The arrow of evolution
5,000 years of changeMost evolutionary biologists would agree with the contention that evolution has no long-term direction. In other words, evolutionary change is shaped by the contingencies and exigencies of the present set of circumstances, searchin…
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 17: Polygenic risk scores and diversity
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 17: Polygenic risk scores and diversityThe risk for coronary heart diseaseThis week on The Insight (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcasts) we discuss “polygenic risk scores” (PRS) and genetic diversity …
Arabia between Africa & Eurasia
Arabia between Africa and EurasiaShanidar cave in Iraq, once occupied by NeanderthalsFor hundreds of thousands of years Neanderthals and the ancestors of modern humans interacted in the broad zone of territory we now call the “Middle East.” Neanderthal…
Pakistan’s #1 in newborn mortality rates!?!?!
Sometimes you read things you need to double check on. World is failing newborn babies: 1. Pakistan: 1 in 22 2. Central African Republic: 1 in 24 3. Afghanistan: 1 in 25 4. Somalia: 1 in 26 5. Lesotho: 1 in 26 6. Guinea-Bissau: 1 in 26 7. South Sudan: 1 in 26 8. …
Continue reading “Pakistan’s #1 in newborn mortality rates!?!?!”
Why do South Asians have heart disease?
Why Do South Asians Have Such High Rates of Heart Disease?: Some of the most striking findings to come out of Masala relate to body composition. Using CT scans, Dr. Kanaya and her colleagues found that South Asians have a greater tendency to store body fat in places where it shouldn’t be, like the liver, …
Love, oxytocin and evolution
Gibbons form pair-bondsOn some level, most scientists would say that everything is reducible to material and mechanism. But to say that “everything is due to the swerve of atoms” doesn’t get us much further than the ancient Greeks, who were the first t…
Why Charles Darwin matters
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12th, 1809. He was the son of a prosperous and prominent lineage. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a physician and public intellectual. Like his more famous grandson, the elder Darwin was a natural philoso…
How ancient DNA illuminated the dark cave
Unfortunately, we do not have a time machine, nor is there any likely possibility of any such thing in the near future. The laws of physics are what they are. That is why those of us who are interested in the human past must make recourse to discipline…
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 12: The New York Times takes on Ancient DNA
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 12: The New York Times takes on Ancient DNAThis week on The Insight (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcasts)we discussed the controversy that has erupted over a 12,000-word piece in The New York Times Ma…
Humanity is smarter than the sum of its individuals
We live in a world of wonders. Airplanes take us across the world, computers connect us digitally, and antibiotics cure us of infections. But how does any of this work? Do you know? Does your neighbor know? Billions of humans beings use mobile telephon…
How your Neanderthal functions in the human genome
What does it mean that you have Neanderthal ancestry? Everyone agrees now that that ancestry exists, but does it make you any different from what you’d be otherwise? From a scientific perspective, one might ask what the function of Neanderthal genetic …
Toward a mature conservatism
India scientists dismiss Einstein theories: In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told medical staff at a Mumbai hospital that the story of the Hindu god Ganesha – whose elephant head is attached to a human body – showed cosmetic surgery existed in ancient India. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told medical staff at a … Continue reading “Toward a mature conservatism”
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 10: 2018 in genomics
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 10: 2018 in genomicsThis week we reviewed the “big stories” in 2018 in genomics. There were a lot of possibilities, but we narrowed down the list.First, we discussed Neanderthal art. And, it’s ramifications fo…
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 9: the genetics of Africa
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 9: the genetics of AfricaThis week on The Insight (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcasts) Razib Khan and Spencer Wells discuss the genetics of Africa, and how our human story has become more complicated…
Most of human history was in Africa
Citation: Scerri, Eleanor ML, et al. “Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter?.” Trends in ecology & evolution (2018).Over the last generation our understanding of the origin of what we term “modern hu…
Welcome to our brave new 21st century
Sometimes you know something is going to happen. But you don’t know when it’s going to happen. It’s inevitable, but you don’t know when that inevitability is going to realize itself. In a way, death is like that for most of us.And so it is with genetic…
The diverse tastes of the season
The holiday season is upon us. This means food, family, and fun. And when it comes to food and drink it often means excess. People gain weight during the holidays, and that’s a function of our calorie budget. There are some surpluses you don’t want.But…
Have we seen the face of Rama?
One of the problems with looking up pictures of the Kalash people of Pakistan is that photographers have a bias toward highlighting the most European-looking villagers. Let’s call this “Rudyard Kipling Lost White Races” syndrome. Therefore for your edification, I post the YouTube above which is probably more representative of what the Kalash look like. … Continue reading “Have we seen the face of Rama?”
The 20,000 year adventur eof the
The great adventure of the Native AmericansComanche warriors in 19th century TexasIn 1492 Christopher Columbus made definitive and lasting contact between Europe and the New World. This was not the first contact. We know for a fact that Greenland Norse…
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 7: the genetics of Native Americans
The Insight Show Notes — Season 2, Episode 7: the genetics of Native AmericansAncient BeringiansThis week on The Insight (Apple Podcasts and Stitcher) Razib Khan and Spencer Wells discuss the genetics and history of Native Americans, from the icy shore…