Tag Archives: Evolution
Miscellany: Waiting for Irene; Neil Gaiman kicks my lazy ass; girl scientists rock (and so does Kirsten Gillibrand); Harry Potter ends; more atheist fun
Well, I’m back (and wishing I could have brought Idaho’s clear night sky back with me). And now we’re hunkering down in our apartment, bracing for the flooding from Hurricane Irene, which is due to hit New York later tonight: … Continue reading
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“These beings with soaring imagination”
The latest from Symphony of Science. Outstanding. Lyrics here. It’s wonderful to see the female scientists — Alice Roberts, Carolyn Porco, Jane Goodall — come to the fore on this one. And bittersweet that the video celebrates, among other things, … Continue reading
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The future of human evolution
As our understanding of human genetics grows, and as we increasingly gain the ability to reprogram life itself, Harvey Fineberg considers the possibilities of self-directed evolution: Bioethicist Arthur Caplan, whom I’ve written about before, explores the ethical implications: His full … Continue reading
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David Attenborough, humanist: “That’s what being alive is about”
I love all of David Attenborough’s work that I’ve seen — from the documentary series Life on Earth that I watched as a child, through to his narration on the gorgeously produced Planet Earth and its follow-ups. Here he makes … Continue reading
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All things bright and beautiful (and bin Laden too)
Considering the notion that all Nature is the benign creation of a loving God, Charles Darwin wrote: “There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly … Continue reading
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Erasing Thomas Jefferson (and Darwin, and civil rights, and…) cont’d
A trailer for Standing Up To The Experts, a documentary-in-progress about the shameful travesty that is the Texas State Board of Education: The filmmakers are trying to raise funds to complete the project; go here to chip in. (via Phil … Continue reading
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Animals made us human
Animals Make Us Human is the title of Temple Grandin’s wonderful book on how animals think, feel, and perceive, and how humans can provide the best possible life for the ones in our care. Not quite on the same topic, … Continue reading
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“The Poetry of Science”: Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about everything
Got an hour and a half? Here are evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, talking about — well, quite literally, life, the universe, and everything. I highly recommend the whole thing, but if you’ve only got a … Continue reading
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Becoming human, cont’d.
The New York Times has a review of the new David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, which includes the fascinating hominid reconstructions I wrote about earlier. This part was particularly interesting:
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