Tag: evolution
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The Climate Crisis: Which animals will survive?
Alexandra Lesayova writes about the threespine stickleback fish; a promising model organism with respect to gaining a better understanding of the effects of climate change on living organisms, and how understanding the basis of natural selection in response to environmental stresses could be the key to accurate predictions of the effects of climate change. Climate…
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A jar of spices has a lot to hide and a lot to tell
Marie Poirot writes about the research at Australian National University studying the use of spices in cuisines all over the world to show the complexity of evolutionary science. You might not have heard of it, but “Darwinian gastronomy”, or the study of the evolution of cuisines, can tell us a lot about the evolution of…
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Did warm-bloodedness result from the Permian extinction?
Based on body thermoregulation, we generally divide animals into two categories. Those who can generate and regulate their body heat themselves are called endotherms, or warm-blooded, because the heat generated by their metabolism is distributed around the body through blood flow. Animals who lack this ability are called ectotherms, and have to rely on external…
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Fear: from ancestral origins to modern thrill-seekers
Fear as an emotion is universal; whether it be the fear of the dark, spiders, or heights. This intense, emotional reaction to a perceived threat infects the minds of many. It may seem more hindrance than help, however, for without fear we would all be reckless beings, putting our lives at risk. Not so great…
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Is this it for Human Evolution?
Humankind, in all our arrogance, have always told ourselves that we were different from our animal relatives– that we were stronger, more intelligent, superior. Even the father of Evolution himself, Charles Darwin, talked extensively of how we may and should use the principle of natural selection to further our acts of domestication and agriculture. So…
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The ABCs of Life on Earth
Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and the Polish Academy of Science, have challenged the popular RNA World hypothesis regarding the origin of life on Earth. The work, published in Nature, supports a mixed RNA/DNA model which could…
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An Alien in Our Sea: A look at the intelligence of an octopus
In 2016, one of my favourite sci-fi films Arrival was released, and – mild spoiler alert – it presented us with an alien species named the heptapods, who challenged human perception of the universe and life. Had these species originated instead from Earth, I wouldn’t blame you for assuming them to be related to the…
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A good deal gone bad: how evolving more intricate brains made us vulnerable to autism spectrum disorders
What if the evolutionary changes which made us human also laid the foundation for some of the most complex disorders which affect us? Arguably, the most important feature of our species is our brain, an organ which enables us to do everything from walking and breathing to solving complex equations and reflecting on the meaning…
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PTSD: The evolutionary advantage
A third of people who survive traumatic events experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD survivors involuntarily and vividly relive their trauma through flashbacks and nightmares. To escape these painful reminders, they try to avoid any potential triggers, and they are constantly on edge. This has devastating consequences on their quality of life. Jacqui, a rape…