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.
It’s Sunday, August 25, 2019, and it’s both Banana Split Day and National Whiskey Sour Day. I like ’em both, the former a sweet treat for kids, the latter a sweet treat for adults. It’s also National Kiss and Make Up Day (good advice!), and Sacrifice our Wants for Other’s Needs Day (the apostrophe is … Continue reading Sunday: Hili dialogue
There’s an interesting new paper out on the genetic basis of eye loss in cave fish, reported in a manuscript in biorxiv (not yet peer reviewed) by Aniket Gore et al. (reference and free download at bottom. ) It’s also summarized by New Scientist in the online article below (click on screenshot to go to article), … Continue reading More dumb claims that environmental epigenetics will completely revise our view of evolution
Yes, the folks who want evolutionary biology to be radically expanded to take into account phenomena like development, “niche construction,” culture, and epigenetics are at it again, and again they have nothing to offer but a few lab examples mixed with a lot of hype. And the promoter of this view is once again Kevin … Continue reading Laland at it again: touts a “radically different” account of evolution
It’s an overcast Saturday in Dobrzyn, but Hili, who was out all night, is sleeping cozily on the couch beside me, so all is well. It’s also August 6, which means it’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony Day, for it was this day in 1945 that the “Little Boy” atomic bomb was dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima, … Continue reading Saturday: Hili dialogue
For some time, a group of biologists have been promoting the idea that the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution (which they call “Standard Evolutionary Theory,” or SET) is incomplete in major ways, and needs a reboot. Their main contention is that the SET is too “gene-centric”, and ignores environmental factors—like non-genetic developmental plasticity, epigenetic modification, and ‘niche … Continue reading Templeton wastes $11 million in attempt to change evolutionary biology
And so we’ve reached the end of another week. Tomorrow I leave for the Big Road Trip, and posting will be light for six weeks or so.. The co-writers on this site will try to pick up some slack, we will still have Hili dialogues every day and perhaps some discussion threads, and of course … Continue reading Friday: Hili dialogue (and lagniappe)
Someone just called a fairly new “Evolution-Needs-a-New-Paradigm” website to my attention, and I wish they hadn’t. The site, “The Third Way of Evolution,” has been going for some time and, according to the its notes, was created last May by two biologists, James Shapiro (here at the University of Chicago) and Dennis Noble, a renowed physiologist who was formerly a … Continue reading Should there be a “Third Way” of evolution? I think not.
Happy Monday! For those of you who dread going back to work, my condolences, but here’s Poland’s favorite cat to cheer you up. And, apparently, she’s learned to read! Hili: To read or to go for a walk, that is the question. A: You can read in the garden under the apple tree. In Polish: Hili: … Continue reading Monday: Hili dialogue
