Darwiniana

In a previous post, I indicated that Dr. Frances Arnold’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry points out that Artificial Selection is more powerful a force than Natural Selection.In a new paper, the authors show that the idea of the ‘gradual’ evolution of foraminifera turns out to be wrong and that what ac

Source: What’s Left of Darwinism? | Uncommon Descent

Pretty human.

Source: Jimmy Fallon’s duet with Sophia the robot is as sweet as it is unsettling

Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, author of Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray, acknowledges the seriousness of the situation but isn’t sure that the term “crisis” describes the current situation well:I think stagnation describes it better. And let me be clear that the problem

Source: Theoretical physicist: Present phase of physics “not normal” – but stagnation, not crisis | Uncommon Descent

The shapes of toxins found in venom are helping to resolve the scorpion’s family tree

Source: Venom peptides reveal secrets of scorpion evolution | Research | Chemistry World

Prof. Richard Wolff explains why the $3 billion subsidy for one of the world’s largest corporations is a terrible waste of public money

Source: Amazon Gets $3 Billion in NY Tax Breaks While Underfunded Public Transport Enters ‘Death Spiral’

Three clinical trial participants with paralysis chatted with family and friends, shopped online and used other tablet computer applications, all by just thinking about pointing and clicking a mouse.

Source: Brain-computer interface enables people with paralysis to control tablet devices — ScienceDaily

With the surge in meat-eating associated with industrial capitalism came-particularly from city-dwellers-a swelling of the vegetarian cause, hitherto confined to a relatively few Pythagoreans, radicals and eccentrics. Compassion for animals also surged, particularly in Britain where Queen Victoria lent her name to the issue and where anti-vivisection movements drew increasing adherents, as they did in Germany and France.  More

Source: Romanticism’s Revenge: From Vegetarianism to Nazi Animal Rights