 1744. Dawkins...

'Most Beautiful Theories' in Science Include Relativity and Theory of Evolution

191 'Most Beautiful'
Theories in Science

191 'Most Beautiful' Theories in Science

Relativity, theory of evolution top the list

(Newser) - Every year, the website Edge poses a big, open-ended question to leading scientists. This year's query— "What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?" —received 191 answers covering a wide range of ideas, with Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin's Theory of...

Ancient Feathers Add
Some Color to Dinosaurs

Sep 15, 2011 7:19 PM CDT

Ancient Feathers Add Some Color to Dinosaurs

Scientists thrilled with trove found in Canada from 70M years ago

(Newser) - Dinosaurs just got a little more colorful. A batch of prehistoric feathers found in western Canada from about 70 million years ago suggests that feathers on dinosaurs and early birds were more diverse and complex than thought, reports the Los Angeles Times . "Instead of scaly animals portrayed as usually...

Female Orgasm Exists for Unique Reason: Study

Women's Orgasms
Exist Because...

study says

Sep 10, 2011 1:41 PM CDT

Women's Orgasms Exist Because...

...well, who knows, but they serve a purpose: study

(Newser) - Turns out there is a unique reason for the female orgasm... but nobody knows what it is yet. The latest foray into female ecstasy involved asking about 10,000 pairs of opposite-sex siblings and twins about their sexual habits. The upshot: Most of the girls had no similarity with their...

Election 2012: Rick Perry Trusts His Gut, Not His Brain, Writes Richard Cohen

Perry's Problem:
He Doesn't Think

OPINION

Aug 23, 2011 2:26 PM CDT

Perry's Problem: He Doesn't Think

Governor's trust in his instincts reminiscent of George W. Bush: Richard Cohen

(Newser) - Rick Perry officially burst onto the presidential scene just days ago, but he already "clings to an ice floe of diminishing credibility," writes Richard Cohen in the Washington Post : Perry has quickly established himself as "intellectually unqualified to be president," most pointedly when he sided with...

Perry: Evolution a
'Theory With Gaps'

Aug 19, 2011 5:21 AM CDT

Perry: Evolution a 'Theory With Gaps'

Huntsman: 'I believe in evolution ... call me crazy'

(Newser) - Evolution has joined global warming on the list of things Rick Perry is skeptical about. Evolution is "a theory that's out there—and it's got some gaps in it," the Texas governor told a little boy during a campaign stop in New Hampshire yesterday, the Huffington...

Scientists Seek
'Frankenstein Spark'

Jul 28, 2011 3:44 AM CDT

Scientists Seek 'Frankenstein Spark'

Synthetic life close to becoming a reality

(Newser) - Alien life may appear in a test tube on Earth long before it's found elsewhere—and by some standards, it's already here, researchers say. Multiple teams of scientists around the world are experimenting with genetic tools in an effort to create synthetic life, the New York Times finds....

Save
Humanity:
Have Sex

study says

Jul 8, 2011 2:25 PM CDT

Save Humanity: Have Sex

Sexual reproduction confers evolutionary benefits

(Newser) - Scientists have long theorized that sexual reproduction was better, evolutionarily speaking, than its asexual counterpart—and now they’ve got some evidence. Researchers in Britain found that sexually-reproducing worms were better at staying “one evolutionary step ahead” of parasites than asexual versions of the same worm, NPR reports. That...

Polar Bears Have
Irish Ancestors

Jul 8, 2011 1:37 PM CDT

Polar Bears Have Irish Ancestors

DNA study proves interbreeding with Irish bears of old

(Newser) - Polar bears have as much claim to Irish descent as any St. Patrick's day marcher, according to a DNA study of ancient bear bones. All polar bears alive today have the maternal DNA of the extinct Irish brown bear, the researchers found, suggesting that the two species interbred during...

Humans Behind
Evolution of
Dog Bark

study says

Jun 23, 2011 5:24 PM CDT

Humans Behind Evolution of Dog Bark

We likely selected for the trait: study

(Newser) - Next time your neighbor’s dog starts yapping, don’t blame the pup—blame humanity. We may be the ones who selected for barking over the course of the domestic dog’s evolution, whether directly or indirectly, a scientist says. He investigated the simple observation that while domestic dogs love...

Evolution:
Survival of
the ... Nicest?

david brooks

May 17, 2011 12:42 PM CDT

Evolution: Survival of the ... Nicest?

New research suggests that selfishness is a bad strategy: David Brooks

(Newser) - Our notion of "survival of the fittest" has long held that self-centered aggressors dominate the world and that being an ethical do-gooder is a losing evolutionary bet, writes David Brooks in the New York Times . But that notion is shifting, he argues, and he rounds up a spate of...

All Languages
Tracked to Single
African Tongue

All Languages Tracked to Single African Tongue

Study links language differences to migration route of early humans

(Newser) - The thousands of languages spoken in the world today can be traced back to a "mother tongue of mother tongues" that arose in Africa around 50,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The lead researcher, evolutionary psychologist Quentin Atkinson, borrowed a few ideas from genetic researchers, the Wall ...

Giant Bunny Fossils
Discovered Off Spain

Mar 22, 2011 4:50 AM CDT

Giant Bunny Fossils Discovered Off Spain

'King of rabbits' was 6 times the size of modern bunnies

(Newser) - On the Spanish island of Minorca up to 5 million years ago, the rabbit was king. Researchers there have discovered fossils belonging to the biggest-ever member of the bunny family, LiveScience reports. Nuralagus rex, weighing in at some 26 pounds—about six times the size of modern rabbits—had largely...

Why Humans No Longer Have Spiky Penises

Mar 10, 2011 10:58 AM CST

Why Humans No Longer Have Spiky Penises

It's all because of a missing piece of DNA

(Newser) - Were it not for evolution, sex could be a pretty uncomfortable prospect. But fortunately for humans, the male penis evolved in one particularly nice way: it lost its spikes. Some animals, including chimps and mice, still have penises dotted with hard spines. But Stanford researchers have discovered one particular chunk...

'Darwin Day'
Celebrated
in Rural US,
Quietly

Feb 15, 2011 9:58 AM CST

'Darwin Day' Celebrated in Rural US, Quietly

Biologists take the opportunity to show kids science is 'cool'

(Newser) - How to celebrate "Darwin Day" in rural America? Very carefully, the New York Times reports: When evolutionary biologists set out on a road trip this weekend to Virginia, Nebraska, Montana, and Iowa to promote science in honor of Charles Darwin's 202nd birthday, one high school principal made sure to...

Unlocking the Mystery of
Neanderthals' Big Nose

Jan 17, 2011 10:46 AM CST

Unlocking the Mystery of Neanderthals' Big Nose

It wasn't oversize because of cold temps

(Newser) - If you think Neanderthals, with their broad foreheads and big noses, were, well, not so attractive, don't blame the cold for their looks . For 150 years, scientists have theorized that Neanderthals' distinctive appearance was an adaptation that allowed them to withstand ice-age Europe's freezing conditions—but new research has found...

Poll: 40% of Americans
Are Creationists

Dec 20, 2010 6:01 AM CST

Poll: 40% of Americans Are Creationists

Only 16% believe humanity evolved without God

(Newser) - Creationists beliefs are on the wane but a full 40% of Americans still believe that God created humans in their current form 10,000 years ago, according to the latest Gallup poll. But the proportion of people with creationists beliefs was the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in...

Mammals Grew Huge
After Dino Die-Off

Nov 26, 2010 10:10 AM CST

Mammals Grew Huge After Dino Die-Off

With less competition for vegetation, they 'exploded' in size

(Newser) - Mammals were a lot smaller before the dinosaurs went extinct—but got really, really, really big once dinos were gone, scientists say. New research published in the journal Science shows that, over the course of 25 million years, the largest mammals increased in size 1,000-fold from the time of...