Anthropology 105: lecture 5: Hemoglobin
Synopsis: Hemoglobin is the oxygen transport system in the blood, with a unique evolutionary history. In this lecture, I do a bit of a departure by discussing a body part that is microscopic: the...
View ArticleGenetics and privacy
"Harvard prof Henry Louis Gates Jr. hunting for great-great grandfather" CUMBERLAND, Md. -- Harvard University Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. is asking all residents of Allegany County,...
View ArticleMy appointment as HHMI Fellow
The University of Wisconsin has a news article out on my new position as HHMI Faculty Fellow: "Forest and Hawks named 2012 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Fellows". Hawks is an innovative...
View ArticleSpurring the growth of cities
Science this week has a news feature by Andrew Lawler on excavations in southern Mesopotamia looking into what may be the earliest urban developments: "Uncovering Civilization's Roots" (paywall). The...
View ArticleWhen genes break: validating loss-of-function variants
Synopsis: A "punishing" resequencing project validates mutations in the 1000 Genomes Project individuals that deactivate protein-coding genes.Daniel MacArthur and colleagues have an important paper in...
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Hawks lecture in Denver March 1
I'll be traveling to Denver next week to give a public lecture at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The lecture will be at 7:00 on Thursday, March 1. Details are below. I'm really excited about...
View ArticleAnthropology 105: lecture 6: Blood
Synopsis: Blood disorders illustrate the concepts of inheritance in pedigrees and founder effects in colonial populations Here's a lecture that presents two fascinating tales of disease and blood in...
View ArticleOne way to make better science writing
Alison Flood in the Guardian notes the scientific interests of celebrated novelist Cormac McCarthy: "Cormac McCarthy's parallel career revealed – as a scientific copy editor!" The article mainly...
View ArticleDownload the universe
Carl Zimmer and a broad group of science writers and scientists have started a new collaborative review site, focused specifically on science e-books and apps: "Download the Universe". Ebooks are once...
View ArticleA story of methemoglobinemia
A story by Susan Donaldson James of a unique genetic disorder and the social stigma of inbreeding in Appalachia: "Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise". By the time reports appeared in the...
View ArticleAnnouncing my Job Listings page
Synopsis: Academic job ads for biological anthropologists are too decentralized and hard to find. I'm trying to change that.I often receive announcements about jobs from people looking to recruit...
View ArticleLost pregnancies in geladas after male takeovers
Ed Yong reports on new research from Eila Roberts, with Jacinta Beehner's research group at the University of Michigan, who was able to show that the rate of pregnancy loss among geladas (close baboon...
View ArticleGenotyping the intro class
Synopsis: Holly Dunsworth shares some perspective on 23andMe testing for her studentsHolly Dunsworth, at the University of Rhode Island, is undertaking a unique project with her undergraduate course...
View ArticleRick Potts interview
Discover magazine has interviewed Smithsonian paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, featured in a special "evolution" issue "How We Won the Hominid Wars, and All the Others Died Out". Potts is well-known for...
View ArticleText-mining science
There are many reasons why we should have an arXiv for human evolution, and this isn't the most important one...but I really wish I could do this with the literature on modern human origins right now:...
View ArticleAnthropology 105, lecture 7: Eyes
Synopsis: Illustrating phylogeny and evolutionary convergence using trichromacy and eye development Out of all the lectures in the course, this was one of my favorites to put together. I return to the...
View ArticleComputing past
The Guardian has an interview with George Dyson about his new book, Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe. The book reviews the early history of computing, focusing on John von...
View Article"American Genesis"
I saw a reference to this new book by Jeffrey Moran: American Genesis: The Evolution Controversies from Scopes to Creation Science. From the description: In American Genesis, Jeffrey P. Moran explores...
View ArticleRandom Scholar: "Plenty of genuine tails"
I was doing some research involving Aleš Hrdlička, and ran across this curious item published in Science in 1926 ("Human tails: a statement and correction"), written by W. W. Keen: The correction I...
View ArticleRe-prioritizing faster communication
Two experts on social policy from the London School of Economics comment on the importance of blogging and public outreach for academics, in an interview reporting the startup of a new public policy...
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