1 Jun 2015
14 Dec 2014
7 Nov 2014
Amphibious 'Sea Monster' Discovered In China Is Missing Piece Of Evolutionary Puzzle
The first fossil of an amphibious ichthyosaur has been discovered in China, and the scientists who made the discovery say it fills a longstanding gap in the fossil record. Paleontologists have long known that ichthyosaurs--dolphin-like "sea monsters" that lived from about 250 million years ago until about 90 million years ago--descended from similar reptiles that lived on land. But there was no fossil showing a transitional creature adapted for life on land as well as in water.
"But now we have this fossil showing the transition," Dr. Ryosuke Motani, a professor in the department of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Davis, and a member of the international team of scientists who made the discovery, said in a written statement. "There's nothing that prevents it from coming onto land." Motani and his colleagues found the 248-million-year-old fossil in China's Anhui Province, according to the statement. The fossil measures about 1.5 feet in length and shows an animal with large, flexible flippers that would have made it possible to walk on land.
30 Oct 2014
Humans Broke Off Neanderthal Sex After Discovering Eurasia
Neanderthals apparently last interbred with the ancestors of today's Europeans after modern humans with advanced stone tools expanded out of Africa, researchers say. The last sex between Neanderthals and modern humans likely occurred as recently as 47,000 years ago, the researchers added.
Modern humans once shared the globe with now-departed human lineages, including the Neanderthals, our closest known extinct relatives. Neanderthals had been around for about 30,000 years when modern humans appeared in the fossil record about 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals disappeared about 30,000 year ago.
In 2010, scientists completed the first sequence of the Neanderthal genome using DNA extracted from fossils, and an examination of the genetic material suggested that modern humans' ancestors occasionally successfully interbred with Neanderthals. Recent estimates reveal that Neanderthal DNA makes up 1 percent to 4 percent of modern Eurasian genomes, perhaps endowing some people with the robust immune systems they enjoy today.
The Neanderthal genome revealed that people outside Africa share more genetic variants with Neanderthals than Africans do. One possible explanation is that modern humans mixed with Neanderthals after the modern lineage began appearing outside Africa at least 100,000 years ago. Another, more complex scenario is that an African group ancestral to both Neanderthals and certain modern human populations genetically diverged from other Africans beginning about 230,000 years ago. This group then stayed genetically distinct until it eventually left Africa.
19 Oct 2014
11 Oct 2014
30 Sept 2014
Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children
Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. According to Bill Nye, aka "the science guy," if grownups want to "deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them."
5 Aug 2014
24 Jan 2014
9 Jan 2014
America's First Openly Pastafarian Politician Sworn Into Office
A small-town council member from New York is making national headlines this week after becoming the first openly Pastafarian politician to be sworn into public office.
Christopher Schaeffer, the newest member of the Pomfret Town Council, isn't just an ordinary member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster — he's a full-fledged minister.
For those who have yet to be touched by His noodly appendage, Pastafarianism, it is a satirical movement with a serious mission: Keeping the teaching of intelligent design and creationism out of public classrooms.
20 May 2013
10 Mar 2013
13 Feb 2013
12 Feb 2013
Happy Darwin Day!
Darwin Day is a recently instituted celebration intended to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin on February 12, 1809. The day is used to highlight Darwin's contribution to science and to promote science in general.
14 Jul 2012
25 Mar 2012
The World of the Dinosaurs
A musical celebration of dinosaurs investigates their habits, extinction, and how we learn about them. Featuring Alice Roberts, Bill Nye, Nigel Marvin, Dallas Campbell and more.
25 Jan 2012
8 Oct 2011
Richard Dawkins attacks 'alien rubbish' taught in Muslim faith schools
Richard Dawkins has attacked Muslim faith schools, saying that they teach students 'alien rubbish'.
The noted atheist claimed that pupils were being taught to ignore scientific evidence in favour of following the Koran. He said that he had even met a science teacher who believed that the earth was only 6,000 years old.
Mr Dawkins, a former Oxford professor who found fame as an evolutionary biologist before becoming a vocal opponent of religion, is a longstanding critic of all faith schools. But he has said that Islamic schools are worse than others, as their teaching is more likely to be influenced by a religious agenda.
9 Sept 2011
Missing Link
Scientists in South Africa believe a two million-year-old creature could be the "missing link" between apes and humans. The fossilised skeletons of a female and child, known as Australopithecus sediba, were discovered in the Malapa caves near Johannesburg in 2009.
Professor Lee Berger who led the team that found Au. sediba, said: "The fossils demonstrate a surprisingly advanced small brain, a very evolved hand with a long thumb like humans, a very modern pelvis, but a foot and ankle shape never seen in any hominin species that combines features of both apes and humans in one anatomical package."