Why does it seem like men are more desirable when attached (married or taken), particularly when you are with that person? (expl. inside) [more inside]
posted by teg4rvn on Nov 9, 2009 - 25 answers

When current/recent SCIENCE challenges Darwin, what does it say? I'm a layman interested to hear what not-Creationist, not-ID, not-paranormal challengers (or boundary-pushers) to natural selection might be exploring these days, explained for general readers… [more inside]
posted by dpcoffin on Nov 6, 2009 - 18 answers

Why do baby teeth come in in the order they do? [more inside]
posted by Bugbread on Oct 5, 2009 - 13 answers

What was grandpa doing in the ice-age? [more inside]
posted by BadMiker on Aug 31, 2009 - 7 answers

How did we go from basic rough hand tools to the point of having really precise tools? Specifically, how do you make a better tool from the ones you have on hand? [more inside]
posted by toomanyplugs on Aug 19, 2009 - 17 answers

Can anyone recommend a good book about the evolution of sexual reproduction? [more inside]
posted by shakespeherian on Jul 11, 2009 - 9 answers

I'd like to learn about biology. Can you recommend some books to get me started? [more inside]
posted by SamuelBowman on Jun 30, 2009 - 21 answers

Is there a word or term that expresses the following concept more accurately than "rename"? [more inside]
posted by Tube on Jun 17, 2009 - 25 answers

Ears have evolved over many many years to be perfect for us to hear with. Why have I never seen an ear shaped microphone?
posted by devnull on Jun 5, 2009 - 22 answers

Let's say, 15 million years ago, some creature on Earth got a boost and started a civilization in the span of around 100,000 years, getting to a renaissance-level society - architecture, art, philosophy, basic science, but no titanium, steel girders, nuclear waste, etc. Would they have left any evidence that we could find, or would time destroy the proof before we got here?
posted by AzraelBrown on May 28, 2009 - 36 answers

I'm interested in knowing more about the caveman diet, and the logic behind it. Does the reasoning behind this diet dictate that the modern Korean should eat differently from the modern Englishman? But maybe more importantly, is the reasoning indeed sound? Or is it pseudo-science? Is this really what evolutionary biology would suggest? If so, how much of it should really dictate what a modern human, Korean or English or otherwise, should or shouldn't eat?
posted by Busoni on Apr 28, 2009 - 17 answers

All the big organisms on the planet need a healthy supply or oxygen, yet there are a myriad organisms at the other end of the scale that either ignore oxygen or are actively averse to it. How come none of our large scale creatures have come from this anaerobic stock? [more inside]
posted by twine42 on Mar 27, 2009 - 16 answers

Evolutionary advantages of far-sightedness and partial color blindness? [more inside]
posted by paradoxflow on Feb 9, 2009 - 16 answers

I've recently started learning more about Islam, and it intrigues me. But I had a conversation today with my muslim boyfriend in which he was adamant that he can't be muslim and believe in evolution. I'm okay with agreeing to disagree, but it's got me thinking. I've known many muslims who are scientists, and who would take no issue with evolutionary biology - how do they reconcile the two? [more inside]
posted by scrute on Jan 13, 2009 - 17 answers

Science reading for the informed layperson. [more inside]
posted by nihlton on Dec 30, 2008 - 23 answers

I'm looking for the origins and exact phrasing of the quote "every fossil is a transitional fossil." [more inside]
posted by Maastrictian on Dec 24, 2008 - 4 answers

Is there an evolutionary family tree for religions? [more inside]
posted by coffeefilter on Dec 6, 2008 - 9 answers

Help me remember the illustrator's name who drew that original cartoon about evolution, which depicted the gradual transformation of a man starting as a monkey. [more inside]
posted by procrastinator on Dec 5, 2008 - 11 answers

Why isn't the process of waking up quick and pleasant for most? [more inside]
posted by wackybrit on Nov 24, 2008 - 33 answers

Tell me about the Thai image that shows an evolutionary progression from a rabbit to a general. [more inside]
posted by chez shoes on Nov 24, 2008 - 4 answers

Why are there no species that implement both halves of the photosynthesis/respiration cycle? [more inside]
posted by DU on Oct 2, 2008 - 45 answers

Is there an alternative to evolution or intelligent design? [more inside]
posted by InsanePenguin on Sep 28, 2008 - 63 answers

Generally speaking, how long does it take for a root language to evolve into mutually incomprehensible offshoot languages? Or, conversely, how long would languages with a common root be understandable to one another's native speakers? [more inside]
posted by CKmtl on Aug 27, 2008 - 9 answers

Fingernails and toenails, why? They are a constant annoyance to keep clipped, and for women to do their polish and stuff. [more inside]
posted by hungrysquirrels on Aug 3, 2008 - 23 answers

Is it possible something awful lives at the bottom of Lake Tahoe? [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Jul 21, 2008 - 19 answers

Literary Darwinism: A relatively new field of evolutionary psychology / literary theory. What has recently been written in argument against it? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jun 3, 2008 - 7 answers

Help me find maps of the world's larger cities! [more inside]
posted by Lockeownzj00 on May 17, 2008 - 7 answers

What is the closest thing that other animals have to cooking? [more inside]
posted by white light on Mar 22, 2008 - 27 answers

Help me find a book about evolution by Kirchner. [more inside]
posted by vilcxjo_BLANKA on Mar 19, 2008 - 4 answers

ScienceFilter: Creationists, crystals, and thermodynamics. [more inside]
posted by XMLicious on Feb 6, 2008 - 19 answers

I am interested in the mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts, how cultural remnants transmit information through time and how meaning is translated once an artefact is re-appropriated or examined from a new perspective. I have several avenues of study at the moment (a list in extended explanation), but would like some more ideas. Areas of critical theory, linguistics, evolutionary psychology and poetics are all relevant. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jan 27, 2008 - 12 answers

At a cocktail party last weekend, an Anthropologist was telling me about an experiment/study where people were shown videos of various animals preying on one another, and then measured their reactions. The findings, he contends, were that humans were largely more sympathetic to the deaths of animals more similar to themselves (i.e. sharing a more recent common ancestor). What is this study, what is this area of research called, and where can I read more about it? [more inside]
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj on Jan 18, 2008 - 8 answers

Looking for unique schools or programs for the study of History. In the US or abroad. [more inside]
posted by Nillocsoc on Jan 3, 2008 - 13 answers

Is there an existing philosophical or cosmological model that regards the universe as a living thing with the observed patterns and "laws" of the universe being a reflection of an inherent model analogous to the genetic models of living things as we know them? My own uneducated philosophical meanderings have led me to this idea and I am wondering about developed theories or philosophies that follow similar lines. [more inside]
posted by beegull on Dec 7, 2007 - 12 answers

I am searching for examples of The Infinite, or the immeasurably large, in our mythologies and archetypes. I am also interested in the categories of Truth which came out of the emergence of Western, ontological thought. Does the trust in a rationally conceivable reality deny us the infinity of the mythological realm? By rooting ourselves in the present, and denying atemporal mythologies, do we also deny the infinite origins from where we came? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Nov 28, 2007 - 22 answers

Bernard Williams had a pretty low opinion of evolutionary biology. Are there any essays where he directly or indirectly criticizes the field? What about 'Shame and Necessity'? [more inside]
posted by BigSky on Nov 27, 2007 - 12 answers

What is a good book about modern evolutionary theories? [more inside]
posted by solistrato on Nov 14, 2007 - 15 answers

I need teaching resources about race: the biology of human "races"; why "race" is not biological but social; how racial categories have shifted over time and place; and related questions on teaching about race? This is as a supplement to reading The Mismeasure of Man in a university "Critical Thinking" class. I need more science and verifiable cross-cultural examples to back up my "there are no biological races" claim. [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten on Nov 5, 2007 - 38 answers

OK, Sunday morning stream of consciousness ended up with me wondering about skin or more specifically, loose skin. [more inside]
posted by merocet on Oct 28, 2007 - 6 answers

New York Creative Writing/Critical Theory PHD: I am currently undertaking an MA in Creative Writing and Critical Theory in London, and plan to go on to PHD after I finish. I would ideally like to go to an East coast USA/New York university to do this (for several reasons). I'd like some help with finding a good list of possible institutions... [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Oct 16, 2007 - 26 answers

My husband has become increasing interested in the study of evolution. Help us choose what college level courses he should take! [more inside]
posted by msali on Sep 28, 2007 - 8 answers

How can it be that there exists not a single example of a working wheel in nature, which after all gave us (among other things) the eyeball?
posted by It ain't over yet on Sep 23, 2007 - 41 answers

What are the biological and/or evolutionary purposes behind a runny nose brought on by spicy foods? [more inside]
posted by afx114 on Jul 23, 2007 - 9 answers

What are the factors that control/limit human strength? [more inside]
posted by lastobelus on Jul 2, 2007 - 12 answers

What is the evolutionary relevance of PMS?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur on Jul 2, 2007 - 49 answers

I saw someone on the street recently wearing a black baseball cap that had "evolutionist" written on it. I've searched online since then to see where I could buy one, but haven't had any luck. Does anyone know where I can get one?
posted by jsmolenski on May 19, 2007 - 11 answers

What are the best sources for a layman to learn more about evolutionary psychology? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on May 18, 2007 - 33 answers

If we can't use all of our brain's potential, why does that potential exist? [more inside]
posted by theholotrope on Mar 10, 2007 - 22 answers

Why are there no freshwater squid?
posted by jonesor on Mar 1, 2007 - 9 answers

"A human is halfway in size between an atom and the known universe"... This is a paraphrased quote I have come across several times. I like it. Who said it first? How true is it in the most literal sense? And, finally, what errors arrive in postulating a universe, or an atom, which can be measured AT ALL from our singular, relativistic, perspective? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 18, 2007 - 14 answers