The New York Times, April 8, 2016
Misconception: It’s just a theory.
Actually: Theories are neither hunches nor guesses. They are the crown jewels of science.
One day, it’s Megyn Kelly who has a theory about why Donald J. Trump hates her.
Another day, the newly released trailer for the next Star Wars movie inspires a million theories from fans about who Rey’s parents are.
The New York Times, April 8, 2016
Five days a week, you can tune into “Paternity Court,” a television show featuring couples embroiled in disputes over fatherhood. It’s entertainment with a very old theme: Uncertainty over paternity goes back a long way in literature. Even Shakespeare and Chaucer cracked wise about cuckolds, who were often depicted wearing horns.
But in a number of recent studies, researchers have found that our obsession with cuckolded fathers is seriously overblown. A number of recent genetic studies challenge the notion that mistaken paternity is commonplace.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Maarten H.D. Larmuseau, a geneticist at the University of Leuven in Belgium who has led much of this new research.
Continue reading “Fathered by the Mailman? It’s Mostly an Urban Legend”
Greetings–
Guaranteed: Nothing on this list is an April Fool’s joke.
Endangered animals get a lot of medical attention in captivity–but are they getting too much attention for their own good? For my column this week in the New York Times, I write about some scientists who think that parasites are important to the long-term survival of species. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, April 1, 2016”
The New York Times, March 31, 2016
The kakapo, a large flightless parrot that can live 95 years and perhaps longer, is dangerously close to extinction. Once found throughout New Zealand, the population has dwindled to fewer than 150.
Conservation biologists are doing everything they can to keep the kakapo from vanishing. And so, when they discovered a few years ago that a pair of captive kakapos were infected with tapeworms, they did the obvious thing: They dewormed the birds.
Hamish G. Spencer, a geneticist at the University of Otago in New Zealand, thinks that was unwise. If endangered species are going to escape extinction, he argues, they may need parasites to survive.
Continue reading “Tapeworms and Other Parasites Can Make Good Guests”
Greetings–
No stomach flu, no head cold. Just a case of playing hooky on a pleasant Friday. Without further ado, here’s Friday’s Late Elk:
I’ve been rather obsessed with how life came on land for my whole career. In my first book, At the Water’s Edge, I delved into the remarkable history of research into this question. I’ve tried to keep up with new studies on this great transition in the years since the book came out. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, March 26, 2016”