Tag Archives: evolution
links for 2010-01-04: big-brained Boskops
What Happened to the Hominids Who Were Smarter Than Us? | Human Evolution | DISCOVER Magazine "Back there in the past, ten thousand years ago. The man of the future, with the big brain, the small teeth. He lived in … more…
The Evolution of House Cats
Pretty interesting piece on The Evolution of House Cats at Scientific American, in which we discover that most of the varieties and breeds of contemporary cat are no more genetically different than, in the example given, French and Italian people; … more…
Introducing Indohyus
The land-based ancestor of whales : Nature News The teeth hint that the wading creature still preferred terrestrial plants over fish, indicating that it probably took to water to get away from predators rather than in search of food. (via … more…
Bone furniture
Joris Laarman, Bone Chair, 2007 I think we’ve been here before… Trees have the ability to add material where strength it is needed. But bones also have the ability to take away material where it is not needed. With this … more…
Sagan’s animated evolutionary line
The classic diagram of evolution from the Cosmos TV series, first broadcast 1980. UPDATE: Another clip from Cosmos, A Thousand Years of Darkness is also strongly recommended. If Carl Sagan was alive today, they’d have him on a no-fly list. … more…
The Blogging Ecosystem (revisited); the ‘todo’ category…
Here’s another site I’ve not visited in a very long time. I’m amazed to see that, despite the years of neglect (both of them), enthusiasm is still on the scale at The Truth Laid Bear’s Blogging Ecosystem, appropriately enough, under … more…
Evolution and Literary Criticism
Evolution and Literary Criticism A most interesting article which appears to call for a Darwinian literary analysis. Although most scholars give lip service to the merits of “interdisciplinary” study, all too often such efforts are only celebrated when they involve … more…
The Naked Face
gladwell dot com / The Naked Face Here’s a more substantial piece which relates to the story about ‘cheat detection’ blogged a few days ago. (I’ve had this bookmarked for a while, so I’m not entirely sure, but I think … more…
Brain’s ‘cheat detector’ detected
New Scientist – Brain’s ‘cheat detector’ is revealed Part of the human brain is dedicated to detecting cheats, say evolutionary psychologists, after a study with a brain-damaged man. ‘Cheat detection’ turns out to mean sensitivity to social contracts – understanding, … more…
An Urchin In A Haystack
An Urchin In A Haystack – absorbing 1995 interview with the late Stephen Jay Gould (via Ghost In The Machine)