Having a Laugh
It's probably safe to say that everyone enjoys a good laugh. But where did it come from? What is it about laughter that gave us an advantage over our ancient competitors?
29 Jun 201514min
Punctuated Equilibrium
In 1972 Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldridge published a paper that immediately went viral among biologists. Gould and Eldridge pointed out, using the fossil record as evidence, that evolution by natu...
22 Jun 201511min
The Piltdown Man
In the late 19th century, Europe was having a grand old time when it came to fossils of ancient hominids. The problem was - nothing was being discovered in England. Germany had the Neanderthal and Fra...
15 Jun 201518min
Darwin's Bulldog
On June 30, 1860 a great debate took place at the Oxford University Museum. This debate helped to launch Thomas Huxley's career as 'Darwin's Bulldog".
8 Jun 201513min
Neanderthalis Extinctus
In the last episode we came face to face with the Neanderthal. What happened to the Neanderthal? Did they die on the battlefield or did they live out their lives in a quiet struggle for survival while...
1 Jun 201515min
The Neanderthal
In the Neander valley, limestone miners found something which shocked them. They had found bones which they first thought belonged to a bear. Once Professor Schaafhausen had seen the bones he recogniz...
25 Mai 201513min
Genetic Drift
Frog populations remained pretty much the same in Podville until the Great Fire of 2015. After the fire the population of blue frogs increased. Welcome to genetic drift, the subject of this week's epi...
18 Mai 201512min
Non-Overlapping Magisteria
In 1997 Professor Stephen Jay Gould published an essay in Natural History which also appeared in his book Rocks of Ages. This essay was titled 'Non-Overlapping Magisteria'. It's commonly referred to a...
11 Mai 201517min
