Category Archives: evolution

The Origin and Extinction of Humanity FAQ

Posted on 15 February 2025 by Henry Gee

People often ask questions about the lifetime of our own species. Questions such as ‘how long have humans existed?’; ‘When will humans go extinct?’ and ‘Did humans ever nearly go extinct in the past?’ Another one is ‘how will humans … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, did humans nearly go extinct in the past?, evolution, extinction, future projections of human populations, Homo sapiens, how long have humans existed?, how will humans go extinct?, Politicrox, population growth, population trends, Research, Science Is Vital, space exploration, Technicrox, The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, total fertility rate, when will humans go extinct?, why will the human population stop growing?, will humans colonise space?, will the human population ever stop growing?, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on The Origin and Extinction of Humanity FAQ

When truth meets “feelings”

Posted on 23 September 2018 by Steve Caplan

And behind the curtain is…?!!! As human beings, we are taught (perhaps except in the era of Trump) about the importance of respecting others, and being sensitive to their views and feelings. Overall, this is a GOOD thing, and while … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, education, evolution, religion, Research, science, sensitivities, truth | Comments Off on When truth meets “feelings”

The Bearding

Posted on 16 April 2014 by Henry Gee

How is variation maintained in populations? This is a bit of a poser for evolutionary theory, especially in the realm of sexual selection. If males or females of a certain type always score highest in contests of mate choice, genes … Continue reading →

Posted in barnaby dixson, beards, biology letters, evolution, face fungus, facial hair, guppies, handlebars, illustrated london news, mate choice, mutton chops, negative frequency dependent selection, nigel barber, Research, sexual selection, whiskers | Comments Off on The Bearding

Careful With That Amphioxus, Eugene

Posted on 7 March 2014 by Henry Gee

Spare a thought for the amphioxus, a humble marine creature which spends its adult life buried in sand, filtering particles of food from seawater using its beautiful and elaborate system of gill slits. On the left is a picture of … Continue reading →

Posted in amphioxus, chordates, chthonic, cothurnocystis, development, eldritch, erumpent, evolution, h r geiger, hieronymous bosch, journal of morphology, pharyngeal slits, preternatural, Research, tunicates, vertebrates, yasui | Comments Off on Careful With That Amphioxus, Eugene

Echinoids

Posted on 9 February 2014 by Henry Gee

Here is a small collection of fossils. I’m posting this to celebrate the recovery of the second one along on the bottom row, found by me earlier today on Cromer East Beach while Crox Minor and I were walking the … Continue reading →

Posted in Apparitions, belemnites, Blog Norfolk!, Cromer, Cromer East Beach, echinoids, evolution, fossils, palaeontology, probability of fossilization, The Accidental Species | Comments Off on Echinoids

Quora: productive procrastination

Posted on 26 January 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve recently started to spend some time on the question and answer site Quora, and I’m finding it be quite an effective science communication medium as well as excellent writing practice. I can’t quite remember how I first came to … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer research, career, communication, evolution, fun with language, grant wrangling, science, television, the media | Comments Off on Quora: productive procrastination

Creation, by Adam Rutherford

Posted on 18 January 2014 by Henry Gee

There’s a story, probably apocryphal, of how Winston Churchill gave a speech to the Free French, ill-advisedly in the tongue of Molière and Balzac. Quand je regarde mon derrière, boomed Britain’s great wartime leader, Je vois qu’il est divisé en deux parts. None … Continue reading →

Posted in Adam Rutherford, creation, evolution, origin of life, synthetic biology, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Creation, by Adam Rutherford

Teeth

Posted on 17 October 2013 by Henry Gee

When I was a child one of my favourite books was Busy, Busy World by the late Richard Scarry. Each double-page spread was a story set in a particular country, and the characters were all animals. The story I remember … Continue reading →

Posted in conodonts, convergence, evolution, hard tissues, palaeontology, Research, vertebrates | Comments Off on Teeth

Fishface

Posted on 26 September 2013 by Henry Gee

And now, a girrafe on a unicycle one of the most exciting areas in evolutionary biology at the moment – tracing the origins of gnathostomes, or jawed vertebrates. Before I start, I owe a debt of gratitude to our Latin-America … Continue reading →

Posted in acanthodian, chondrichthyan, entelognathus, evolution, Fish, gnathostome, missing link, ostracoderm, Research, shark | Comments Off on Fishface

Intelligent Design

Posted on 25 September 2013 by Henry Gee

When writers get together to chat, and when they’ve dispatched the introductory pleasantries of the inscrutability of agents and the availability of accountants, they’ll share war stories about their works, the sources of their inspiration, how to construct a novel, … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, evolution, Haeckel, intelligent design, Matt Avery, natural selection, The Accidental Species, university of chicago press, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Intelligent Design