The current plight of the Tasmanian devil is of grave significance. A nasty cancer-causing mutation has already wiped out 84% of the species, leaving only 35,000 remaining in the wild.
SCIENCE
The Best Science of 2012
Detonate your mind with this inspirational list over at My Science Academy of what the human race achieved this past year through the pursuits of science. Here are a few of my favorites.
Schwartzberg: The Hidden Beauty of Pollination
In this brief TED presentation, Louie Schwartzberg shares with us clips of his 35-year collection of time-lapse footage. The video captures in exquisite detail nature’s four primary pollinators: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and bats.
Oldest Fossils Ever Discovered Are Found in Australia
The details of the discovery presented at last month’s Geological Society of America meeting are now part of public domain. A team scouring the Pilbara region of Australia claims to have found evidence of the earliest fossils now known to science.
Antibiotics Kill the Good Along with the Bad
Antibiotics are currently the best countermeasure to a variety of infections, but its downsides are legion.
The Achilles Heel of Climate Denialism
A survey of the peer reviewed literature shows that just 0.17% of papers since 1991 reject global warming. Regardless of how entrenched one’s views are within the denialist ecosystem, reality can only be eschewed for so long.
Review: Guns, Germs, and Steel
According to Diamond, it merely was adventitious that Eurasians possessed the guns, germs, and steel to conquer foreign lands, for it was their indigenous proximity to an ecologically diverse landmass that best explains their success.
Evolution, Theism and the Dissonance Which Lies Between
Christian fundamentalism notwithstanding, is a contemporary understanding of evolution at odds with the popular conceptions of God?
There Is No Single “Humanness” Gene
Jerry Coyne silences the recent hype over yet another “humanness” gene.
Viruses as Planetary Forces
Carl Zimmer presents at the Singularity Summit, giving an excellent overview of the ubiquitous life forms that have shaped the evolution of life on earth.
Earth-Like Planet Composed of Diamonds?
One exoplanet’s chemistry has proven to be unique from anything we’ve seen before, its rocky layers composed largely of pure diamond.
Lenski’s E. Coli Grow “New Legs”
Lenski’s high-profile E. coli program represents an iconic case of experimental evolution.
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