Brain Size Doesn’t Determine Intelligence

Ars Technica, birds, brain size, brains, chimpanzees, genetic engineering, Homo sapiens, human brain, humans, information processing, Intelligent Design, jetliner, John Timmer, lemurs, London School of Economics, Michael Denton, Michel Hofman, monkeys, Neuroscience & Mind, octopus, oxygen, Peter Cochrane, primates, psychology, superintelligence, synaptic connections, The Miracle of Man
Brains are not simple, so many “just common sense” theories have fallen by the wayside. Source
Read More

The Remarkable Things We’re Learning About Bird Intelligence

African grey parrot, Alex (parrot), apes, birds, chimpanzees, cockatoo, cutlery, Goffin’s cockatoo, golf, intelligence, Intelligent Design, invertebrates, knife, mammals, Neuroscience & Mind, New Caledonian crows, New Zealand, octopus, Smithsonian Magazine, spoon, token, University of Birmingham, utensils, vertebrates, walnut
These findings are only among birds that have actually been studied; most birds have not been studied for intelligence. Source
Read More

Lessons Not Learned from the Evangelical Debate over Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve, Ann Gauger, Annual Review of Genetics, apes, beta-globin, BioEssays, BioLogos, chimpanzees, Christianity, common ancestry, CRISPR, Dennis Venema, Evangelicals, Evolution, evolutionary theory, Faith & Science, functionality, Genealogical Adam and Eve, gorillas, hominids, Human Origins, In Quest of the Historical Adam, Intelligent Design, Jesus Christ, Joshua Swamidass, Junk DNA, Kenneth Miller, Kitzmiller v. Dover, macaques, methodological naturalism, microRNA response elements, Nature (journal), Nature Reviews Genetics, Ola Hössjer, Paul Nelson, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pseudogenes, RNA (journal), Science Signaling, Springer, Theist Evolution, theology, william lane craig
To his credit, William Lane Craig is among those evangelicals who have been willing to question arguments against Adam and Eve. Source
Read More

Traditional or Not? Assessing William Lane Craig’s Model on Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve, Aeon, Annual Review of Anthropology, Bernard Wood, brain size, Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, chimpanzees, Denisovans, DNA, Donald Johanson, Evolution, Evolutionary Anthropology (journal), Faith & Science, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, In Quest of the Historical Adam, Joshua Swamidass, Lucy, Mark Collard, Middle Pleistocene, most recent common ancestor, Neanderthals, nonhuman hominins, paleontology, pseudogenes, Review of Craig's In Quest of the Historical Adam (series), Science (journal), total energy expenditure, william lane craig
I’m having trouble making sense of exactly what his model holds. And it seems I’m not alone. Source
Read More

Forbidden Question: Common Descent or Common Design?

Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Cadillac, cars, Casey Luskin, chimpanzees, chromosome 2, common ancestor, common features, Elon Musk, Evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary tree, Francis Collins, fusion event, Genome Research, Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design, historical sciences, Intelligent Design, Junk DNA, Matti Leisola, Science and Human Origins, Stephen Meyer, Tesla, University of Cambridge
Think of cars. A Tesla and a Cadillac share many features — but of course, none of that means that Teslas blindly evolved from Cadillacs, or vice versa. Source
Read More

Study: Hands of “Ardi” Indicate a Chimp-like Tree-Dweller and Knuckle-Walker

Ardi, Ardipithecus ramidus, bipedality, bonobos, chimpanzees, Evolution, Germany, hominins, human ancestor, Human Origins, Madelaine Böhme, primates, quadrupedality, Rosetta Stone, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Science Advances, The Scientist, Tim White, University of Tübingen
Initially, Ardi was widely called the “oldest human ancestor,” due to its supposed skeletal traits that indicated an early bipedal (upright walking) species. Source
Read More