evolution – News Stories About evolution - Page 7

Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Will End Soon

May 26, 2012 11:30 AM CDT

Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Will End Soon

In a decade or two, it will be impossible to refute the science, he argues

(Newser) - Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself. Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to the point that even skeptics will be swayed. Two quotes from an interview...

Holding a Gun
Makes You
Look Bigger

Apr 13, 2012 2:41 PM CDT

Holding a Gun Makes You Look Bigger

Appearance of physical power increases when holding a weapon: Study

(Newser) - A person wielding a gun appears bigger and brawnier than a person without a gun, according to a new UCLA study. Researchers showed photographs of hands clutching guns, power drills, handsaws, and other tools to test subjects and then asked them to guess the size and muscularity of the person...

Tennessee's
Anti-Evolution Bill
to Become Law

Apr 11, 2012 6:13 AM CDT

Tennessee's Anti-Evolution Bill to Become Law

Critics: Move 'undermines science education'

(Newser) - Tennessee was the site of the infamous Scopes monkey trial nearly 90 years ago (spoiler alert: creationists lost), but the state is still fighting evolution. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said yesterday he'll allow a bill to become law that protects teachers who criticize evolution, as well as global warming...

Humans Had Fire 1M Years Ago

Apr 3, 2012 9:41 AM CDT

Humans Had Fire 1M Years Ago

Archeologist say they've found earliest evidence of human fire use

(Newser) - Scientists believe they've uncovered the earliest known evidence of human fire usage. Charred bones and plant ash sediment found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa suggest that Homo erectus was playing with fire a whopping 1 million years ago, more than twice as far back as previous evidence had...

Scientists Find Bones of Another Pre-Human Walker

Mar 29, 2012 2:16 PM CDT

Scientists Find Bones of Another Pre-Human Walker

They clearly belong to primitive foot of a walking creature

(Newser) - Lucy was not alone. Scientists have unearthed fossilized bones that they believe must have belonged to the foot of another pre-human species that walked upright around 3 million years ago, the AP reports. It's the first evidence of such a species during that era since the one made famous...

Tennessee Bill Encourages Critiques of Evolution

Mar 22, 2012 5:32 PM CDT

Tennessee Bill Encourages Critiques of Evolution

It protects teachers who debate the issue in classrooms

(Newser) - A bill in Tennessee's legislature would protect teachers who encourage debate in the classroom about evolution—a measure that opponents say is just a guise to teach creationism or intelligent design, reports the Tennessean . Top science groups and the ACLU have come out against the bill, which the state...

Bees Might Have
Personalities

Mar 10, 2012 7:35 AM CST

Bees Might Have Personalities

Some are more adventurous than others: Study

(Newser) - Bees are not merely mindless, mechanical insects with rigid behavior patterns. They may actually exhibit personalities and feelings. A new study from the University of Illinois reveals that some bees display a higher willingness to head off on adventures than others, which can be interpreted as a personality trait, reports...

Middle-Aged Folks
Are Evolution's
'Pinnacle':
Scientist

Mar 8, 2012 5:21 PM CST

Middle-Aged Folks Are Evolution's 'Pinnacle': Scientist

They pass on vital knowledge to help societies thrive

(Newser) - Middle aged? Don't get down on yourself: You're the "pinnacle of evolution," according to a Cambridge scientist. Middle age is a period "not of decline but of development," says David Bainbridge. Humans are unusual in that they remain healthy well beyond their child-bearing years....

Human, Gorilla DNA:
Just 1.75% of It Is Different

scientists say

Mar 8, 2012 10:04 AM CST

Human, Gorilla DNA: Just 1.75% of It Is Different

Western lowland gorilla DNA decoded by scientists

(Newser) - In decoding the DNA of a western lowland gorilla, scientists made a discovery that may surprise you: Humans and gorillas differ in just 1.75% of their DNA, making our genomes more similar than previously thought. That percentage actually drops to 1.37% when compared to chimpanzees, our closest living...

Atheist Richard Dawkins: Slavery Profiteer?

Feb 19, 2012 4:38 PM CST

Atheist Richard Dawkins: Slavery Profiteer?

Telegraph newspaper: His family once owned slaves

(Newser) - Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins fired back at the Telegraph today after the paper accused him of profiting—albeit indirectly—from slavery, the Guardian reports. The Telegraph's article notes that Dawkins' great great great great great grandfather, Henry Dawkins, owned 1,013 Jamaican slaves before he died in 1744. Dawkins...

191 'Most Beautiful'
Theories in Science

191 'Most Beautiful' Theories in Science

Relativity, theory of evolution top the list

(Newser) - Every year, the website Edge poses a big, open-ended question to leading scientists. This year's query— "What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?" —received 191 answers covering a wide range of ideas, with Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin's Theory of...

Ancient Feathers Add
Some Color to Dinosaurs

Sep 15, 2011 7:19 PM CDT

Ancient Feathers Add Some Color to Dinosaurs

Scientists thrilled with trove found in Canada from 70M years ago

(Newser) - Dinosaurs just got a little more colorful. A batch of prehistoric feathers found in western Canada from about 70 million years ago suggests that feathers on dinosaurs and early birds were more diverse and complex than thought, reports the Los Angeles Times . "Instead of scaly animals portrayed as usually...

Women's Orgasms
Exist Because...

study says

Sep 10, 2011 1:41 PM CDT

Women's Orgasms Exist Because...

...well, who knows, but they serve a purpose: study

(Newser) - Turns out there is a unique reason for the female orgasm... but nobody knows what it is yet. The latest foray into female ecstasy involved asking about 10,000 pairs of opposite-sex siblings and twins about their sexual habits. The upshot: Most of the girls had no similarity with their...

Perry's Problem:
He Doesn't Think

OPINION

Aug 23, 2011 2:26 PM CDT

Perry's Problem: He Doesn't Think

Governor's trust in his instincts reminiscent of George W. Bush: Richard Cohen

(Newser) - Rick Perry officially burst onto the presidential scene just days ago, but he already "clings to an ice floe of diminishing credibility," writes Richard Cohen in the Washington Post : Perry has quickly established himself as "intellectually unqualified to be president," most pointedly when he sided with...

Perry: Evolution a
'Theory With Gaps'

Aug 19, 2011 5:21 AM CDT

Perry: Evolution a 'Theory With Gaps'

Huntsman: 'I believe in evolution ... call me crazy'

(Newser) - Evolution has joined global warming on the list of things Rick Perry is skeptical about. Evolution is "a theory that's out there—and it's got some gaps in it," the Texas governor told a little boy during a campaign stop in New Hampshire yesterday, the Huffington...

Scientists Seek
'Frankenstein Spark'

Jul 28, 2011 3:44 AM CDT

Scientists Seek 'Frankenstein Spark'

Synthetic life close to becoming a reality

(Newser) - Alien life may appear in a test tube on Earth long before it's found elsewhere—and by some standards, it's already here, researchers say. Multiple teams of scientists around the world are experimenting with genetic tools in an effort to create synthetic life, the New York Times finds....

Save
Humanity:
Have Sex

study says

Jul 8, 2011 2:25 PM CDT

Save Humanity: Have Sex

Sexual reproduction confers evolutionary benefits

(Newser) - Scientists have long theorized that sexual reproduction was better, evolutionarily speaking, than its asexual counterpart—and now they’ve got some evidence. Researchers in Britain found that sexually-reproducing worms were better at staying “one evolutionary step ahead” of parasites than asexual versions of the same worm, NPR reports. That...

Polar Bears Have
Irish Ancestors

Jul 8, 2011 1:37 PM CDT

Polar Bears Have Irish Ancestors

DNA study proves interbreeding with Irish bears of old

(Newser) - Polar bears have as much claim to Irish descent as any St. Patrick's day marcher, according to a DNA study of ancient bear bones. All polar bears alive today have the maternal DNA of the extinct Irish brown bear, the researchers found, suggesting that the two species interbred during...

Humans Behind
Evolution of
Dog Bark

study says

Jun 23, 2011 5:24 PM CDT

Humans Behind Evolution of Dog Bark

We likely selected for the trait: study

(Newser) - Next time your neighbor’s dog starts yapping, don’t blame the pup—blame humanity. We may be the ones who selected for barking over the course of the domestic dog’s evolution, whether directly or indirectly, a scientist says. He investigated the simple observation that while domestic dogs love...

Evolution:
Survival of
the ... Nicest?

david brooks

May 17, 2011 12:42 PM CDT

Evolution: Survival of the ... Nicest?

New research suggests that selfishness is a bad strategy: David Brooks

(Newser) - Our notion of "survival of the fittest" has long held that self-centered aggressors dominate the world and that being an ethical do-gooder is a losing evolutionary bet, writes David Brooks in the New York Times . But that notion is shifting, he argues, and he rounds up a spate of...