Would you give up your right arm for a robotic device that performs better? Think about it.
Human evolution
At The Scientist: No, we did not kill off the Neanderthals but maybe we helped
If the Neanderthal woman was living and having kids with a non-Neanderthal man, she wasn’t living and having kids with a Neanderthal man. Perhaps, if non-Neanderthal men were more numerous, it was only a matter of time and only the usual amount of violence, rather than a big massacre.
In this version, we did NOT kill off the Neanderthals
There just weren’t very many Neanderthals to begin with so they were subject to a number of factors that diminished their numbers even further, say researchers.
Those Neanderthals were always too dumb to know how dumb we needed them to be
By the way, seriously, was your boss a Neanderthal too?
Claim: Many types of human were kayoed in the Sixth Great Extinction
The trouble with these kinds of stories is, they write themselves. We don;t need data. If we like our history without much data, we should read epics instead of this stuff.
An article started out sounding like the usual Darwinsludge
But then the author turns and says something thoughtful.
Human evolution? Some Silicon Valley greats hope to merge with machines
In neuroscientist Michael Graziano’s envisioned world, In his envisioned world, individuality is no longer a term that has any meaning.
Physics color commentator Rob Sheldon disputes UD News’s view of Neanderthals
Sheldon: “[i]t is not likely that Neanderthals possessed language, a sense of self, or an artistic bent.”
Researchers challenge claim that Iberian artists were Neanderthals
“Now, a group of 44 researchers has written a strongly worded critique of the dating of these paintings … ” Stay tuned.
David Berlinski’s new book takes a very different view of human nature from Steven Pinker’s
Pinker thinks that things are getting better all the time but Berlinski says, nah!, no real change.
Free first and last chapters of Joshua Swamidass’s new book on Adam and Eve
IVP will be officially releasing it December 10.
Human evolution researchers stick Botswana origin claims with “colonialism” label
The recent claim, you will recall from our earlier story, is that modern humans came to exist in northern Botswana roughly 200,000 years ago. But, we are told, the claim relies on “unproven and outdated techniques while also excluding competing lines of evidence.” Worse—and this is the kiss of death—it exhibits “colonialism”
More Neanderthal eagle jewelry found in the Iberian Peninsula
Most likely the underlying issue for the dissenters is that the anthropologists are Darwinians and in any Darwinian scheme, someone must be the subhuman. Otherwise, there is no beginning to human history. The Neanderthals are convenient for the purpose. If we found a Stone Age laptop among the Neanderthal artifacts, the same people might still be claiming it didn’t prove anything.
The “rise of the greedy-brained ape”?
It’s helpful to be reminded that the science cognoscenti see the rest of us that way. They may see themselves that way, though vanity more likely gets in the way at the last, critical moment. No wonder so many people these days are “anti-science.”
Ola Hössjer and Ann Gauger sketch genetic scenarios for Adam and Eve
Wow. The Darwin trolls’ll miss Halloween to go after this one.