Neuroscientist Christof Koch was troubled as a child by the Catholic tradition that dogs like his beloved Purzel did not go to heaven. Ironically, human exceptionalism, which Koch decries, holds out the possibility that some beloved animals may indeed share immortality with humans.
Tag: animals
Researchers: Earliest evidence of animals at 635 mya turns out to be common algae
This find, if it checks out, leaves more time for the evolution of algae but less for the evolution of animals. Which returns the Cambrian explosion to its “remarkable” status.
Why animals are not round, Part II
More data from this rapidly emerging and revolutionary new field, featuring ground-thudding insights. With coffee. 😉
You didn’t learn in Biology 101 why animals are NOT nearly perfect spheres?
Don’t miss this opportunity to enlighten yourself, courtesy Rollin’ France.
New findings show that ancestral single-celled organisms were “amazingly complex”
Overturning traditional theories. But how did they just happen to get to be amazingly complex if there is no design in nature?
Evolutionary biology: Animals as restless clocks, unquiet machines
Historian of science Jessia Riskin wonders if a mechanistic view of life is due for a revival: Today, the tension between active and passive mechanism is still evident, for example, in evolutionary biology. While evolutionary theorists reject creationism, of course, concepts such as adaptation and fitness are in fact grounded in a passive-mechanist view of Read More…
Can reptiles experience love?
A turtle fancier wonders: About a week ago, as I went to feed my 10-year-old pet turtle Grover a bunch of dried turtle pellets, I looked deep into his eyes and wondered: “Does he even know who I am?” “Does he trust me?” Or even, dare I ask, “Does he love me?” Obviously he gave Read More…