darwin | Southern Fried Science

Fun Science FRIEDay – Evolution, what’s it good for?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Kersey Sturdivant

It is widely accepted that the world around us is changing, and as a result the organisms that exist adapt with that change or are resigned to the fossil record. Evolution, it’s a fact of life… or is it? UCLA paleobiologist J. William Schopf, and colleagues, have discovered an organism that has remained relatively unchanged over a 2.3 billion year period. Meh, who needs evolution? These bacteria were discovered in the muddy sediments of the deep sea and represent the greatest lack of evolution ever seen!

1871 editorial cartoon depicting Charles Darwin as an ape. (Photo credit: Unknown artist in 1871 from The Hornet newspaper – no longer in publication)

Fun Science FRIEDay – Darwin Says Survival of the… empathetic?!

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Kersey Sturdivant

Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology and founding faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley has been pushing an idea – Humans are built to be good, because it aids in human survival.

Photo credit: Berkeley Social Interaction Lab, UC Berkley

Misunderstood Marine Life # 7 – The Living Fossils

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

Horseshoe Crabs - Andrew David Thaler

Horseshoe Crabs, Coelacanths, Seven-gilled sharks, hagfish. Throughout the oceans there are creatures whose primitive bodies hearken back to earlier days in our evolutionary history. They possess basal characteristics that are more akin to those of the ancestors of our contemporary phyla. Because we can look into these organisms and learn something about our own deep past, we think of them not as modern descendants, but as living fossils, relics of a primeval state.

This is, of course, a misnomer.

The Sound of Science

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Andrew Thaler

Tip o’ the Hat to @kzelnio

Charlie and the Adventure: 3 months of a Charles Darwin doll wandering around the world

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Andrew Thaler

Once more, three months have passed in our ongoing series, 365 days of Darwin. For new readers, our favorite stuffed Charles Darwin doll is spending a year traveling around the world and updating us all on his adventures, daily. The last three months, Charlie has traveled farther than ever before. You can checkup on his first sixth months here: 365 days of Darwin: The first 3 months and here: 365 days of Darwin: The second 3 months. Check below the fold for a summary of his most recent 3 months. The adventure continues!

365 days of Darwin: The first 3 months

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Andrew Thaler

Charlie has had quite and adventure these first few months. His journey began November 24, 2009 – the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin – by congratulating Kevin Zelnio on his outstanding Great Darwin Beard Challenge win:

Charlie and Me – 365 days of Darwin Read More