Anthropology, Evolution and Science
Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called Transitions:The Evolution of Life His previous blog can be found here.
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"Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul..."
Mark Twain
"Ideology is a poor substitute for rational thought..."
Afarensis
"It isn't faith that makes good science...it's curiosity"
Prof. Jacob Barnhardt, The Day the Earth Stood Still
"This man wishes to be accorded the same privilege as a sponge. He wishes to think!"
Clarence Darrow, Inherit the Wind
"...I become fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason..."
Klaatu, The Day the Earth Stood Still
"I want you to grab life by its little bunny ears and get in its face..."
The Simpsons
"This is between me and the vegetable..."
Seymour Krelborn, The Little Shop of Horrors
"There are bad laws and cruel laws and the people who enforce them are both bad and cruel..."
Thea, Isle of the Dead
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Jean- Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
"But the limit of tolerance for these human foibles is obtained when the proponent of a questionable scientific doctrine endeavors to maintain it against all possible odds by misrepresentation, misinformation and suppression of contradictory data, and by insinuating unfairness in opponents of his views."
Franz Weidenreich, Morphology of Solo Man
"Man stands alone in the universe, a unique product of a long, unconcious, impersonal material process with unique understanding and potentialities. These he owes to no one but himself, and it is to himself that he is responsible. He is not the creature of uncontrollable and undeterminable forces, but his own master. He can and must decide and manage his own destiny."
George Gaylord Simpson, Life of the Past
Yeah he's the Dick to the Dawk to the phd,
he's smarter than you he's got a science degree!
Yeah he's the Dick to the Dawk to the phd,
he's smarter than you he's got a science degree!
Unknown
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
Frederich Nietzsche
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
The Declaration of Independence
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August 6, 2008
Category: Administrative
Can someone send me a copy of this paper on anthropoids? Leave a comment so others will know it has been sent. Thank You.
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 8:33 PM • 2 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
Category: Anthropology • Politics
Profs balk at grants to fight terrorists:
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is calling on "eggheads" to help the military unravel questions about the recruitment of terrorists, the resurgence of the Taliban and messages delivered in militant Muslim religious schools.Many eggheads are wary. The Pentagon's $50 million Minerva Research Initiative, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom and warriors, will fund social science research deemed crucial to national security. Initial proposals were due July 25, and the first grants are expected to be awarded by year's end.
But the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, which includes professors from American and George Mason universities, said dependence on Pentagon funding could make universities an "instrument rather than a critic of war-making.
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 10:00 AM • 10 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
August 5, 2008
Category: Blogs of Note • Octopi • Whales
Like every blogger I accumulate more links to interesting blogs and websites than you can shake a stick at. I am also, like many bloggers, behind in updating my blogroll. Just today I received an email telling me about a fascinating blog called the Right Whale Bay of Fundy Blog. This is a blog by the New England Aquarium and contains a lot of interesting stuff. The blog will document the North Atlantic Right Whale Research Program as they photo ID whales in the Bay of Fundy. There are also web cams for some of the tanks at the aquarium and, as an added bonus, some home movies of the the marine life (for example, here is one of a giant pacific octopus). They also have some photo albums on Picasa. Check it out!
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 8:49 PM • 0 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
August 4, 2008
Category: Paleoanthropology • Primatology
PhysOrg mentions a new fossil primate discovered in India. The species has been christened Anthrasimias gujaratensis and consists of two upper molars and one lower molar. The teeth date to 54.5 MYA and are considered anthropoids. The finds are being published in PNAS, supposedly in the August 4-8 issue. Stay tuned for more when the paper becomes available...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 10:45 PM • 1 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
Category: Blogs of Note
They need your help though. Your part is to go to Big Think: Thinks Science Now and vote for your favorite video. Everytime the "Vote for this video profile" button gets clicked on Pfizer will donate a dollar to Donors Choose. They will donate up to $10,000 dollars, at this point however, they are only at $1,200. They need about 8,800 clicks by the end of August...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 8:11 PM • 3 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
August 3, 2008
Category: Conservation Biology
The discovery of Rungwecebus kipunji was announced in 2005 and placed in its own genus in 2006 (see here for some of the details). Now it is being placed on the endangered species list. Science Daily has the details:
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 11:08 AM • 7 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
August 1, 2008
Category: Blogs of Note
Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt has a blog. Some of you may be interested in discussing the proposed rules for contraception with him. My advice be be to be polite, diplomatic, and reasonable if you chose to go discuss the issue. Leavitt believes that blogging can help set public policy:
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 7:26 PM • 2 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 31, 2008
Category: Politics
I am a little shocked that none of my Sciblings has mentioned this. The Department of Health and Human Services is currently considering rule changes that would, in effect, define contraception as abortion. You can find a text of this proposal here. RH Reality Check has a thorough discussion of the issue. More recently, 28 Democratic senators lead by Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y), have written to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt condemning the action. A complete text of the letter is below the fold. Conspicuously absent was any member of the Republican Party - yet another reason why one should never vote Republican.
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 9:12 PM • 25 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 28, 2008
Category: Blogs of Note
Zooillogix has a post up about some cute baby lemurs. At least this time...they didn't...trick...me...into...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 8:22 PM • 6 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 27, 2008
Category: Paleoanthropology
Below the fold...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 3:41 PM • 2 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
Category: Paleoanthropology
Below the fold...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 1:29 PM • 5 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 26, 2008
Category: Administrative
Both Joshua and I share a birthday today. Rather than think about how many folks died on my birthday like Joshua is doing, I will share what I am getting for my birthday with you. Through the kindness of family and friends I was able to buy some books from Amazon. A list is below the fold.
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 4:04 PM • 10 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
Category: Paleoanthropology
Physorg.Com has an interesting report on new research by Nate Dominy on underground storage units:
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 1:40 PM • 6 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 24, 2008
Category: Primatology
Really, it's a conspiracy! Despite my intention of taking a blogging vacation I find myself blogging, once again, about lemurs. This particular story is kind of neat and will be familiar to anyone who has read West-Eberhard's Developmental Plasticity and Evolution (incidentally, this is one of my favorite books on the subject of evolution and I strongly recommend it). National Geographic has the story:
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 8:11 PM • 6 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 22, 2008
Category: Primatology
I try to take a rest from blogging and they go and discover a population of swamp dwelling bamboo-eating lemurs National Geographic has the story:
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 9:40 PM • 9 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
July 20, 2008
Category: Administrative
Brain fatigue and writer's block have convinced me to take a bit of a break. I'll probably do a couple of "hey go read this" kind of posts so you all don't forget about me, but at the moment I find myself in the odd position - for a blogger - of not having anything to say...
Posted by afarensis, FCD at 11:03 PM • 4 Australopithecines &bull View blog reactions
YES! Send me a free issue of Seed.
If I like what I see, I'll receive 5 more issues (6 in all) for just $14.95. That's 50% off the cover price! If I'm not completely satisfied, I'll simply write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing. The free issue is mine to keep.
(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
