Evolutionary biology
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On scientific misconceptions, Eurocentrism, and the evolution of skin color.
We shouldn’t consider the pressures faced by one group of people to be the default against which all others are measured.
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, Adam Rutherford, Against the Grain, anti-racism, Bruce Degen, cow milk, Crawford, dairy, dark skin, David Graeber, David Wengrow, dietary vitamins, Eurocentric, Eurocentrism, Europe, evolution, evolution of human skin color, evolution of lactase persistence, evolution of skin color, famine, farming, folate, Gail McCormick, Genome-Wide Patterns of Selection in 230 Ancient Eurasians, George Chaplin, human evolution, human migration, human skin color, hunter-gatherer, impact of farming on human evolution, influence of diet on human evolution, Jablonski & Chaplin, Jablonski and Chaplin, James Scott, Joanne Cole, lactase persistence, lactose intolerance, lactose tolerance, light skin, Loci Associated with Skin Pigmentation, Mathieson, melanin, migration, natural selection, Nina Jablonski, nutrition, nutrition in human evolution, racism, racism in science, scientific racism, skin color, sun screen, The Dawn of Everything, The Evolution of Skin Color, The Evolution of Skin Coloration, The Magic School Bus, The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution, uv light, uv penetration, Vitamin D, when did light skin evolve, why did light skin evolve, why did skin color evolve, why do we have different color skin, why do we have different skin color
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On eating plants.
In the mid-1800s, Claude Bernard – the “father of experimental physiology” – began a series of experiments to create carnivorous rabbits. Don’t worry: Bernard wasn’t cultivating predatory beasts like the angry rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. At first he was simply starving animals until their acidic urine indicated that they’d begun to…
animal experimentation, animal models, animal research, animal testing, animal welfare, bacterial influence on our minds, carnivorous rabbits, Claude Bernard, diet, Evolution of Diet Across the Animal Tree of Life, first multicellular animals, gut microbiome, heterotroph, Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, meat-eating rabbits, microbiome, plant based, rabbits, Roman-Palaclos, Scholl, scientific research, vegan, vegetarian, we are not alone, Wiens
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On the apparent rarity of human-like intelligence.
When we look around, we see such a small sliver of our planet’s total life.
ancient world, animal cognition, animal intelligence, archaeological evidence, archaeology, bird brains, birds, brain, brain construction, cognition, deep time, dinosaur, evolution, evolution of intelligence, evolutionary time, fossil evidence, fossils, human extinction, intelligence, lifespan of the sun, neuron counts, neuron numbers, non-human animal cognition, Oded Galor, rocks, stone age, stone tools, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, t-rex, The Journey of Humanity, The Origins of Wealth and Inequality, time as a twenty-four hour day, Tyrannosaurus rex
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On scientific beliefs, Indigenous knowledge, and paternity.
Partible paternity — a child having 3+ genetic contributors — can be real both biologically and culturally.
American Biology Teacher, Bari, biological parent, biology, cell migration, cultural beliefs, culture, David Linden, dizygotic pregnancy, family, father, fatherhood, fertilization, First People, Gabriel Andrade, genetic, genetic contributor, genetic inheritance, genetics, heteropaternal superfecundication, How Indigenous Ways of Knowing Works in Venezuela, human, human evolution, human migration, human reproduction, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, insemination, Jennifer Raff, Lisa Jean Moore, migration, multiple paternity, Origin, Our Transgenic Future, parenthood, parenting, partible paternity, paternity, peopleing of the Americas, pregnancy, reproduction, review, science, scientific knowledge, scientific understanding, semen, traditional belief, twin, twins, Unique, Venezuela
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On dangerous air & the damnation of cyanobacteria.
Like us, cyanobacteria flourished! And in their exuberance, they poisoned their world.
air pollution, anthropocene, atmosphere, atmospheric carbon, atmospheric composition, bistability, buffered systems, calamity, carbon, carbon dioxide, carbon emission, carbon emissions, carbon tax, climate change, climate destabilization, climate justice, CO2, Covid, Covid-19, cyanobacteria, divine retribution, endosymbiosis, evolution of early animals, evolution of life, extinction, global warming, greenhouse gas, greenhouse gases, invisible dangers, justice, mass extinction, More Dangerous Air, oxygen, oxygen concentration, pollution, punishment, retribution, stromatolites, tipping point
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On magic.
No matter how well our culture hides it, everyone will die someday.
children, children's magic tricks, coronavirus, covid pandemic, covid response, covid school closures, Covid-19, end of life, epidemic, first grade magic, first grader magic, Magic, magic for kids, magic tricks, mortality, Pandemic, pandemic response, parenting, preschooler magic, school, school closure, school closures
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On childcare.
Love from parents is great, but children benefit most from a whole network of care.
caretaking, child care, child development, child psychology, childcare, childhood development, children, developmental psychology, elementary school, elementary school teachers, evolutionary psychology, extended care network, father, fatherhood, Hrdy, Monroe County YMCA, motherhood, mothering, nuclear families, parenting, parents, Play and Learn, raising children, raising kids, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Sarah Hrdy, school, school teachers, teacher, teachers, teaching, the importance of childcare, valuing childcare, valuing children, valuing teachers, YMCA, YMCA Play and Learn
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On apocalypse clocks.
It’s 10:58 a.m. If we’re still here at 7:26 p.m., we die. Can we escape? Not if we roast ourselves at 10:59.
24 hours, 24-hour geological clock, apocalypse, carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, carbon tax, climate change, climate destabilization, cognitive gaps, desertification, end of life, end of life on Earth, escape from Earth, evolution, evolutionary time, extinction, geological clock, geology, global warming, greenhouse gases, human evolution, human folly, humans arose in last 2 minutes, humans arose in last minute, illustrating data, illustrating time, interstellar migration, life of the sun, life on Earth in a single day, lifespan of the sun, lifetime of the sun, Marcia Bjornerud, mass extinction, representing data, representing time, representing time as a day, Revelation, review of Timefulness, space exploration, thinking like a geologist, Timefulness, Timefulness review
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On octopuses and family gatherings.
Octopuses are brilliant! They solve puzzles, use tools, and plan ahead. And they’re no closer to us than worms??
all babies are scientists, anglerfish, blanket octopus, cartoon, cartoon earthworm, cartoon family reunion, cartoon octopus, cartoon worm, deuterostome, earthworm cartoon, family reunion, jellyfish stingers, jellyfish whip, octopus, octopus at a family reunion, octopus brains, octopus cartoon, octopus tool use, octopus tools, octopus using jellyfish stingers, octopus using tools, octopuses, our ancestors were scientists, protostome, science, scientific method, tool use, we are all scientists, what is science, who is a scientist
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On empathy and the color red.
We can care about others’ lives even if we’re not entirely certain how those lives feel.
AI, Ai poet, Americanah, animal cognition, animal consciousness, animal perception, anti-racist, bat, bat perception, bats, bee vision, Being a Beast, building empathy, Charles Foster, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, cognition, color perception, color red, color vision, dismantling racism, empathy, evolution of vision, frog vision, imagination, infrared vision, IR vision, literature, Nagel, non-human animal cognition, persona poem, persona poetry, philosophy, poet Ai, Racial oppression, racism, red, Robert Jackson Bennett, Shorefall, theory of mind, Thomas Nagel, ultraviolet vision, UV vision, vision, What Is It Like to Be a Bat?, what red means, why we see color, why we see red
Frank Brown Cloud 