Category: Biology
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Suicide. Ants. Humans.
Could human suicide have evolutionary roots in self-sacrificial behaviors like those seen in species such as honeybees and ants? A Florida State University researcher who is one of the nation's foremost experts in suicide is trying to find out. "Humans are a species that is eusocial, and that's an important starting point", the researcher said.…
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Zooplankton. Light. Dark. Sun. Moon. Nothing.
The daily rising and setting of the sun propels what is thought to be the world’s largest migration: Tiny zooplankton move from the near-surface waters — where they spend the night feeding — down into deeper, darker waters during the day to avoid predators that rely on sight for finding a meal. It was thought…
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Let the chicken be. Live. [An argument against analysis of anything]
Birds evolved from dinosaurs 150 million years ago, a slow but thorough transformation. Their bodies gained aerodynamic feathers, their digits fused into wings, and they acquired a beak used to gather food. We can see some details of this evolutionary marvel in the fossil record. Yet even the most exquisitely preserved fossil can’t tell us…
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Insects flying… Torque… Rotation… Momentum… And why doing is never understanding!
Flightless animals have evolved diverse mechanisms to control their movements in air, whether falling with gravity or propelling against it. Many insects jump as a primary mode of locomotion and must therefore precisely control the large torques generated during takeoff. For example, to minimize spin (angular momentum of the body) at takeoff, plant-sucking bugs apply…
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Evolution, Eugenics, Hypocrisy.
Theory of evolution. Then: Three eugenics conferences. (1, 2) (1912, 1921, 1932) After that: Hitler. Why are we so surprised? Why are we so hypocrites?
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