Friday’s Elk, March 18, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–

It’s a quieter week this time around, but here are a few things for your enjoyment…
 

More Than Just A One-Night Stand

The study of ancient human DNA just keeps getting more interesting. In the New York Times, I write this week about a new survey of the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA lurking in our genomes. It looks like there was even more interbreeding between our ancestors and these extinct humans than we previously thought. Here’s the story. P.S.: As a big fan of the comedian Harry Shearer, I was tickled to see on Twitter that the column inspired him to write a Neanderthal love song. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, March 18, 2016” →

Ancestors of Modern Humans Interbred With Extinct Hominins, Study Finds

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The New York Times, March 17, 2016

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The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans at least four times in the course of prehistory, according to an analysis of global genomes published Thursday in the journal Science.

The interbreeding may have given modern humans genes that bolstered immunity to pathogens, the authors concluded.

“This is yet another genetic nail in the coffin of our oversimplistic models of human evolution,” said Carles Lalueza-Fox, a research scientist at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, Spain, who was not involved in the study.

Continue reading “Ancestors of Modern Humans Interbred With Extinct Hominins, Study Finds” →

Friday’s Elk, March 11, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–

An exciting week!

A Big Honor

Stephen Jay Gould, the late Harvard paleontologist, was a master of bringing evolution to a wide audience in books like Wonderful Life and The Panda’s Thumb. The Society for the Study of Evolution now honors his legacy with the Stephen Jay Gould Prize. I’m delighted to be this year’s winner. I’ll be giving a public lecture in conjunction with the award ceremony. If you’re in Austin on June 17, please come by. Details here. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, March 11, 2016” →

Staying Afloat in the Rising Tide of Science

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Cell, March 10, 2016

Link

As a science writer, I often start my day with some words from scientists. Sometimes those words are in a new scientific paper. But very often they come in other forms. I check my RSS reader for new blog posts from scientists such as paleoanthropologist John Hawks and virologist Vincent Racaniello. I check in on Twitter, where geneticist Daniel Macarthur may point to an interesting new study or dispense some snark on a hyperventilating newspaper article. If I’m feeling a deep urge to procrastinate, I may head to YouTube to watch cosmologist Sean Carroll explain the arrow of time. When that’s over, I may glance at the podcast app on my phone to see if there’s a new episode of Story Collider—a series made up mostly of scientists telling stories before a live audience. As I listen, I might get distracted by a thump outside the front door: a review copy of a new book written by a scientist—perhaps Frans de Waal writing about animal cognition or Bryan Fry writing about snake venom.

Continue reading “Staying Afloat in the Rising Tide of Science” →

Unappetizing Experiment Explores Tools’ Role in Humans’ Bigger Brains

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The New York Times, March 9, 2016

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Scientists recently turned Harvard’s Skeletal Biology Laboratory into a pop-up restaurant. It would have fared very badly on Yelp.

Katherine D. Zink, then a graduate student, acted as chef and waitress. First, she attached electrodes to the jaws of diners to record the activity in the muscles they use to chew food. Then she brought out the victuals.

Some volunteers received a three-course vegetarian meal of carrots, yams or beets. In one course, the vegetables were cooked; in the second, they were raw and sliced; in the last course, Dr. Zink simply served raw chunks of plant matter.

Continue reading “Unappetizing Experiment Explores Tools’ Role in Humans’ Bigger Brains” →