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Showing posts with the label evolution

Sleep and Being Human

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Humans sleep , which shouldn't be surprising. Just about all critters with brains sleep: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish — even insects and nematodes experience something like sleep. Poets and playwrights have written of sleep.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Europe’s Complex Heritage

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I stopped using the term " Caucasian " several years ago. I've discussed the "Anglo-Teutonic" race, Neanderthals, and getting a grip, before. ( September 25, 2015 ; October 31, 2014 ) Turns out, folks from the Caucasus moved into Europe at least once — along with many other folks.... We're still learning about humanity's family history. It's a lot more complicated than we thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Chimps, Apples; and Goggle Eyes

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Scientists may have observed chimpanzees in different groups using a different sound when they mean "apple." Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about chimpanzees. Pliobates cataloniae, an ape that lived where Catalonia is now, had a gibbon-like skull: but apparently is more closely related to today's gorillas, chimps, orangutans — and us. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Zircons and Earth's First Life

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Bits of carbon encased in zircon crystals more than four billion years ago may have come from living creatures. Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about Earth's long story.... ...This space-time continuum doesn't work like Anaximander 's model, either. Anaximander's cosmology had Earth in the center: but he speculated that we might not be standing on the only world, and that worlds change. Aristotle's cosmology had Earth in the center of the universe, too: but he didn't think multiple worlds existed. About 16 centuries later, educated Europeans like Dante Alighieri had a very high opinion of Aristotle.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

New Species, Old Burial Site

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Scientists from University of the Witwatersrand found skeletal remains in South Africa's Rising Star Cave . This is a big deal, since it's the largest collection of hominin bones found in a single spot: and these folks may have been burying their dead 2,500,000 years ago. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Big Eyes, Bonobo Squeaks

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Neanderthals apparently had bigger eyes than folks living today. One scientist says that means they didn't play well with others. Bonobos , chimps living south of the Congo River, squeak. The squeaks are the same, whether they're happy, sad, or angry — and may tell us something about how language developed.... ...I think accepting God's universe 'as is' makes sense, so I'll ramble on about hubris, movies, and St. Thomas Aquinas, before discussing Neanderthals and squeaking bonobos .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Early Hands, Mutant Mice

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Scientists created "super-intelligent mice" — but this isn't a cartoon, so the mice aren't hatching plans for world domination. The research may lead, eventually, to treatments for Posttraumatic stress disorder , schizophrenia , and Alzheimer's disease . Other scientists found hand bones shaped pretty much like ours: from at least 1,840,000 years back.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Faith, Fear, and Flying Saucers

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During the 1950s, space aliens in the movies came in two basic models. Some were invaders — " Plan 9 from Outer Space ," " Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ," and " Invaders from Mars . The title character in " The Thing from Another World " acted like an invader. But I think the Thing's bad attitude might have come from being shot after the humans blew up his ship, and that's another topic. Then there's Klaatu, in " The Day the Earth Stood Still ," who stopped just short of walking on water. Between Klaatu, movies like " Prometheus , and folks who believe space aliens are angels , I'm not surprised that some Christians don't like the idea that we may have neighbors on other planets. As I keep saying, I don't believe that life exists elsewhere in this universe: or that it does not. We don't know, not yet. If we meet folks whose ancestors developed on another planet, I think Brother Guy Consolmago is r

Human Nature, Change, and Dinosaur Names

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Human remains in Sima de los Huesos/Pit of Bones show evidence of a lethal attack — 430,000 years ago. On the 'up' side, evidence of human compassion goes back 1,800,000 years. The sauropod we've called "Brontosaurus" has that name again, probably, which gave me an excuse to mention Gertie the Dinosaur and Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Dogs, Stone Tools, and Newly-Discovered Ancestors

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Australopithecus deyiremeda, a newly-discovered member of humanity's family, was in this week's news. We're also learning more about when some wolves started becoming dogs, and have discovered really old stone tools.... ...Humanity's family history is nowhere near as simple as folks figured when Carl Linnaeus published " Systema Naturae " in 1735.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Fire Ant Engineering and Bungee Nerves

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The last I heard, Rubenstein's robot swarm was pretty good at forming different shapes: but not much else. ( August 22, 2014 ) What we're learning about how fire ants build their nests may change that. Scientists discovered that the pests use different excavating techniques, depending on what sort of soil they're in. Other scientists found stretchy nerves in rorqual whales. The nerves are made from the same stuff found in other animals — what makes them stretchy is how the nerve fibers fold up.... ...Looking up rorqual whales and baleen encouraged a (very brief) tangent on evolution. I figure I'd better review why I don't argue with the Almighty about this world's development: and don't fear a robot revolution.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Climate Change, Science, and the Vatican

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The 'Vatican science academy' is in the news again: this time because they've said we should use our brains. The topic was climate change, which tends to stir up sound and fury more than rational discourse. Meanwhile, one scientist implied a link between our "carbon dioxide crisis" and a lot of dead critters, some 201,000,000 years back. More to the point, I think, the team he was on has added a few more pieces to the puzzle of what caused the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Mass Extinctions Revisited, Moving Octopuses

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We've known about the Capitanian crisis for some time: some scientists have, anyway. What's new is the idea that it may have been a major mass extinction in its own right: a sort of prequel to the Great Dying. Other scientists solved part of the puzzle of how octopuses coordinate their arms when moving. Their research may help folks design soft robots: useful in medicine and rescue work.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Early Brood Care, Four-Eyed Cambrian Predator

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Yawunik kootenayi, that four-eyed critter in the video, was a big predator: during the Cambrian. A half-billion years later, a two-inch animal isn't all that large. More recently, a tiny insect and her brood became fossils: giving scientists a rare glimpse of parental care during the Cretaceous.... Like I've said before, humans are animals: but we're not just animals. We have "dominion" over this world: but we don't own it. Our position is more like shop foreman or steward. One of our jobs is taking care of this world's resources: for our reasoned use, and for all future generations.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

From Trilobites to Whales: Getting Bigger

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Those trilobites were huge: in the Cambrian. These days, foot-long critters are common, and not particularly big. Scientists thought related species of animals generally got bigger as they evolved: now a team has evidence to back up that assumption. We still don't know why critters usually get bigger, though. That, and seven "croc" species sharing the same turf in the Amazon Basin — before the Amazon was there — is what I picked for this week's post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Setting Earth's Thermostat

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Events like the Pinatubo eruptions of 1991 happen about once a century — on average — roughly. Some scientists say that next time there's a Pinatubo-scale eruption, we should deploy a fleet of instrument-carrying aircraft, balloons, and satellites: to see exactly what happens when sulfur dioxide and other chemicals get dumped into the upper atmosphere. We know that the stuff causes regional and global climate changes: but we don't know exactly how the process works. There's more than pure scientific curiosity behind wanting this knowledge. Earth's climate is changing, which is par for the course: but we're at a point where our actions can affect climate. The job at hand is leaning how Earth's climate works, how it changes, and what causes the changes. Then we'll decide what to do about that knowledge.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Baby Chickens, Numbers: and Studying an Old Skull

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Chicks and humans associate small numbers with the left side and large ones with the right. A scientists says this may mean that our 'number line' is a very old piece of neural hardware. Other scientists are studying part of a skull that's from one of the earliest of today's sort of human to leave Africa. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Precision-Grip Thumbs and an A 'New' Archosaur

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Humans have hands . So do apes, monkeys, lemurs, and koalas. For that matter, a chameleon's feet look and act a lot like hands. But they don't have precision-grip thumbs that can line up with any finger. We do: and apparently have had a firm grip on tools for over two million years. Scientists had a pretty good idea about how the common ancestor of dinosaurs, crocodiles and alligators, and birds, developed. A quarter-billion-year-old fossil shows that the situation is more complicated than scientists thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Fossils in 2014: Weird Mouth, Feathers, and More

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That zipper-faced critter isn't, I think, the weirdest thing that's lived. Not when things that look like lily pads or mushrooms, and may be animals ; and other critters with five eyes ; are in the running. That animal with the weird mouth is one of Sci-News.com's 'top paleontological discoveries' for 2014. The discovery of color vision in a 300,000,000-year-old fish came out in late December: which may be why it didn't make the 'top discoveries' list. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Found: Genes for Fins, Paws, and Hands

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Scientists found the genetic code mice use for growing paws — in spotted gar, after they thought about what happened to fish 300,000,000 years back. An amateur fossil hunter found a complete ichthyosaur skeleton in Wales , professional fossil hunters found parts of a critter that isn't quite an ichthyosaur in China, and other paleontologists described a cat-size dinosaur that lived in what's now Montana. Still other scientists named a Cambrian — thing — after an esteemed colleague. Quite a few Cambrian critters are just like nothing that lives on today's Earth. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .