Evolution and Wealth

Evolution and Wealth

Greetings,I came across this plot, and decided to post it here. Figure: Plot that shows the correlation between the percentage of the public the accepts evolution and the GDP per capita.(Source:…
Sex And Parasites

Sex And Parasites

Sex is costly. Yet it is widespread throughout the animal kingdom, so there must be some advantages to it. And still, it seems easier to list disadvantages. Sexual reproduction is complicated,…
Blooming Botany (1B)

Blooming Botany (1B)

Botany: A Blooming History And now we return to part one of this series 1. A Confusion of Names We now meet Thomas Fairchild (1667? – 1729).  Wikipedia is rather terse about him:…
Origin of Life Prize

Origin of Life Prize

Harry Lonsdale, a 79 year old millionaire scientist, has launched a $50,000 prize to promote research in the origin of life. The prize could potentially be complemented by $2,000,000 (!) of research…
Sperm Competition

Sperm Competition

The term sperm competition can be used in two ways. In the broad sense, it involves a large range of morphological, behavioural and physiological attributes, including courtship and copulation…
Is Evolution Fast Enough?

Is Evolution Fast Enough?

The world is changing. Climate change, deforestation, and much more, are all having an impact on our litlle planet. A question that follows this statement quite naturally, is 'Will the earth's…
Darwin's Library

Darwin's Library

Charles Darwin was, among many things, an avid reader, and by the end of his life he had created his own small library. Not only did he read a lot, but he also compared his ideas with those proposed…
Don't Have Sex With People From The Future

Don't Have Sex With People From The Future

If Hollywood movies are your science guide, outer space is populated primarily by hot vampire girl aliens and time travel is not only possible, but chicks will dig you more, the same way women today…
Mutation Rates And Life-History Traits

Mutation Rates And Life-History Traits

Recently, research has been conducted to see if certain life-history traits could be correlated with DNA mutation rates. By using whole-genome sequence data for 32 species of mammal, the researchers…