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News for the Birds

January 24, 2012

Our amazing feathered friends range from tiny hummingbirds to fast-running ostriches, from penguins to pigeons. In both living and fossil forms, they provide endless opportunities for study and fascination. Here are a few recent examples of news for the birds, in both good and bad connotations of the phrase.

Biology

Can Biomimetics Shed Light on Evolution?

October 17, 2011

Biomimetics is part science and part engineering. The scientific part is to observe and understand the structure and function of a living thing. The engineering part is to apply that science into useful products. Science news articles today are claiming that a biomimetic flying machine modeled on insects is shedding light on evolution. Such a claim deserves some scrutiny.

Darwin and Evolution

Darwin and Complexity: Another Genetic Solution?

April 2, 2008

It remains one of the biggest obstacles to belief in evolution that a random, unguided process could build an eye, a wing or any of thousands of complex structures.

Mammals

Oldest Bat Fossil: Was It Evolving?

February 16, 2008

A bat fossil surpassing the previous record holder for the oldest by 2 million years made the cover of Nature this week.1 The news media immediately began saying that it provided insight into evolution. The BBC News announced “Bat fossil solves evolution poser.” National Geographic called it the icing on the cake, and said that […]

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