Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
In part 1, I told you that the three bones of the modern mammalian’s ear are actually modified jawbones. I also mentioned that today, we have an extensive fossil record that documents this amazing transition from jaw-to-ear, but despite how good the record is, it can’t tell us how the…
Back in 2014, there was a controversy in Arizona surrounding John Huppenthal, then the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. It was alleged, and subsequently confirmed, that Huppenthal pseudonymously posted a bunch of comments—variously characterized in the media as harsh, inflammatory,…
Good advice to the AP, from the War Production Board, circa 1942. Image public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. One of these is a real addition to the AP Stylebook. Which do you think it is? To describe those who don’t accept climate science or dispute the world is warming from man-…
Ahmed and us at the Robotics Competition in Dallas #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/SkI3I8DDo8
— مرام (@sudanibae) September 16, 2015
When I was in middle school, I was way into model rocketry. My best friend and I would build these elaborate rocket kits, then (having researched the…
Just published yesterday in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is a tour de force of thinking big, working together, and demonstrating that even science that is messy and incomplete can be incredibly useful and worthy of publication. In an article…
In Part 1 of this post, I described the unlikely discovery and pretty fantastic recovery of a major cache of heretofore-unknown hominin bones. In Part 2, I laid out the mosaic traits of the new species, Homo naledi, and talked about how the consensus came to be that despite its tiny…
Last Friday I showed you a section of a fossil that stumped not only me, but an intern working in the museum, too. Here, take a look at the whole thing with a scale bar; see if that helps. Did it? I’ll admit that it didn’t help me! But apparently, if you really know what you’re doing, it’s…
This week on Fossil Friday we have a specimen that totally stumped me. Take a look! What is this thing? This thing confused me. When the intern took it out of its case, I couldn’t even tell what sort of Giant Sloth artifact it might be. With all those swirls and whorls and spikes, it had to be…
In Part 1, I described the totally serendipitous discovery of an unprecedented hominin fossil haul. More than 1,500 bones of at least fifteen individuals (representing both genders and ages ranging from infant to elderly) of a new hominin species were pulled from an extremely difficult-to-get-to…