Evolution

Neat video shows the evolution of Batman movies over the last 70 years

Editor Jacob T. Swinney put together this cool video showing the evolution of Batman from the 1943 serial to Nolan’s blockbusters. Many things have changed: The suit, the vehicles, or even the psychological approach to the character. But others, like people’s interest on this superhero, remain exactly the same. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow…

Our Ancestors Developed a Love For Alcohol Millions of Years Ago

Obviously, alcohol’s been a part of human society for a very long time. We started making it at roughly the same time we figured out agriculture, 9,000 years ago. A new study on our now-extinct ancestors revealed that they developed the ability to metabolize alcohol when they started going down to forest floors, about 10…

Why Birds Take Turns At The Front When Flying In V-Formation

Migrating birds fly in a V-formation to take advantage of the aerodynamic effects of flying behind another bird. Remarkably, birds take turns at the front despite no obvious benefit to the individual. A new study explains why they do it, and why cooperation can be a powerful evolutionary tool. Top image: A.G. Schmalstieg. Last year,…

A Bacteria That Hasn’t Had To Evolve In More Than Two Billion Years

Scientists from UCLA have discovered a deep-sea microorganism that’s the same today as it was two billion years ago. It’s an observation that actually bolsters Darwin’s theory of natural selection, while offering the most extreme example of evolution’s “null hypothesis.” Above: A 1.8 billion-year-old fossil-bearing rock. The fossils are virtually the same as fossils 500…

The Human Brain Is Lopsided Compared To Other Primates

Researchers have identified a small groove that runs deeper along the right side of the human brain than the left. Because other primates lack this feature, it’s conceivable that its function is what sets us apart. The groove within the STS resides immediately below the red band seen in this digital image. (Turken et al.)…

The World’s Largest Herd of White Deer Lives in New York

An odd series of events led to Seneca, New York playing host to the world’s largest herd of white deer. There’s actually an evolutionary reason why one particular set of genes for these unusual deer came to be favored in Seneca. These are not albino deer. In fact, they have the capability to produce melanin,…

It’s Survival Of The Most Useful When Protecting Species

Consensus is growing that we are steering towards a sixth mass extinction event. There are calls for increased efforts to stop the accelerating loss of plants and animals. But do we really need to protect all species from global extinction? Top image: Coral reefs are like an underwater metropolis – and function in similar ways.…

I’m Tired Of Seeing This Charles Darwin Quote Taken Out Of Context

In the sixth chapter of On The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin addresses “Organs of Extreme Perfection” – organs like the eye, the formation of which due to natural selection, Darwin “freely confessed,” seems “absurd in the highest possible degree.” But this is only part of a much longer quote. The sentence is almost always…

How animal eyes evolved from tiny holes to extremely complex organs

Five hundred million years ago our eyes were only little cavities with the ability to detect the direction of the incoming light. That cavity evolved radically transforming into the complex organs we all know today. But how did this happen? This TedEd video has the scientific answer: SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on…

Yes, “Selfing” Is a Scientific Term

One of the most widely-studied worms in the world is the tiny, humble vinegar worm, known to science as C. elegans. And this worm has a really interesting way of reproducing. It’s called selfing. Image via Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience Over at This View of Life, Carl Zimmer has a terrific article on these worms,…

This Ancient Giant Armadillo Is Responsible For Giving Us The Avocado

But not just this giant armadillo. Giant sloths, four-tusked elephants, and a whole bunch of other ancient mammals that roamed the earth over 10,000 years ago also all played a role. Over at National Geographic’s The Plate, they’re looking at the history of how the modern avocado evolved. The history of humans and avocados stretches…

This Freaky New Frog Gives Birth To Live Tadpoles, Not Eggs

Scientists have never seen anything quite like this before. It’s a newly discovered species of fanged frog that gives direct birth to live tadpoles instead of laying eggs. It isn’t that rare for scientists to find new species of animals, but finding an entirely new mode of reproduction is a different story altogether. The newly…

Ants like to turn left when they’re exploring new places. So like many creatures, ants exhibit behavioral lateralization, in which directional biases are built-in. Researchers aren’t sure why ants prefer left, but turning in one evolutionary agreed-upon direction may help them search and exit maze-like spaces, or stick together as a group.

The Latest Pseudoscience Diet Fad: Wear An Ice Vest

The world is full of pseudoscientific fad diets, but the latest fad isn’t just a diet — instead, it’s a craze for lowering body temperature to “burn fat.” The Atlantic looks at people who buy special ice vests, or take shirtless walks in winter, in the hope of losing weight. https://gizmodo.com/10-types-of-diet-books-that-prove-you-cant-eat-anything-1654378939 Top image: Polar Bear…

A Cool New Theory Explains Why Red Wine Is So Damned Good For You

The antioxidant resveratrol, which is found in red wine and other foods like nuts and soy, is known for its ability to decrease incidence of heart disease and other illnesses, leading some to call it the “elixir of youth.” Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute now have an explanation for how it works. Resveratrol (prounounced…

Why 19th Century Scientists Believed That Life Originated In Space

The Panspermia Hypothesis holds that life on our planet traces its origins to space—say, a microbe-laden meteorite landing on primordial Earth. The theory, conceived before humans even went into space, was actually born out of criticism of Charles Darwin and his perceived failure to explain how life began. Image Credit: NASA Without an explanation for…

Forget Drugs, Darknet Markets Are Selling Counterfeit Christmas Gifts 

Receiving luxury Christmas presents is great. Giving them, however, has one major downside: Luxury Christmas gifts are expensive as shit. Perhaps that’s why the business of peddling counterfeit items like fake iPhone 6 smartphones and knockoff Louis Vuittons is flourishing on darknet markets like Evolution. Vocativ pulled together a list of counterfeit goods easily available…

Business Is Booming for Evolution, the Weapons and Drugs Dark Market

When the FBI seized the Silk Road 2 and other popular darknet markets, it was a dark day for people who buy illegal shit online. But it turned out to be a great day for Evolution, the largest market that didn’t get shut down in the raid. Research from the Digital Citizens Alliance confirms that…

Scientists Have Mapped Out A ‘Mind-Blowing’ Tree Of Avian Evolution

More than 200 scientists from around the world have collaborated to map “the avian tree of life” — an undertaking that one evolutionary biologist has called “mind-blowing” in scope. Photo Credit: Art G. via flickr | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Over at The Guardian, Ian Sample reports on the project and a sampling of its notable…

Those weird bone eating worms just got weirder. A newly discovered species of Osedax worms — those incredibly cool and strange creatures that feed off whale bones — appears to be evolving in reverse. Males of the species have reverted to an earlier form, which is surprising because these genes should have deteriorated by now.…