Articles for Natural Selection

Love, friendship and AI: Could Artificial Companions replace real relationships?
1 month, 1 week ago

Love, friendship and AI: Could Artificial Companions replace real relationships?

Hindustan Times  

In a future shaped by artificial intelligence, humanity's evolution sparks intense debate. However, like social media, AI could shift to a parasitic role, exploiting attention and emotional reactions, which might impact human evolution. One notable development is "artificial intimacy," where AI technologies mimic human social behaviours like friendship and relationships. While AI's immediate impact on individual lives is the primary …

Pixabay Natural Selection Human Evolution Human Ai Evolution Future
Stephen Hawking’s voice – and what he left behind!
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Stephen Hawking’s voice – and what he left behind!

ABC  

Robyn Williams: This is The Science Show on Radio National, and I'm speaking to you from one of the most celebrated scientific studies in the world, the office of Stephen Hawking at Cambridge in the Department of Applied Maths and Physics. Robyn Williams: And finally, it's quite fascinating, towards the end of his life Stephen Hawking was offered a better …

Science England London Voice South America Stem Cell Black Holes
Alfred Russel Wallace – as important as Darwin as the father of evolution and natural selection
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Alfred Russel Wallace – as important as Darwin as the father of evolution and natural selection

ABC  

Robyn Williams: The British Science Association - an organisation that, as you heard, did much to celebrate Darwin and evolution. Robyn Williams: Now, if you go to the city Darwin, and you go slightly north, you'll find that there's a Wallace line. Tim Mendham: Slightly north and to the left, he noticed that certain life forms were different to the …

England Selection Evolution South America Natural Williams Wallace
Nature keeps evolving crabs and the internet is obsessed. What’s going on here?
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Nature keeps evolving crabs and the internet is obsessed. What’s going on here?

Salon  

As XEC, the latest COVID variant takes hold, we are watching viral evolution play out on a time scale short enough to follow, with different strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus independently acquiring similar or functionally similar mutations that improve its ability to infect us or to evade existing vaccines. Then again, we have to wonder whether that set up of …

Nature Evolution Changes Bacteria Different Salon Crabs
From dinosaurs to dolphins, what gaze following reveals about the evolution of empathy
3 months, 4 weeks ago

From dinosaurs to dolphins, what gaze following reveals about the evolution of empathy

Salon  

Picture this: You’re at a bar and someone clearly intoxicated starts telling your friend their grand theory about how the Titan submersible implosion was faked. Of note: gaze following isn’t a single thing; the impossible task literature divides it into various types, which may suggest different cognitive abilities on the part of the experimental animal. “High-level” gaze following, like the …

Animals Birds Evolution Species Dolphins Eyes Salon
Weird Science | Having kids doesn't keep you younger
1 year ago

Weird Science | Having kids doesn't keep you younger

Hindustan Times  

The older one grows, the less likely they are to have offspring. The same genetic mutations that enhance reproduction early in life, Williams speculated, are likely to lead to ageing in later years. Around the middle of the 20th century, a number of biologists, including Williams, proposed that the older an individual grows, the less effective natural selection becomes in …

Selection Age Ageing Zhang Natural Williams Genetic
What is a man? Even Darwin rejected the myth of the “alpha male”
1 year, 6 months ago

What is a man? Even Darwin rejected the myth of the “alpha male”

Salon  

A recently published meta-analysis in the journal PLOS One found that women have historically been hunters. The "survival of the fittest" ethos — one constantly cited and championed in today's manosphere podcast world — isn't as gendered as we believe. Darwin didn't rule out natural selection, his original term for "survival of the fittest." "People overestimate male dominance mainly because …

Women Gender Men Man Male Darwin Alpha
Today in History: November 24, Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald
2 years, 1 month ago

Today in History: November 24, Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald

Associated Press  

Today in history: On Nov. 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in a scene captured on live television. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print In 1947, a group of writers, producers and directors, who would become known as the “Hollywood …

Bangladesh Congress Queen Hollywood Houston Share Left
The Black Death is still affecting the human immune system
2 years, 2 months ago

The Black Death is still affecting the human immune system

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN — The Black Death, the world’s most devastating plague outbreak, killed half of medieval Europe’s population in the space of seven years in the 14th century, shifting the course of human history. Analysis of centuries-old DNA from both victims and survivors of the Black Death has identified key genetic differences that …

London Death Black Plague Immune System Denmark Study
Why do we die?
2 years, 5 months ago

Why do we die?

BBC  

Why do we die? Later in life, however, senescent cells can accumulate in tissues, causing damage and inflammation, and are precursors to age-related illnesses But ageing and death then happens in two ways – the accumulation of negative mutations because of weak natural selection and mutations that might have been advantageous for reproduction but which become negative for a long …

Life Selection Age Species Natural Die Salmon
How Omicron's BA.5 became a master of disguise, and what it means for COVID-19 surge
2 years, 5 months ago

How Omicron's BA.5 became a master of disguise, and what it means for COVID-19 surge

Firstpost  

BA.5 will not be the endgame. As the virus continues to circulate, this evolutionary trend will likely lead to the emergence of more transmissible variants that are capable of immune escape The omicron subvariant known as BA.5 was first detected in South Africa in February 2022 and spread rapidly throughout the world. Soon after researchers in South Africa reported the …

Variants Virus Immune Variant Omicron Ability Natural Selection
Could our grandparents be the key to long life spans in humans?
2 years, 6 months ago

Could our grandparents be the key to long life spans in humans?

Live Mint  

According to the long-standing canon in evolutionary biology, natural selection is cruelly selfish, favouring traits that help promote reproductive success. "From the perspective of natural selection, long post-menopausal life is a puzzle," said UC Santa Barbara anthropology professor Michael Gurven. "In our model, the large surplus that adults produce helps improve the survival and fertility of close kin, and of …

Food Fitness Life Selection Long Group Older
Our evolutionary love of sugar: Anthropologist explains why we're programmed to crave sweets
2 years, 11 months ago

Our evolutionary love of sugar: Anthropologist explains why we're programmed to crave sweets

Salon  

The sweetness of sugar is one of life's great pleasures. People's love for sweet is so visceral, food companies lure consumers to their products by adding sugar to almost everything they make: yogurt, ketchup, fruit snacks, breakfast cereals and even supposed health foods like granola bars. Sweet taste genes Evidence of sugar detection's vital importance can be found at the …

Taste Sweet Species Sugar Human Genes Receptor
Explainer: New COVID–19 infections cause mutations and are the main driver of new variants, not vaccines
3 years, 3 months ago

Explainer: New COVID–19 infections cause mutations and are the main driver of new variants, not vaccines

Firstpost  

Nearly all mutations that occur are harmless glitches that don’t change how the virus works – some can harm the virus while a small fraction may make the virus more infectious. But how mutations, random chance and natural selection produce variants is a complicated process, and there has been a lot of confusion about how and why new variants emerge. …

Vaccines Infection Number Person Infections Viruses New Variants
Darwin's short-beak enigma is SOLVED in new study
3 years, 3 months ago

Darwin's short-beak enigma is SOLVED in new study

Daily Mail  

Scientists have discovered the gene that causes some pigeons to develop flat faces – a conundrum that fascinated legendary British naturalist Charles Darwin. In a new study, the academics report that mutations in the gene, called ROR2, are linked to beak size reduction in numerous breeds of domestic pigeons. Researchers bred two breeds of pigeon – one with a short …

Domestic Species Darwin Short Breeds Pigeon Pigeons
The controversy being created about the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19
3 years, 6 months ago

The controversy being created about the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19

The Hindu  

The famous question about whetherthe world as we know it arose from evolution or creation was settled long ago in favour of evolution and against religious bigotry. Jemma Geoghegan, the well-known virologist from New Zealand who was prominent in her country’s prompt COVID-19 response, said: “SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19, is closely related to other viruses that exist …

India China Hong Kong Conspiracy Theories New York Chinese Covid
Cheating birds mimic host chicks to deceive their 'foster parents'
4 years, 3 months ago

Cheating birds mimic host chicks to deceive their 'foster parents'

Daily Mail  

African finches use amazing evolved techniques to trick other birds into raising their chicks, a new study has found. The common cuckoo is well known for its deceitful nesting behaviour, which involves laying eggs in the nests of other bird species to fool host parents into rearing cuckoo chicks alongside their own. It's evolved to mimic the behaviours of the …

Parents Birds Cuckoo Mailonline Mouth Mimicry Natural Selection
Genetics: Neanderthal male sex chromosomes were gradually replaced by superior modern human genes
4 years, 3 months ago

Genetics: Neanderthal male sex chromosomes were gradually replaced by superior modern human genes

Daily Mail  

Neanderthals' original Y chromosomes were gradually wiped out in the wake of interbreeding with modern humans more than 100,000 years ago, a study found. Neanderthals' original Y chromosomes were gradually wiped out in the wake of interbreeding with modern humans more than 100,000 years ago, a study found Once injected into the Neanderthal gene pool, the 'superior' Y chromosomes from …

Male Human Pool Tens Of Thousands Original Humans Neanderthals
Would humans evolve again if we rewound time?
5 years, 6 months ago

Would humans evolve again if we rewound time?

BBC  

Would humans evolve again if we rewound time? Alamy Humanity’s evolution has relied upon millions of random events and chance mutations, but natural selection also lends a guiding hand Microorganisms divide and evolve very quickly. Natural selection is the “guiding hand” of evolution, reigning in the chaos of random mutations and abetting beneficial mutations There are evolutionary forces that keep …

Events Evolution Earth Getty Images Humans Random Gould
‘Evolution is a brutal and uncaring, even obscene opponent’: Why it’s time we stopped human evolution
5 years, 7 months ago

‘Evolution is a brutal and uncaring, even obscene opponent’: Why it’s time we stopped human evolution

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Evolution is a brutal and uncaring – even obscene opponent – which the medical world …

Children Evolution Free Our Children Natural Health Check Mother Nature