Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Erika's New and Hot, Week 3
I know someone has already posted something about chimps, but here's a different article about them, from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/science/17chimp.html?ref=science, "Almost Human, and Sometimes Smarter." It's about how similar we are to chimps, our relative from whom we diverged only about 4-6 million years ago. We share all but 1.23% of our genes with them. The article talks about how several traits that we think of as distinctly human are actually shared by our primate relatives. Chimps use tools, and teach their children how to use them. Such socially transmitted behavior is demonstrative of culture. Chimps also show empathy and coorperation. They also have better short-term memory than humans, though our long-term memory beats theirs. I know in Darwin's Descent of Man, he spends a lot of time trying to convince his readers that we are not so different from other animals, and thus could have evolved from them without needed impossibly large leaps. I guess modern science is proving that right...
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sagar's New and Hot (Week 3)
A New Religious Editorial, Classic Tactics
As I was searching for this week's new and hot, I came upon a recently written editorial from The Conservative Voice here . Written by Babu Ranganathan, a graduate of Bob Jones University, I thought this editorial arguing for intelligent design used some of the techniques of misdirection and use of convincing but illogical rhetoric that we talked about last week. For instance, Mr. Ranganathan craftily uses the fact that science cannot explain the origin of life to argue for intelligent design - the tactic of poking a hole in scientific theory as a means to bolster support for the existence of a designer.
ALSO - The Galapagos Islands are in trouble!
Following is the first part of the article from The Washington Times found here .
They inspired Charles Darwin, harbor the most stunning menagerie, and delight thousands of tourists each year.
But the Galapagos Islands were put off limits Wednesday because of fears that their fragile ecosystem is close to collapse.
The islands that inspired Darwin's theories on evolution are at grave risk from a population boom, overfishing and, the Ecuadoran government says, the thousands who travel each year to see the remarkable animals that live there.
The Pacific islands about 600 miles west of Ecuador harbor centenarian giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and even vampire finches.
These creatures may no longer be on the itineraries of ecotourists after Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa signed a decree to suspend tourism and preserve the islands' natural treasures.
"We are pushing for a series of actions to overcome the huge institutional, environmental and social crisis in the islands," said Mr. Correa, pre-empting the findings of a United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization report on the archipelago. Mr Correa said the required course of action is clear. "We do not need studies from some international organization," he said. "We are declaring the Galapagos at risk."
The government measures also would include a census of the islands, home to a significant illegal human population.
UNESCO declared the islands a world heritage site in 1971 and has monitored the ecosystem.
Though authorities cap the number of tourists, the islands have about 120,000 visitors each year, 100,000 more than 30 years ago. Mr. Correa said Ecuador will consider suspending some tourism permits and enforce rigorous population restrictions. The indigenous species have long struggled to contend with the arrival of nonnative predators such as black rats, dogs, cockroaches and cats that have been introduced since English pirates brought goats in the 18th century.
Environmental pressures have increased in recent years, including a growing human population, illegal fishing of sharks and sea cucumbers, as well as internal bickering at the islands' national park. UNESCO's World Heritage Center warned last month of the threats to the islands' flora and fauna. A U.N. delegation is visiting the islands to determine whether the world heritage site should be officially declared in danger.
Critics say the Ecuadoran government failed to act as environmental pressures built on its main tourist attraction.
As I was searching for this week's new and hot, I came upon a recently written editorial from The Conservative Voice here . Written by Babu Ranganathan, a graduate of Bob Jones University, I thought this editorial arguing for intelligent design used some of the techniques of misdirection and use of convincing but illogical rhetoric that we talked about last week. For instance, Mr. Ranganathan craftily uses the fact that science cannot explain the origin of life to argue for intelligent design - the tactic of poking a hole in scientific theory as a means to bolster support for the existence of a designer.
ALSO - The Galapagos Islands are in trouble!
Following is the first part of the article from The Washington Times found here .
They inspired Charles Darwin, harbor the most stunning menagerie, and delight thousands of tourists each year.
But the Galapagos Islands were put off limits Wednesday because of fears that their fragile ecosystem is close to collapse.
The islands that inspired Darwin's theories on evolution are at grave risk from a population boom, overfishing and, the Ecuadoran government says, the thousands who travel each year to see the remarkable animals that live there.
The Pacific islands about 600 miles west of Ecuador harbor centenarian giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and even vampire finches.
These creatures may no longer be on the itineraries of ecotourists after Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa signed a decree to suspend tourism and preserve the islands' natural treasures.
"We are pushing for a series of actions to overcome the huge institutional, environmental and social crisis in the islands," said Mr. Correa, pre-empting the findings of a United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization report on the archipelago. Mr Correa said the required course of action is clear. "We do not need studies from some international organization," he said. "We are declaring the Galapagos at risk."
The government measures also would include a census of the islands, home to a significant illegal human population.
UNESCO declared the islands a world heritage site in 1971 and has monitored the ecosystem.
Though authorities cap the number of tourists, the islands have about 120,000 visitors each year, 100,000 more than 30 years ago. Mr. Correa said Ecuador will consider suspending some tourism permits and enforce rigorous population restrictions. The indigenous species have long struggled to contend with the arrival of nonnative predators such as black rats, dogs, cockroaches and cats that have been introduced since English pirates brought goats in the 18th century.
Environmental pressures have increased in recent years, including a growing human population, illegal fishing of sharks and sea cucumbers, as well as internal bickering at the islands' national park. UNESCO's World Heritage Center warned last month of the threats to the islands' flora and fauna. A U.N. delegation is visiting the islands to determine whether the world heritage site should be officially declared in danger.
Critics say the Ecuadoran government failed to act as environmental pressures built on its main tourist attraction.
Dani's New & Hot (Week 3)
David Sloan Wilson, an evolutionist and professor at Binghampton University, is a strong proponent of the idea of multilevel selection theory. Multilevel selection has been used to rectify limitations of earlier group selection models. This new theory suggests that while genes are provide the information that is passed on, it is individuals (the vehicles for genes) and how they interact in a group that determines which genes are passed on and which die out. In particular, this theory offers an explanation behind group altruism.
A few weeks ago, Professor Wilson published a book entitled Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, in which he attempts to find evolution in our daily lives and its real-world implications. Professor Wilson also heads the Evolution Studies Program at Binghampton University, which allows students to study evolution in relation to any other field. More information about this program can be found at http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~evos/.
A few weeks ago, Professor Wilson published a book entitled Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, in which he attempts to find evolution in our daily lives and its real-world implications. Professor Wilson also heads the Evolution Studies Program at Binghampton University, which allows students to study evolution in relation to any other field. More information about this program can be found at http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~evos/.
Kate's New and Hot (Week 3)
What we can learn about ourselves from chimps and macaque monkeys...
I tripped across a cool pair of news articles on Yahoo, both re-emphasizing the connection between humans and primates. The first one is about the genetic similarity between humans and macaque monkeys, and the second is about cave-dwelling chimps. Apparently, the macaque's DNA map provided a lot of useful information about what makes humans "human" (according to the article, we share 93% of our genetic make-up with macaques and 98% with chimpanzees). What is really interesting is that macaques suffer from a disease called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) which is very similar to AIDS, and are widely used in the testing of new HIV drugs and treatments. Click here to read to the full article.
The article about chimps is more cultural and less biological I suppose. Chimps at a field site in Africa have been observed making use of caves for shelter against the heat, much like early humans. This article can be accessed here.
Enjoy...see you all Wednesday,
Kate
I tripped across a cool pair of news articles on Yahoo, both re-emphasizing the connection between humans and primates. The first one is about the genetic similarity between humans and macaque monkeys, and the second is about cave-dwelling chimps. Apparently, the macaque's DNA map provided a lot of useful information about what makes humans "human" (according to the article, we share 93% of our genetic make-up with macaques and 98% with chimpanzees). What is really interesting is that macaques suffer from a disease called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) which is very similar to AIDS, and are widely used in the testing of new HIV drugs and treatments. Click here to read to the full article.
The article about chimps is more cultural and less biological I suppose. Chimps at a field site in Africa have been observed making use of caves for shelter against the heat, much like early humans. This article can be accessed here.
Enjoy...see you all Wednesday,
Kate
Alex's New and Hottttt, Week 3
Click here for an article that was pretty big in the science news about 2 months ago. I guess it was sort of interesting that in class we talked about about how 3 generations of Darwins married Wedgewoods and all this incest was pretty sketchy...
Also I guess this sort of stuff happened back in the old days when royalty would marry other royalty to keep the wealth within the family.
Long story short, this inbreeding is not really a good call. However, that article found that in the animal world, it looks like inbreeding happens sometimes with many more benefits than harms. The logic and analysis they give is certainly interesting.
Also I guess this sort of stuff happened back in the old days when royalty would marry other royalty to keep the wealth within the family.
Long story short, this inbreeding is not really a good call. However, that article found that in the animal world, it looks like inbreeding happens sometimes with many more benefits than harms. The logic and analysis they give is certainly interesting.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Joy's New and Hot, week3
So basically, this is awesome! I'm surprised no one has jumped on this.
The name of the article is "T-Rex tissue offers evolution insights." Some scientists found T-Rex bones on the side of a cliff in Montana that still had some soft tissues attached. Mary Schweitzer, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, put the tissue under an electron microscope, and the material looked identical to blood vessels in modern ostrich bones. Studying this tissue is giving evolutionary insights into how dinosaurs are related to creatures of today. Schweitzer found 3 amino acid sequences identical to sequences found in chicken DNA, providing evidence for the idea that birds and dinos are relatives, an idea that had already been postulated by scientists. Sequences were found matching several other animals as well, including a newt and a frog.
I think its pretty amazing that perfect geological and environmental conditions have preserved this stuff for 68 million years. It's pretty cool for Schweitzer too, who had been insisting for years that this sort of preserved tissue could exist, while her colleagues laughed at her.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to go read the article. It's about dinosaurs, how could it not be awesome?
The name of the article is "T-Rex tissue offers evolution insights." Some scientists found T-Rex bones on the side of a cliff in Montana that still had some soft tissues attached. Mary Schweitzer, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, put the tissue under an electron microscope, and the material looked identical to blood vessels in modern ostrich bones. Studying this tissue is giving evolutionary insights into how dinosaurs are related to creatures of today. Schweitzer found 3 amino acid sequences identical to sequences found in chicken DNA, providing evidence for the idea that birds and dinos are relatives, an idea that had already been postulated by scientists. Sequences were found matching several other animals as well, including a newt and a frog.
I think its pretty amazing that perfect geological and environmental conditions have preserved this stuff for 68 million years. It's pretty cool for Schweitzer too, who had been insisting for years that this sort of preserved tissue could exist, while her colleagues laughed at her.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to go read the article. It's about dinosaurs, how could it not be awesome?
Julie's New and Hot (Week 3)
Photo from the Broadway play “Inherit The Wind”
New York Times “Broadway Revival Reflects U.S. Debate on Evolution” – April 15, 2007
Debuted in 1955, “Inherit The Wind” is a Broadway play that dramatizes the 1925 Scopes Trial (also known as the “monkey trial”). More than fifty years later, this play, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee, has been revived with continuing relevance. The play’s director, Doug Hughes, commented, “The idea that 50 or more years later there is more controversy about its teaching than there may have been in ’55…is amazing.” Hughes also highlighted how the evolution debate is a uniquely American issue. He said, “Fundamental belief seems to be very important to us in America. We are among the most religious countries on earth… And yet our democracy is founded on an extremely secular document, the United States Constitution, and therein lies the paradox -- how do you square those two things?” I agree that it is remarkable that the debate is more heated now than in the past. One would think that as time went on and more scientific proof of evolution was discovered that the debate would lose its steam. It would be interesting to examine the current audience composition, audience response and overall popularity of the play and compare with that of the past.
For more details about the play, click here.
The Broadway play was also adapted into a movie in 1960. Here is a clip (2:35) from the movie:
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