Category: Science
Do Shared ERVs Support Common Ancestry?
In my previous article, I discussed the background of one of the most commonly made arguments for primate common ancestry. In this article, I want to examine the first of the three layers of evidence offered by a popular-level article written about this subject.
Science Writers, Metaphysics, and the End of the Dissemination Chain
CSC Fellow Cornelius Hunter gives us the big picture view of the recent dustup with John Farrell at Forbes as “an interesting example of how evolutionary thinking is handed down and disseminated.”
Revisiting an Old Chestnut: Retroviruses and Common Descent (Updated)
One common argument for common descent which one hears very frequently in the evolutionary literature concerns the placement of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in orthologous loci in primate genomes.
Has Forbes.com Critic of The Myth of Junk DNA Read the Book?
Over at his Forbes.com blog, John Farrell has written a critique of Jonathan Wells’ new book The Myth of Junk DNA. The only problem is that many of the arguments Farrell critiques aren’t ones that Jonathan Wells makes in the book. Below is a comment I posted on Mr. Farrell’s blog in response: Dear Mr. Farrell, Have you read Jonathan wells’ book The Myth of Junk DNA? I don’t mean to be cheeky, but frankly, it doesn’t seem like you have. The Myth of Junk DNA either doesn’t make the arguments you claim it does about a perfect mutation-free or disease-free genome, or it refutes the arguments you make in your post. Regarding the latter problem, your post is logically Read More ›
Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez on the Habitability of Gliese 581d
Is exoplanet Gliese 581d habitable? We ask an expert, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez.