Category Archives: Evolution and Biology
A World Famous African-American Scientist Puts the Presidential Election in Perspective: “I Am Not Surprised At All”
On Wednesday, the day after our 2017 presidential election, I dreaded having to put on my host face to go out to dinner with Dr. Joseph Graves, our ALLELE speaker for Thursday. I couldn’t really stand the thought of talking … Continue reading
One giant step for Alabama students….now what’s next?
In the past week, something amazing happened. It isn’t what we traditionally think of as ground-breaking or life changing, but to millions of young people in one southern state, this will be the first step in a new lens on … Continue reading
Of Epigenetic Aggression & Silver Foxes
Originally posted on the “Biology, Culture, & Evolution” blog of the UA Anthropology Blog Network at http://anthropology.ua.edu/blogs/ant475/2013/09/24/of-epigenetic-aggression-silver-foxes/ . Epigenetic Mechanisms, Quick & Dirty Jablonka & Raz (2009) show us this elegant illustration of broad and narrow epigenetic transmission. Epigenetic inheritance in … Continue reading
Watch Out Grad Students, Junior Faculty, & New Parents: Why I Eat Sh*t When I am Operating on Just a Few Hours Sleep
From a Scientific American Mind (September/October 2009) that I finally got to after it hung out for 4 years in my bathroom “library,” re a study by Motivala et al published in May 2009 Psychoneuroendocrinology: Sleep mediates ghrelin and leptin … Continue reading
Remembering Brent Colyer: Serotonin, Alcoholism, & Evolution
I am beginning the writing of this on Saturday, December 8, around 11:30PM. A week ago & a few hours earlier, I was agitating over six lead changes as I watched Bama ultimately beat Georgia in the SEC college football … Continue reading
2012 EvoS Summit at New Paltz – 10/26 – Evolution in Higher Education, Collaboration with Robb Wolf, Grant Activities, and More!
EvoS Summit Conference – 10/26/2012 Since David Sloan Wilson implemented the first undergraduate evolutionary studies (EvoS) program at Binghamton University about a decade ago, the notion of Darwin’s Big Idea guiding educational experiences across academic areas has led to significant … Continue reading
HBES 2012 Roundup 2: Brian Hare’s Chimp/Bonobo Cognition Plenary, Mommy Brain Fogs, & Baba Brinkman Evolution Raps
Friday’s HBES meetings started with a plenary by anthropologist Brian Hare from Duke. Let me just say that I like the starting days with plenaries. No presenters have to “pay dues” with crappy earlier spots that everyone sleeps through. People … Continue reading
The Evolution Paradox in Higher Education (Or how I had to buck up and teach myself this evolution stuff!)
As I’ve written in several of my publications, evolution is under attack. But not only by religious fundamentalists, who may reject evolution outright due to conflicts regarding the origins of life. This particular rejection is sort of the high-profile rejection … Continue reading
WHY CAESAR’S WIFE MUST BE ABOVE SUSPICION: MATES FUNCTION AS HONEST INDICATORS OF STATUS AND PRESTIGE. BY BEN AND BO WINEGARD.
In Plutarch’s Life of Julius Caesar, a story is related that Julius Caesar divorced his wife (Pompeia) because of rumors of opprobrious behavior. At trial, Caesar said he knew nothing about his wife’s rumored adultery, but asserted that he divorced her … Continue reading
Urban Angst: Darwinian Theory, the Need for Meaning, and Modern Existential Anxiety
“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” Victor Frankl Almost every human has, at one moment or another, recoiled from the world and asked a simple but disturbing question: “what is the … Continue reading