There are growing calls among some evolutionary biologists for an upgrade to Darwin, although they differ about what form this might take. Evo-devo researchers are finding that development appears to have been one of the major forces shaping the history of life on earth. Evolutionary experiments on microbes are under way in many laboratories and scientists can observe bacteria adapt over 40,000 generations of living in a beaker. A new exhaustive fossil analysis says mammals originated after the demise of dinosaurs, but the debate continues. When small is best: When habitats contract, the creatures they contain get smaller. Pick your evil: An article on how HIV passed to humans.
After the sequencing of the human genome, scientists are planning to reconstruct the entire genome of the Neanderthal. The work will help answer questions about whether humans and Neanderthals are related, and if they interbred. An article on human DNA, the ultimate spot for secret messages (and more). Modern humans appeared 50,000 years ago, but genetic drift and natural selection have recently remolded the human clay. "I Think, Therefore I Am" is losing force: Biologists are turning up evidence that humans are not, physically or even mentally, in a class by themselves. From Technology Review, artificial intelligence is lost in the woods: David Gelernter argues a conscious mind will never be built out of software; and artificial societies and virtual violence: How modeling societies in silico can help us understand human inequality, revolution, and genocide
Research suggests children with autism, who are unable to grasp the mental states of others, can nonetheless identify with conventional stereotypes based on a person's race and sex. Bowling With Our Own: Robert Putnam’s sobering new diversity research scares its author (and more).
Casaubon on Viagra: The cliché of the absent-minded, asexual professor is dead. Scott McLemee looks at "the new academic stereotype". Does the tenure case of Norman Finkelstein bode ill for academic freedom? Cathy Young investigates. Antioch College taught how to get fired repeatedly from internships while following your activist conscience. Who's going to offer such lessons now?
Among the hot topics at the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses were a surprise request for proposals from a big foundation and a forthcoming report on publishing in the digital age. Next year in Jerusalem? The Academic Ethicist offers advice on scholarly boycotts. Follow the money: Colleges wondering what to expect during student-loan investigations can find clues in previous stock and mutual-fund scandals. The founders of a Harvard student group that promotes the practical benefits of avoiding sex until marriage look forward to living the message after graduation.
