Evolution
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An Answer to Jimmy Carter: Life is common, intelligence is rare
In Bully for Brontosaurus, evolutionary biologist quotes this letter he received from president Jimmy Carter in response to one of his essays. You seem to…
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Marmorkrebs: It’s neither nature nor nurture
I like the story of the marmorkrebs, a kind of crayfish that reproduces pathogenetically. Because of this, they’re genetically identical, so all of the many…
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An Old and Wild Absurdity: We keep making the wrong assumptions about evolution
Some ways of thinking about evolution and natural history don’t go away, no matter how forcefully they get refuted. In my dentist’s waiting room earlier…
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Anemones: They look like they’re from another planet
There are no better places than tide pools to find alien-like creatures. Sea anemones are predatory animals, but you wouldn’t know it looking at them.
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History and Function: Whence and Why are different questions
Where something comes from, and what it’s good for, are two different things. Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, in his essay Of Kiwi Eggs and the…
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No Dangerous Knowledge: We can handle the truth
If belief in evolutionary theory made us demonstrably behave worse, should we protect people from learning about it? If a factually incorrect religious belief made…
Nehaveigur 