Today is a day for fresh starts in the United States. A personally exciting one is that, for the first time, the science adviser to the President will be a life scientist: geneticist and mathematician Eric Lander. So it seems like a good day to announce some new directions for my blogging here at Emerging Scholars Network. I'd like to work in a couple of new strands more focused on biology. We'll still check in on the science news, just not every week. We'll still chat about sci-fi books and films from time to time. I … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Origin Story
evolutionary biology
Science Corner: New Year, New Coronavirus Variant
When all is said and done, I expect that 2021 will end with more good news and less news overall about coronaviruses than 2020 had. In the short term, we are going to have more epidemiology and virology to talk about. The topic most interesting to me is the new B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 (also known by several other alphanumeric identifiers). It was identified in December in the UK and has been found in samples taken there from as early as September. Since then it has be isolated from patients in numerous countries … [Read more...] about Science Corner: New Year, New Coronavirus Variant
Science Corner: Observing Black History Month on Darwin Day
Since today is Darwin Day, some comment seems warranted--especially because I see which science & faith topics are most popular here on the blog. At the same time, I feel pretty conflicted about the idea. While I appreciate Darwin's contributions to science, I also appreciate why honoring him specifically seems like a deliberate tweak of folks who find evolution challenging. And I think it's possible to put too much focus on Darwin himself and exacerbate the impression that evolution was just an idea he had that caught … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Observing Black History Month on Darwin Day
Science Corner: The Force of Cuteness
Large swaths of the Internet have fallen under the spell of Baby Yoda, and I guess I'm not immune to those charms either. (Yes, I recognize they're not actually young Yoda, but the character doesn't have an actual name and Baby Yoda has a satisfying lilt.) Actually, part of the charm is intrinsic to our biology and psychology as humans; certain features common to human babies, like big eyes and proportionately large heads, read as cute to nearly all of us across a variety of contexts. One might expect baby chimps and … [Read more...] about Science Corner: The Force of Cuteness
Science Corner: Welcome to the Human Club
In What Evolution Is, Ernst Mayr floats the idea that humans are born 17 months premature. I don't think he intends to critique humans or human development; he is simply describing a difference between humans and primates like chimpanzees. Our neurological development is not very far along at birth; baby chimps are much more capable. Maybe you're not familiar with baby chimps, but perhaps you've seen (video of) a baby deer or horse or giraffe tentatively taking its first steps within hours of birth; that's a skill … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Welcome to the Human Club