Science Is Constantly Evolving
Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.
Last week on Fossil Friday, I presented a fossil sent to me by a Fossil Friday Fan, Dan Phelps! I didn't let him answer in the comments, but he certainly did his best to taunt you. So what was this strange pod-like structure? A sloth zipper, or as NCSE's Glenn Branch suggested, a…
On June 25, 2014, the following scientific study made the cover of the prestigious journal, Nature: “Aspergillomarasmine A overcomes metallo-β-lactamase antibiotic resistance.” Doesn’t exactly sound earth-shattering, does it? But the discovery of a fungal compound that restores the…
This week we have a very special fossil courtesy of Fossil Friday fan Dan Phelps—who also happens to be the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society. What could it be? Looks like some sort of plant pod to me, or an ancient sloth zipper? No, this is an invertebrate found in what is now…
I’m still happily kibitzing on a dispute between two philosophers, Mary Midgley and Nicholas Everitt. (Look, I don’t give you a hard time about your idea of fun, do I?) You’ll recall that in 2007, Midgley published a pamphlet entitled Intelligent Design Theory and other ideological problems…
NCSE is pleased to announce the launch of the Climate Science Students Bill of Rights, which articulates the principle that all students deserve the best climate science education available as part of a 21st-century science education. Sponsoring the bill of rights along with NCSE are Climate…
We at the Science League of America and our host institution, the National Center for Science Education, are proud to be among the founders of the Climate Science Students Bill of Rights, which states that: ALL STUDENTS, IN EVERY STATE, HAVE THE RIGHT TO: 1. Receive the highest quality science…
Popcorn in hand, I’m kibitzing on a dispute between two philosophers, Mary Midgley and Nicholas Everitt. In 2007, Midgley published a pamphlet entitled Intelligent Design Theory and other ideological problems (PDF), which Everitt is now criticizing in a forthcoming review (PDF;…
Last week, I presented you with a set of mammal molars that were neither mastodon nor mammoth. Dan Phelps was the first to identify it as one of the Gomphotheriidae—a four-tusked relative of the elephant. From the UCMP: "Gomphotheres were large proboscidean mammals that had global…
We covered genetic drift in Part 1 this morning. Next up in our run-down of evolutionary mechanisms: gene flow and mutation. Gene flow brings about evolution through the movement of individuals (or at least their genes) in and out of a population. As it happens, gene flow was likely pretty…