evolution

A new study discovers why whales grew to be the largest animals on our planet.

What does Robert Sapolsky—an “utter, complete, atheist”—think about the persistence of magical thinking in our modern world?

Ever heard a story that made you sick to your stomach? There is neurological wizardry at work that makes our sense of morality so visceral—and flawed.

There are 400 breeds in total, including 23 distinct “clades” or types.   

A chorus of new science is showing that evolution has orchestrated life to leave no room for solos. A grander view of life is revealing higher-level, need-centric relational logic patterns (as in David Haskell’s The Songs of Trees).

Will we ever have a Theory of Everything? Theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss isn’t sure that’s the right question to be asking.

The state of nature isn’t a “war of all against all.” Even no-brainer bacteria “know” that sometimes the game is “Survival of the Friendliest”

Knowing the details of genetic variance may help improve personalized medicine.   

Evolution exists and exerts itself in a different way than gravity does… because natural selection is an “algorithmic force.” 

Natural “narrative selection” was key to turning insignificant apes (who had tools for 2 million years) into the species that now dominates the bio-sphere. 

The human mind is like a Turing machine, says Daniel Dennett. It’s made up of unthinking cogs – but when combined in the right order, their motion gives rise to consciousness.

Evolutionary biologists generally agree that humans evolved from a bacteria-like ancestor, rather than a viral one. But what if we’re chemically connected?

Why are we the way that we are – is it nature or nurture? This week, Bill Nye answers a question from Evan, who is having a science argument with his mom.

We never forget a face, but that’s because humans are evolutionary predisposed.

Our picture of life is going through a major shift. Ed Yong’s book I Contain Multitudes reveals that a genome generally doesn’t contain all the genes an organism needs. Symbiosis isn’t rare, it’s the rule. And we’re just the icing on life’s vast microbial cake. 

A new study sheds light on the evolutionary connection between fish fins and human fingers.

Researchers possibly identify LUCA, the common ancestor to all life on Earth, and figure out where it lived.

The famed evolutionary biologist summarizes his research into the genetic basis of evolution.