Big Picture Science - Surfeit of the Vitalest
ENCORE: In the century and a half since Charles Darwin
wrote his seminal On the Origin of the Species, our understanding of
evolution has changed quite a bit. For one, we have not only identified the
inheritance molecule DNA, but have determined its sequence in many animals and
plants.
Evolution has evolved, and we take a look at some
of the recent developments.
A biologist describes the escalating horn-to-horn
and tusk-to-tusk arms race between animals, and a paleoanthropologist explains
why the lineage from chimp to human is no longer thought to be a straight line
but, instead, a bush. Also, New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer on
the diversity of bacteria living on you, and which evolutionary concepts he
finds the trickiest to explain to the public.
Guests:
This encore podcast was first released on
November 16, 2014
Download podcast at:
http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/Surfeit_of_the_Vitalest
You
can listen to this and other episodes at
http://bigpicturescience.org/, and
be sure to check out
Blog Picture Science,
the companion blog to the radio show.