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NEWS ABOUT: evolution

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Early Humans Loved to Eat Brains: Study

Diet of antelope brains may have helped human evolution

(Newser) - Our evolutionary ancestors were hungry for braaaiiins—antelope brains, that is. Sets of animal bones recently unearthed in Kenya, believed to be the earliest evidence of hominid hunting, show previous members of the human family enjoyed digging into the heads of antelope and wildebeests, as well as snacking on gazelle... More »

Fish's DNA Holds Clues to Evolution: Scientists

Scientists find DNA for placenta, limbs in ancient fish

(Newser) - The coelacanth doesn't just look like a prehistoric fish, it was believed to be one, extinct for some 70 million years—until one turned up at a South African fish market in 1938. Now, scientists have decoded the endangered species' genome, and they say they've found some clues... More »

Creationist: $10K to Anyone Who Can Disprove Genesis

Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo launches creationism challenge

(Newser) - A California creationist believes the Biblical book of Genesis is a literal account of the universe's origins—and he's putting his money where his mouth is. Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo is offering $10,000 to anyone who can successfully disprove a literal interpretation, using science, in front of a... More »

Dust Mites Reverse Evolution, Shock Scientists

Parasites de-specialized in order to survive, study says

(Newser) - Think our evolutionary progress is irreversible? Researchers at the University of Michigan say tiny house dust mites evolved from organisms that specialized and later de-specialized in order to survive over millions of years, Phys.Org reports. The large-scale genetic study, published in Systematic Biology , challenges one of the basic suppositions... More »

Dogs' Evolutionary Trick: Learning to Eat Human Food

They could digest grains, live off our refuse

(Newser) - Swedish researchers have an intriguing new theory on why dogs became the human pals they are today, as opposed to wolves: They developed the ability to digest starch, which allowed them to live off the refuse of our human ancestors at the dawn of agriculture, reports the Washington Post . Wolves... More »

Why Your Fingers Get Pruney in Bath: Better Grip

Which might have come in handy for our forebears, says study

(Newser) - When your fingers and toes get all wrinkly in the bathtub, it's more than just a sign that's it's time to grab a towel. British researchers say it's a trait primates acquired to give them better grip in the water, perhaps as they were swinging from... More »

Our Hands Evolved to Help Us ... Punch?

Opposable thumbs weren't for tools, says a Salt Lake researcher

(Newser) - Human hands evolved the way they did not so we could use tools but so we could punch each other better, says a new study out of the University of Utah. The lead researcher argues that we could have ended up with any of several different shapes if it were... More »

Maybe First Creatures Were on Land, Not in Sea

Paper in 'Nature' refutes long-held theory

(Newser) - Play whatever scene you have in your head of the first creature to emerge from the sea and move onto land. Now hit pause and play it in reverse. A new paper in Nature refutes the long-held theory that life began in the water and evolved onto land, reports NPR... More »

Why the Earth's Age Does, Actually, Matter in Politics

Paul Krugman: Republican Party becoming increasingly 'anti-rational'

(Newser) - When Marco Rubio deflected a question about the Earth's age recently, the Florida senator argued that such issues have nothing to do with politics—but he's wrong, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Let's not forget that Rubio himself once "provided powerful aid to... More »

GOP Rep Blasts Evolution as Lie ‘Straight From Pit of Hell’

Paul Broun tells church group science meant to keep people from their savior

(Newser) - Rep. Paul Broun, a Georgia Republican and medical doctor whose musings on the president have landed him on the House Wingnut Index , is mincing no words on his views on evolution, reports Talking Points Memo . “God's word is true. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and... More »

Ancient Relatives of Humans Ate Wood

Scientists analyzed dental tartar in fossils

(Newser) - Did our ancestors eat trees? New fossil evidence shows that a 2 million-year-old relative of humans nibbled on bark and leaves, reports BBC . Scientists analyzed the teeth of two members of the "southern ape" species, or Australopithecus sediba, and found evidence that they included wood in their diet. More »

Why Are Tomatoes Red? Blame Meteor

Dinosaur-killing impact forced the tomato into big changes, say scientists

(Newser) - Why are tomatoes red? The same reason dinosaurs were killed off, say scientists. The massive meteorite that struck Earth 60 to 70 million years ago created extremely harsh conditions that forced the evolution of the tomato into its current red and edible form, reports Phys.org . Researchers discovered this connection... More »

What Makes Music Scary?

An evolutionary biologist thinks it's nonlinear noises

(Newser) - Why exactly does the Jaws theme send a chill down our spine? What makes Darth Vader's entrance music so unsettling? In short, why does certain music freak us out? Evolutionary biologist Daniel Blumstein thinks he has the answer. Blumstein hit on the idea while observing baby marmots, who would... More »

In South Korea, Creationists Score a Huge Victory

Evolution references yanked from textbooks

(Newser) - A group opposed to the teaching of evolution has won a major victory in the Deep South—of the Korean peninsula. A creationist group has successfully petitioned South Korean publishers to remove several references to evolution from high school textbooks, Nature reports. The group—set up by the US Institute... More »

Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Will End Soon

In a decade or two, it will be impossible to refute the science, he argues

(AP) - Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself. Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to the point that even skeptics will be swayed. Two quotes from an interview... More »

Holding a Gun Makes You Look Bigger

Appearance of physical power increases when holding a weapon: Study

(Newser) - A person wielding a gun appears bigger and brawnier than a person without a gun, according to a new UCLA study. Researchers showed photographs of hands clutching guns, power drills, handsaws, and other tools to test subjects and then asked them to guess the size and muscularity of the person... More »

Tennessee's Anti-Evolution Bill to Become Law

Critics: Move 'undermines science education'

(Newser) - Tennessee was the site of the infamous Scopes monkey trial nearly 90 years ago (spoiler alert: creationists lost), but the state is still fighting evolution. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said yesterday he'll allow a bill to become law that protects teachers who criticize evolution, as well as global warming... More »

Humans Had Fire 1M Years Ago

Archeologist say they've found earliest evidence of human fire use

(Newser) - Scientists believe they've uncovered the earliest known evidence of human fire usage. Charred bones and plant ash sediment found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa suggest that Homo erectus was playing with fire a whopping 1 million years ago, more than twice as far back as previous evidence had... More »

Scientists Find Bones of Another Pre-Human Walker

They clearly belong to primitive foot of a walking creature

(Newser) - Lucy was not alone. Scientists have unearthed fossilized bones that they believe must have belonged to the foot of another pre-human species that walked upright around 3 million years ago, the AP reports. It's the first evidence of such a species during that era since the one made famous... More »

Tennessee Bill Encourages Critiques of Evolution

It protects teachers who debate the issue in classrooms

(Newser) - A bill in Tennessee's legislature would protect teachers who encourage debate in the classroom about evolution—a measure that opponents say is just a guise to teach creationism or intelligent design, reports the Tennessean . Top science groups and the ACLU have come out against the bill, which the state... More »

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