Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
I’m itching to do biology posts, and have at least one or two papers on my desk, but of course those are the hardest posts of all and get few comments. Nevertheless, I’m proceeding, but every day I get about eight or none political posts that are less work. Well, I do my best. In … Continue reading Spider sprays strands of silk
What we have below (click on headline for free access) is a review in Nature by Denis Noble of a new book by Philip Ball, How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology, which has garnered good reviews and is currently #1 in rankings of books on developmental biology. The Amazon summary promises that … Continue reading Yet another misguided attempt to revise evolution
One of the most striking differences between monkeys and other primates on the one hand and apes on the other is that—with a few exceptions—other primates have tails but apes don’t. A new paper in Nature, which is really cool, investigates the genetic basis for the loss of tails in apes. (The phylogeny below shows … Continue reading How apes (including humans) lost their tails
Today I’ll try to summarize another paper that is difficult for one reason: figuring out how the authors (including Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo) sussed out which genes originated in Neanderthals and Denisovans (both lineages now extinct) and which in their sister lineage: the separate lineage leading to modern humans. (All three lineages shared a common … Continue reading Gene flow from Neanderthals and Denisovans to “modern” humans, and vice versa
We’re back to Caturday Felids again, and let me know if you want this to continue, as I’m not sure people are that keen on Caturday felids, and it takes a bit of work. At any rate, we’ll have one today, at least. The Washington Post has a lovely story about an English woman, profoundly … Continue reading Caturday felid trifecta: U.K.’s cat of the year; why cats love tuna; woman feeds Colorado State Fair cat daily for 20 years; and langiappe
UPDATE: Somehow I missed that Jason has a new book that expands on this problem (I didn’t see it on the Amazon site). Here’s the cover, and click on it to go to the site: ***************** Jason Rosenhouse is a professor of math at James Madison University in Virginia and also a friend. Besides teaching … Continue reading The intellectual vacuity of mathematical arguments against evolution
Unfortunately, NPR has gotten hold of Agustín Fuentes, who seems to have a strong ideological slant on biology, to explain to its listeners the “problems” with using DNA tests for ascertaining your ancestry—as many of us have done with companies like 23andMe™. Sadly, Fuentes’s “criticisms” of the method and results are misguided, bespeaking either an … Continue reading A misguided critique of genetic ancestry testing
Welcome to the cruelest day, Tuesday, January 11, 2022: National Hot Toddy Day, and perfectly appropriate for Chicago’s current temperature of 8ºF (-13ºD). It’s also National Milk Day, National Shop for Travel Day (a good idea), Girl Hug Boy Day, Secret Pal Day, and National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. News of the Day: *Is the New … Continue reading Tuesday: Hili dialogue
