Survival of the Weakest
August 21, 2013
If "sometimes it pays to be a weakling," what does that mean for 154 years of Darwinian teaching about survival of the fittest? What does it mean, further, when sexual selection doesn't work?
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More Reasons to Imitate Living Designs
August 11, 2013
The gold rush is on! Designs in the living world are inspiring technologies that are superior to old fashioned human ingenuity, and environmentally friendly, too.
Birds and Their Evolution (or Design)
July 30, 2013
Several recent science papers try to find evolution in bird brains, genes, and behaviors. Do they succeed?
"Extreme Convergence" Strains Credibility of Darwinism
July 22, 2013
When completely unrelated animals or plants display the same engineering solution, is it reasonable to assume a blind, unguided process of selection achieved improbable outcomes multiple times? Is calling it "convergent evolution" meaningful? Here are three examples.
Animal and Plant Tricks
July 10, 2013
There's no end of amazing tricks in the living world – adaptations that aid their success. Finding them is one thing. Explaining them is another.
New Biomimetics Projects
July 7, 2013
These recently-reported attempts to mimic nature show that the biomimetics revolution continues, with no end in sight.
Living Design Inspires Design
June 24, 2013
Engineers continue to look to the living world for solutions to practical problems. One of them is as close as your skin.
Plants Do Arithmetic
June 23, 2013
For keeping track of their food stores for the next day, plants perform "sophisticated" arithmetical division.
Felicitous Fossils Facilitate Phylogenetic Fabling
May 31, 2013
Here are some recent fossil finds that, whether they fit or not, are claimed to shed light on evolution.
What Is the Evidence for Feathers Before Flight?
May 28, 2013
Birds evolved from dinosaurs; that's the evolutionary consensus. Let's examine the evidence for that scenario.
The Evolution of Penguins
May 23, 2013
Science reporters are dancing with happy feet about a news story supposedly explaining how penguins evolved.
Surprising Animals Go to Extremes
May 14, 2013
Today's entry features a mammal, a bird and an insect that have good reasons to show off.
Dinosaur Evolution Story Survives In Spite of Evidence
May 3, 2013
The evolutionary story of extinction and the rise of dinosaurs faces challenges, but survives when the glue of imagination holds fragmentary evidence together.
How Intricate Patterns Grow in Flowers, Feathers
May 1, 2013
How does a growing flower bud or feather follicle know where to put the intricate colors and patterns on a mature flower or feather? Scientists are beginning to get partial answers.
Secrets of Three Amazing Animals Unveiled
April 29, 2013
Here are accounts of three very different animals whose behaviors have baffled scientists till now. Scientists are beginning to get at least partial answers for scientific mysteries by carefully observing and testing to see how things work.