Science & the Big Questions

Why Extraterrestrial Life May Not Seem Entirely Alien

The zoologist Arik Kershenbaum argues that because some evolutionary challenges are truly universal, life throughout the cosmos may share certain features.

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Animal Studies Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Extraterrestrial Life

Book Review: The Power of Chance in Shaping Life and Evolution

In A Series of Fortunate Events, Sean B. Carroll examines the profound impact of randomness in determining destiny.

Undark

Topics: Complexity Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory

DNA Nearly a Billion Years Old Is Being Warped to Figure Out How Life Could Evolve on Other Planets

Betül Kaçar and her team studied what happened when E.coli cells were evolutionarily undone and then had to re-evolve.

SyFy Wire

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms Extraterrestrial Life Genetic Engineering Origin of Life Synthetic Life

Meet Lizard Man, A Reptile-Loving Biologist Tackling Some of the Biggest Questions in Evolution

Tiny Caribbean islands are his test tubes for studies of competition, invasive species, and adaptations.

Science

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms

Is Human Cooperativity an Outcome of Competition Between Cultural Groups?

A study by ASU researchers looks at how culture may have fueled our capacity to cooperate with strangers.

ASU Now

Topics: Cooperation Cultural Evolution Evolutionary Mechanisms Human Evolution

Strange Evolution: The Weird Future of Life on Earth

From walking trees to floating toads, the far future of nature on our planet could be like nothing we’ve seen before.

BBC Future

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms Nature

The Urgency of Agency

Our consciousness gets in the way of thinking about evolution.

Life, Unbounded, Scientific American

Topics: Agency Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Extraterrestrial Life Origin of Life

Edward O. Wilson on the Evolution of Social Behaviors

Here, he explains the relevance of evolved insect behaviors to human nature.

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Altruism Animal Studies Cooperation Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Social Behavior

In Ecology Studies and Selfless Ants, He Finds Hope for the Future

For more than six decades, the influential biologist Edward O. Wilson has drawn connections between evolution, ecology, and behavior, often sparking controversies inside and outside of science.

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Altruism Animal Studies Cooperation Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Social Behavior

Group Selection in Every Way Except Using the Words: A Critique of “The Goodness Paradox” by Richard Wrangham

Richard Wrangham’s new book on the evolution of cooperation gets many things right. But he errs in thinking that he can develop his thesis without invoking group selection.

This View of Life

Topics: Altruism Cooperation David Sloan Wilson Evolutionary Mechanisms Human Evolution Social Behavior

How Evolutionary Theory Guides Policy

A review of David Sloan Wilson’s new book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution.

Nature

Topics: Cultural Evolution David Sloan Wilson Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory

How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution

The extravagant splendor of the animal kingdom can’t be explained by natural selection alone — so how did it come to be?

The New York Times Magazine

Topics: Animal Studies Beauty Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Nature

Proof of Life: How Would We Recognize an Alien If We Saw One?

What exactly is it that astrobiologists are looking for? How will we know when it’s time to pop the champagne?

Aeon

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Extraterrestrial Life

Evolutionary Math and Just-So Stories

Evolutionary stories like the grandmother hypothesis are easy to construct from mathematical models, but how well do they reflect reality?

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory

A Biologist Explores a Big Question in Evolution: Does It Happen the Same Way Each Time?

Replaying the tape of life.

The Verge

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms

After Last Year’s Hurricanes, Caribbean Lizards Are Better at Holding on for Dear Life

A stunning case of natural selection in action.

The Atlantic

Topics: Animal Studies Evolutionary Mechanisms

The Momentous Transition to Multicellular Life May Not Have Been So Hard After All

It’s a transition as momentous as any in the history of life, and until recently we had no idea how it happened.

Science

Topics: Complexity Evolutionary Mechanisms Genes

Mathematics Shows How to Ensure Evolution

New results emerging from graph theory prove that the way a population is organized can guarantee the eventual triumph of natural selection — or permanently thwart it.

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms Evolutionary Theory Martin Nowak

Discovery of a Surprise Multitasking Gene Helps Explain How New Functions and Features Evolve

A core idea in molecular biology is that one gene codes for one protein. Now biologists have found an example of a gene that yields two forms of a protein — enabling it to evolve new functionality.

The Conversation

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms

Would Standing on the First Butterfly Really Change the History of Evolution?

More and more evidence shows evolution isn't as random as often thought.

The Conversation

Topics: Evolutionary Mechanisms

Evolution Unleashed

Is evolutionary science due for a major overhaul — or is talk of ‘revolution’ misguided?

Aeon

Topics: Animal Studies Cultural Evolution Epigenetics Evolutionary Mechanisms Extended Evolutionary Synthesis Genes Kevin Laland Social Learning