88 | Neil Shubin on Evolution, Genes, and Dramatic Transitions

88 | Neil Shubin on Evolution, Genes, and Dramatic Transitions

"What good is half a wing?" That's the rhetorical question often asked by people who have trouble accepting Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Of course it's a very answerable question, but figuring out what exactly the answer is leads us to some fascinating biology. Neil Shubin should know: he is the co-discoverer of Tiktaalik Roseae, an ancient species of fish that was in the process of learning to walk and breathe on land. We talk about how these major transitions happen — typically when evolution finds a way to re-purpose existing organs into new roles — and how we can learn about them by studying living creatures and the information contained in their genomes.

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Neil Shubin received his Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. He is currently the the Robert Bensley Distinguished Service Professor and Associate Dean of Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical society. His first book, Your Inner Fish, was chosen by the National Academy of Sciences as the best science book of 2009, and was subsequently made into a TV special. His new book is Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA.


Episoder(418)

48 | Marq de Villiers on Hell and Damnation

48 | Marq de Villiers on Hell and Damnation

If you're bad, we are taught, you go to Hell. Who in the world came up with that idea? Some will answer God, but for the purpose of today's podcast discussion we'll put that possibility aside and look...

27 Mai 20191h 11min

47 | Adam Rutherford on Humans, Animals, and Life in General

47 | Adam Rutherford on Humans, Animals, and Life in General

Most people in the modern world — and the vast majority of Mindscape listeners, I would imagine — agree that humans are part of the animal kingdom, and that all living animals evolved from a common an...

20 Mai 20191h 38min

46 | Kate Darling on Our Connections with Robots

46 | Kate Darling on Our Connections with Robots

Most of us have no trouble telling the difference between a robot and a living, feeling organism. Nevertheless, our brains often treat robots as if they were alive. We give them names, imagine that th...

13 Mai 20191h 6min

45 | Leonard Susskind on Quantum Information, Quantum Gravity, and Holography

45 | Leonard Susskind on Quantum Information, Quantum Gravity, and Holography

For decades now physicists have been struggling to reconcile two great ideas from a century ago: general relativity and quantum mechanics. We don't yet know the final answer, but the journey has taken...

6 Mai 20191h 13min

44 | Antonio Damasio on Feelings, Thoughts, and the Evolution of Humanity

44 | Antonio Damasio on Feelings, Thoughts, and the Evolution of Humanity

When we talk about the mind, we are constantly talking about consciousness and cognition. Antonio Damasio wants us to talk about our feelings. But it's not in an effort to be more touchy-feely; Damasi...

29 Apr 20191h 12min

43 | Matthew Luczy on the Pleasures of Wine

43 | Matthew Luczy on the Pleasures of Wine

Some people never drink wine; for others, it's an indispensable part of an enjoyable meal. Whatever your personal feelings might be, wine seems to exhibit a degree of complexity and nuance that can be...

22 Apr 20191h 46min

42 | Natalya Bailey on Navigating Earth Orbit and Beyond

42 | Natalya Bailey on Navigating Earth Orbit and Beyond

The space age officially began in 1957 with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite. But recent years have seen the beginning of a boom in the number of objects orbiting Earth, as satellite tracking and...

15 Apr 201959min

41 | Steven Strogatz on Synchronization, Networks, and the Emergence of Complex Behavior

41 | Steven Strogatz on Synchronization, Networks, and the Emergence of Complex Behavior

One of the most important insights in the history of science is the fact that complex behavior can arise from the undirected movements of small, simple systems. Despite the fact that we know this, we'...

8 Apr 20191h 14min

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