For perfect teeth, start hunting and gathering
“Why do people in industrialized countries need braces and dental work to treat overcrowded, poorly aligned teeth? They can blame their ancestors, who after hunting and gathering for millennia decided to give farming a go, according to new research.” Read more…
(source: History.com)
Evolution explains why we want expensive crap, literally
“Of all the hot news this week, by far the most compelling, the most important was the report that an enterprising gentleman is going to start selling panda tea. Now, to be honest, it’s not made from actual panda. Nope, the $36,000-per-pound tea that wildlife expert An Yashi plans to bring to market is actually made from the panda’s fecal matter. Apparently, dried, partially-digested bamboo turds are a perfect fit for the well-off palate.” Read more…
(source: Mother Board”
Evolution of narcissism: Why we're overconfident, and why it works
“[N]ew computer simulations show that a false sense of optimism, whether when deciding to go to war or investing in a new stock, can often improve your chances of winning. ‘There hasn’t been a good explanation for why we are overconfident, and this new model offers a kind of evolutionary logic for that,’ [evolutionary biologist] Johnson said. ‘It’s unlikely to be an accident—we’re perhaps overconfident for a good reason.’” Read more…
(source: National Geographic)
Female orgasm remains an evolutionary mystery
“The evolutionary basis of human female orgasm has been subject to furious scientific debate, which has recently intensified,” wrote University of Queensland geneticist Brendan Zietsch and Pekka Santtila of Finland’s Abo Akedemi University in a Sept. 3 Animal Behavior article. “These results challenge the byproduct theory of female orgasm.” Read more…
(source: Wired)
(source: imgur)
Rick Perry: Idiot of the day!
Gov. Perry: We teach creationism in Texas public schools. The rest of Texas: No, we don’t.
(source: The Dallas Observer)
Fast-evolving brains helped humans out of the Stone Age
“People were once thought to have ancient psyches ill-suited to modern existence, but they have adapted much more quickly than early theories had predicted.” Read more…
(source: Scientific American)
