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Articles on Evolution

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Mice fed a special diet rapidly passed on an epigenetic change to subsequent generations. Flickr/a_soft_world

With the tweak of a gene, we could transform our looks in a few generations

The proportion of people with desirable physical traits could rapidly accelerate over a few generations with the aid of a diet that tweaks particular genes, a study suggests. Research by a team at Sydney’s…

Sperm employ teamwork for navigation

Sperm can join together into conglomerates to navigate the female reproductive tract, according to researchers from the University…
How do you get the girl? That’s a nom-brainer. Yann Audras

No food, no love: female fish prefer well-nourished males

“Finish your dinner or there’ll be no dessert for you!” – it’s a cry heard at dinner tables around the world, as mothers battle to convince their sons about the importance of eating properly. Sorry lads…
Nanas may contribute more than just hugs and kisses. John McNab

What’s the link between caring grandmas and breast cancer?

A recent study shows that mutations in the “breast cancer genes” BRCA1 and BRCA2 – which increase the risks of breast and ovarian cancers among others – also increase fertility. This is an extraordinary…
Lilting voice? No need to look on the dark side. Bisgrafic

Did Darth Vader have a low sperm count?

Few individuals in the Star Wars universe inspired more fear than the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. But beneath the dark exterior, the commander-formerly-known-as-Anakin-Skywalker might have been hiding a dark…
Evolution favours men who overestimate how attractive they are to women. What is in us

She’s just not that into you (but you probably think she is)

We all know somebody like Dick: a bloke who rates himself for no apparent reason and who optimistically reckons every woman – especially every attractive woman – is interested in him. Most of us have met…
It’s all love and cuddles until the seven-year itch. purplemattfish

Why do women have less body hair than men?

The question of why human beings have virtually no body hair – as discussed yesterday on The Conversation – has puzzled evolutionary theorists since Darwin’s Descent of Man (1871). It’s puzzling because…
Hair may be our last defence against things that go bug in the night. M i x y

Shave tight? Don’t let the bed bugs bite

Writing almost 140 years ago in his book Naturalist in Nicaragua, the European naturalist Thomas Belt engaged in a lively debate about why certain breeds of dogs in tropical America were hairless. The…
The pika is one species struggling to evolve fast enough to keep up with climate change. http://www.itsnature.org/ground/pika/

Could evolution help to protect biodiversity?

We currently face a biodiversity and extinction crisis as human population pressures and climate change combine to push our natural environments to the limit. Because our urban and agricultural activities…

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