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Evolutionary Biology
We should not expect aliens to look anything like us. Creatures that resemble octopuses or birds or even robots are legitimate possibilities.
The Human Genome Project put together 92% of our DNA blueprint. Here's what it took to complete the rest.
The results of a recent study found that genetically engineering cats could be a solution to eliminating cat allergies.
Scientists across a range of disciplines have helped solve Darwin's dilemma.
Mutations that confer malaria resistance occur more frequently in people who live in regions where the disease is endemic.
The way that the ancient Megalodon adapted to water temperature has important implications for modern marine creatures.
From crocodiles to birds, certain animals managed to survive some of the worst extinction events in world history.
Salk scientists studied complex decision-making capabilities in a worm with just 302 neurons and a mouth full of teeth. It's smarter than you would think.
Scientists at the San Diego Zoo are on a mission to resurrect the extinct northern white rhino.
Syllipsimopodi bideni is small (about 12cm in length), has ten arms, suckers, fins, and a triangular pen of hard tissue inside its body for support.
Awe is a powerful force, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying.
John Templeton Foundation
Discussions of human evolution are usually backward looking, as if the greatest triumphs and challenges were in the distant past.
Gigantic ranges called "supermountains" formed twice in Earth's history, and they may have had a profound influence on evolutionary history.
From a desert oasis to the Rocky Mountains, being filled with awe makes me a better scientist.
Shortly after planet Earth formed, life took a permanent hold on our surface. But just how common is such an outcome?
The very concept of a "problem with no solution" goes against human nature. But we must accept this harsh reality to have peace in our lives.
A gigantic bacterium evolved differently than fundamental models of biology would have predicted. Simply put, these bacteria shouldn't exist.
An ancient continent called Balkanatolia rose and fell in the area in and around what is now the eastern Mediterranean.
Planet Earth has been around for over 4.5 billion years, but humans? For 99.998% of our planet's history, humans were nowhere to be found.
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People rarely question their own moral compass. But do you know what shapes yours?
John Templeton Foundation
Life is possible because of asymmetries, such as an imbalance between matter and antimatter and the "handedness" (chirality) of molecules.
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Poachers drove the Northern White Rhino to extinction. One scientist and her “frozen zoo” are on a mission to bring them back.
The Kardashev scale ranks civilizations from Type 1 to Type 3 based on energy harvesting.
After it became clear that the world wasn't 6,000 years old, some proposed that northern peoples had emerged independently from others.
The story of dog domestication is one of converting the wild wolf into man's nicer, smarter, best friend. It might be all wrong.
The ten greatest ideas in science form the bedrock of modern biology, chemistry, and physics. Everyone should be familiar with them.
A new analysis of an ancient hominin fossil sheds light on the "Out of Africa" dispersal events that occurred more than one million years ago.
Dating of volcanic ash suggests the remains are at least 230,000 years old.