Wolves of the Northeast deep woods have interbred with western coyotes, and the hybrid coywolves now thrive among us I have never seen a wolf or coyote, outside of a zoo. An urban college professor, I have lived for the last 45 years in suburban Saint Louis. A red fox family once graced our subdivision… Read More »
Like an unexpected and unwelcome guest, pathogenic E coli burst onto the national scene nineteen years ago. Escherichia coli — E. coli for short — is a harmless bacteria that lives in the gut of humans. Scientists have studied it for decades. It was one of the first organisms to have its genome fully sequenced… Read More »
In the century since he proposed it, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection has become nearly universally accepted by biologists as the best available explanation for biological diversity, its predictions supported by the experiments and observations of generations of scientists. There is ongoing controversy among serious students as to the details of how evolution… Read More »
I first suspected that Boswell would have a short life when he bit my wife on our nuptial bed. Boswell was my dog, a feisty Toto-like terrier who shared my bachelor bed and resented the intrusion of a woman where he felt a dog — Boswell — ought to be. As it turns out, my… Read More »
Darwin first became convinced that evolution occurs when he collected a variety of small birds on the Galapagos islands off the west coast of South America. All these birds proved to be finches, a cluster of species closely related to one another and all resembling the finches of the South American mainland. The simplest explaination,… Read More »
Science is by its nature a feisty enterprise, with researchers evaluating each other’s worknot always kindlyand constantly seeking better ways to test ideas against the hard reality of data. When a scientific field is active, it is alive with controversy, with the slam-around give-and-take of aggressive inquiring minds. This is nowhere more true than in… Read More »
Really good fights in science rarely get settled. One side will advance evidence that the other side is wrong, only to have the “wrong” side respond with evidence proving the reverse. Slugging it out, back and forth, a clearer picture gradually emerges. Once in a while, however, somebody actually wins. Definitive “no-doubt-about-it” evidence emerges proving… Read More »
Science is by its nature a feisty enterprise, with researchers evaluating each other’s work — not always kindly — and constantly seeking better ways to test ideas against the hard reality of data. When a scientific field is active, it is alive with controversy, with the slam-around give-and-take of aggressive inquiring minds. This is nowhere… Read More »
Death is not pretty, early in the morning on the doorstep. A small dead bird was left at our front door one morning last week, lying by the newspaper as if it might at any moment fly away. I knew it would not. Like other birds before it, it was a gift to our household… Read More »
Darwin can rest a little easier tonight. Im sure he would have been puzzled at the average Americans reluctance to accept his theory of evolution. The evidence supporting Darwins theory is clear, and every year more supporting evidence accumulates. There is a sticky point in Darwins argument, however. If evolution is indeed guided by natural… Read More »
This year science has made important progress on one of the truly big questions in biology: The origin of life. There are three general theories about the origin of life: 1. Special creation. Some scientists believe life was placed on earth by a supernatural or divine power. 2. Extraterrestrial origin. Others believe that life was… Read More »
An old question may finally have been answered in a way any tired parent can understand Sometimes odd generalizations in science lead to unexpected places. Take for example an obscure observation published in 1944 by British ornithologist (bird expert) Reginald Moreau: songbirds in the tropics lay fewer eggs than their counterparts at higher latitudes. Tropical… Read More »
