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Under the Sea, a Missing Link in the Evolution of Complex Cells

Carl Zimmer The New York Times
Scientists estimate that the first eukaryotes evolved about 2 billion years ago, in one of the greatest transitions in the history of life. But there is little evidence of this momentous event, no missing link that helps researchers trace the evolution of life from simple microbes to eukaryotes. On Wednesday, a team of scientists announced the discovery of just such a transitional form.

Learning to Make a Stone Age Axe Gives Clues to How the Brain Evolved

Gary Stix Scientific American
Experimental archaeology involves moderns crafting Stone Age tools by chipping away at rocks. One reason is to get at the question of what role toolmaking may have played in brain evolution, given the demands this task places on both mental faculties and motor skills.

This Jay Is Evolving in a Very, Very Weird Way

Matt Simon Wired
Being on the way to becoming a new species isn’t the same thing as actually speciating. Actual speciation without isolation is quite rare, and even the Santa Cruz Island jays have not actually speciated, and may never even do so. But the implications for long-held evolutionary principles are intriguing. Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches certainly prove that isolation leads to speciation, but now it may be that isolation isn’t always necessary to get species to diverge.

Neanderthals Practiced Sexual Division of Labor

Spanish National Research Council
Neanderthals divided some of their tasks according to their sex. A new study analyzed 99 teeth of 19 individuals from three different sites (El Sidron, in Asturias - Spain, L'Hortus in France, and Spy in Belgium), reveals that the dental grooves in the female fossils follow the same pattern, different to that found in male individuals.

Friday Nite Videos -- February 27, 2015

Portside
Jon Stewart challenges Fox to a lie-off. Beethoven and the epigenome. The evolution of religion. Men in skirts protest violence against women in Turkey. 'Chuy' Garcia for mayor of Chicago.

Baba Brinkman - Religion Evolves

Baba Brinkman, a Canadian hip-hop performer with an intellectual bent, sexy beats and sumptuous lyrics, tackles where religion comes from, what purpose it serves and how it evolves. NYT: "like attending the best Ted Talk ever." See him at the Soho Playhouse in NY, or get his album (pay what you want) here.

Why Do We Die?

PZ Myers Science Blogs
We are all Roy Batty. All of our moments will be lost, like tears in rain…but weren’t they extraordinary moments?

Love Letters to Richard Dawkins

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins reads "fan mail" he has received from some of his not-so-great admirers. Parental Discretion Advised.

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