Chimpanzees Clear Some Doubt After Generosity Is Questioned

Posted on August 8, 2011May 28, 2020 by admin

The New York Times, August 8, 2011

When it comes to the evolution of humans, a lot depended on the kindness of strangers.

Our species is especially cooperative. We routinely help other people — relatives and strangers alike — even when there’s no immediate reward for us. The concern that humans have for each other is part of the foundation of complex societies, from neighborhoods to nations.

Scientists have long wondered how long ago our so-called prosocial behavior evolved. In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists at Emory University addresses that question with a study on chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives.

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#Greenfieldism

Posted on August 7, 2011August 23, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

[If you can’t see this post here, you can see it on Storify here.]

View “Greenfieldism” on Storify

What Home Looked Like For Seven Million Years

Posted on August 3, 2011August 23, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

To understand how we evolved, we have to understand where we evolved. Natural selection exists because the environment is kinder to some individuals than others. Depending on the species, that environment may be a lake miles underneath Antarctic ice, an alpine meadow near the top of a mountain, or an oxygen-free swamp in the sweltering tropics. Each habitat creates its own set of conditions in which individuals thrive or die. We humans are no different. We are the product of where we have lived.

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Did Rosie Redfield just refute #arseniclife on her blog?

Posted on August 2, 2011August 23, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

Rosie Redfield of the University of British Columbia has steadfastly raised doubts about the headline-grabbing news about arsenic-based life last November. (If neither arsenic life nor Rosie Redfield ring any bells for you, check out my two pieces for Slate, in December and June.) Redfield then did something exceptional: she set out to replicate the initial findings, getting the original bacteria and seeing whether they can build DNA from arsenic when deprived of phosphorus.

And then she did something quite unique: she started to chronicle her experiences on her blog. It’s a fascinating peek into the lab notebook of a practicing scientist. Today’s post is especially intriguing:

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Bellybutton biodiversity update: Wonderlands upon wonderlands

Posted on July 30, 2011August 23, 2021 by Matt Kristoffersen

Last month I contemplated the staggering diversity of microbes in my bellybutton–an experience made possible by my participation in a survey of microbiome diversity carried out by scientists at North Carolina State University. At the time, I thought I was quite the host. I was informed there were 53 species living in my navel, some of which had never been seen on skin before and some of which were altogether new to science. I was even informed that I was a “wonderland.”

Well, the project is moving forward at quite a clip, and the scientists are starting to push more of their data online. Here you can see the species from the first 60 volunteers they’ve studied. The lists are coded by number–I’m B944. I appear to have lost a species so I’m down to 52. And 52 is, I’m seeing, nothing to blog home about. So far, the diversity champion is the anonymous owner of bellybutton B1288. 107 species! Now that’s a wonderland….