Old Weblog Archive - April 2002

Crystal Balls #
Darwin knew that a cold shudder was not reason enough to abandon a scientific theory. He looked at the eyes of many different animals-from flatworms to crustaceans to vertebrates-and found among them a gradation of forms, from a simple patch of light-sensitive tissue all the way to an elaborate image-forming organ complete with lens, iris, and retina. He decided there was no reason that evolution could not have led gradually from one arrangement to another.
Carl Zimmer/Natural History: Apr-02

Scientist Blames Cambrian Explosion On Sex And Violence #
One scientist has attempted to explain the explosion of life forms following the Cambrian era by theorising that it was the need for living organisms to adapt to the predator-prey relationship (violence) and reproduction that led to the evolution of the variety of species that are the forebears of today's life.
Space News: 29-Apr-02

Fossil sheds light on early mammals #
A mouse-like fossil found in north-eastern China has been identified as the earliest known member of the family of mammals whose descendents include humans.
BBC: 24-Apr-02
Actually, it's extremely unlikely that this or, indeed, any particular fossil's descendents (if there are still any alive today) include humans: the fossil and humans will share a common ancestor, but the fossil is unlikely to be a direct forebear of the human race.

Degrading Darwin #
Darwin's lament was that nobody seemed to understand that natural selection is a process without purpose - without a preordained outcome and without an active selection process as in 'Man's selection'. This aspect of Darwin's idea has never become widely understood - and that instead, history and culture have dictated that evolution, as an active conscious selector and an inevitably progressive force, is widely thought to represent natural selection.
Spiked: 23-Apr-02
I think the author has a point about the perception of natural selection amongst the general public; but not amongst scientists.

Correspondence #
I have now received a reply to my recent letter to Ofsted. The Chief Inspector of Schools sounds like a good chap.

Primate ancestor lived with dinos #
The common ancestor of humans, monkeys, apes and other primates may have arisen much earlier than previously thought. New research suggests the animals from which humans emerged were living in the tree tops 85 million years ago, when the dinosaurs still ruled the Earth. Until now, the widely accepted date was 65 million years ago, about the time when the dinosaurs died out.
BBC: 17-Apr-02
But there is no direct fossil evidence for this conclusion. The findings are based on a computer model which takes into account gaps in the fossil record and, presumably, assumes that evolution of new species occurs at a constant rate.
See also: New Study Supports Idea That Primates, Dinosaurs Coexisted [National Geographic: 18-Apr-02]

The time lord #
Fellow Darwinists hate Stephen Jay Gould's talent for self-publicity while creationists fear his ability to enthuse millions about evolution. Next week he publishes the climax of his life's work and secures his place in the history of science.
Observer: 14-Apr-02
An article triggered by the publication of Gould's magnum opus, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.
See also: A Darwinian leap [San Francisco Chronicle: 14-Apr-02]

Correspondence #
On a personal note, on 13-Apr-02 I wrote a letter to Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) to express my concerns over the recent creationists nonsense in Gateshead. I took the opportunity to show off my 'O' level Latin.

In the beginning, there was controversy #
Maybe it's the corn and wheat that makes some people sneeze and others lose their minds. How else can you explain that yet another Eastern Plains town has walked off the deep end and demanded that science teachers, holding a straight face, tell students that creationism is a plausible theory of origins, like evolution?
Aurora Sentinel: 11-Apr-02
The article includes some amusing creation myths.

The Remastered Race #
Artificial chromosomes and in vitro screening are giving new life to the eugenics debate. The question is not whether we want to engineer embryos but how far it should go.
Wired: Early release of May 2002 edition

Why humans are brainier than chimps #
A new study sheds light on why humans are much more intelligent than chimpanzees despite sharing almost 99% of DNA. Although humans have much the same genes as chimps, it seems that these genes can behave differently in the two species.
BBC: 11-Apr-02
Not that anyone knows (or ever will know) what proportion of our intelligence is down to our genes.

Life on Mars hopes raised #
An analysis of data obtained by the Pathfinder mission to the Red Planet in 1997 suggests there could be chlorophyll - the molecule used by plants and other organisms on Earth to extract energy from sunlight - in the soil close to the landing site.
BBC: 05-Apr-02
But the scientists are urging caution: let's not start referring to the Red Planet as the Green Planet just yet. Apparently, people at Nasa are now saying that the results are down to a computer glych.

05-Apr-02 #: I've just received a reply to my letter to Estelle Morris, UK Secretary of State for Education and Skills, about a piece in the Guardian newspaper, which reported how science teaching at a school in Gateshead is being undermined by Christian fundamentalists.

Earthquakes, Volcanoes Tied to Species Diversity? #
A team of Indian scientists offers an upside take on cataclysmic events such as earthquakes and volcanoes. While these natural phenomena are widely associated with death and devastation, the researchers have found that the zones in which such events occur most frequently are also rich cradles of life.
National Geographic: 04-Apr-02

Two-headed snake found #
A two-headed snake is being studied by scientists in Spain. The biological curiosity has four eyes and two tongues. It also has two sets of fangs, but is not poisonous.
BBC: 04-Apr-02

Derby's Darwin Comes Out of Shadow #
Shortly before 9am on Thursday, April 18, a group of people will gather at the Breadsall Priory to commemorate the bi-centenary of the death of a leading, but largely forgotten, Derbyshire figure. Relatives and admirers of the late Erasmus Darwin, often hailed as the "grandfather of evolution", will unveil a plaque in the exact spot where he died, aged 71, in 1802.
This Is Derbyshire: 02-Apr-02
The Erasmus Darwin in question was, of course, Charles Darwin's paternal grandfather.