evolution, culture

Tracks and Shadows, The Gap, The Cure in the Code, and An Appetite for Wonder

In Chapter 11, “Man-made diseases,” author Robert Perlman describes how socioeconomic health disparities arise in hierarchical societies.

September 2013's selection of notable quotes

Crescent, An Empty Land of Plenty, Prophet of Bones, and Equilateral

The rise of copulation as a vertebrate reproductive strategy may have driven crucial evolutionary change and explosive species radiation.

In the final chapter of his book on the origins of vertebrate sex, author and paleontologist John Long pays homage to the humble placoderm, which got the erotic ball rolling.

In Chapter 2, "Consequences and Evolution: The Cause That Works Backwards," author Susan M. Schneider places evolutionary theory in terms of the science of consequences.

Wired for Story, Dreamland, Homo Mysterious, and Vagina

Evolving, The Moral Molecule, Aping Mankind, and Experiment Eleven

Two 9,000-year-old skeletons will be held by University of California, San Diego, officials—rather than turned over to American Indians for reburial—until a lawsuit is settled.

May 2012's selection of notable quotes

A new law opens the door to teaching creationism and climate change denialism in the state's public schools.

The movie director-turned-explorer made the 6.8-mile drop to the deepest point on the seafloor, but wasn’t too impressed by what he found.

As institutions around the world start celebrations of Darwin Day, New York reveals a digitized catalog of Darwin’s scientific manuscripts.

Studying the evolution of altruistic behaviors reveals how knee-jerk good intentions can backfire.

In Chapter 1, editors Barbara Oakley, Ariel Knafo, and Michael McGrath introduce the concept of well-intentioned behaviors that go awry.

Should we rethink the parallel drawn between “slave-making” ants and human slavery, and other such oversimplifications of animal behavior?

19th century shipping records defy the claim that Charles Darwin stole some of Alfred Russel Wallace's ideas to craft his theory of evolution.