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NESCent and Understanding Evolution collaborate to bring you monthly Evolution in the News stories and podcasts. The stories, along with links to background literature and classroom resources are available on the Understanding Evolution site and the podcasts are available here.
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March, 2008
This podcast provides information about the geographic location of the grey faced sengi habitat, and the phylogenetic classification of sengis with the Afrotheria - a group that includes elephants, dugongs, tenrecs and aardvarks. Dr.s Kathleen Smith and Samantha Price of NESCent provide additional insight into the historical biogeography and phylogenetic classification of these organisms in an interview, as well as the concept of "living fossils" and how ideas develop and change in science. (14 minutes)
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Additional Resources
Video and phylogenetic information from the Peabody Museum's "Travels in the Great Tree of Life."
Superbug, super-fast evolution
April, 2008
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is an increasingly common medical problem. MRSA is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that has evolved multiple drug resistance. Infections caused by normal S. aureus are fairly easy to treat with antibiotics, but an infection caused by MRSA is very difficult to treat and can be life threatening. In this podcast Dr. Christina Burch from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, talks about the evolution of drug resistance in commensal bacteria like S. aureus. (10 minutes)
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Evolution's dating and mating game
May, 2008
As in most animals, octopus love life is full of interesting behavoirs. In this story, research by Christine Huffard, Roy Caldwell, and Farnis Boneka, shed light on two particularly interesting behavoirs: mate guarding and sneaking. Both are evolutionary adaptations to increase the number of a male's offspring. (10.5 minutes)
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
November, 2008
Understanding when and how pathogens such as HIV become human pathogens can help us control the diseases with which we live and prevent future pathogen transfers. Dr. Katia Koelle talks about what we can learn from reconstructing viral histories, including some unexpected applications.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Tough conservation choices? Ask evolution!
December, 2008
Conservation of an entire ecosystem is not always possible, but how can we decide which members of the ecocsystem are most important in maintaining a healthy ecosystem? Nick Haddad talks about a paper that provides an effective guideline to conservation of plants based on their evolutionary relationships.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Happy 200th, Darwin!
February, 2009
Darwin's remarkable theory of evolution was a product not only of Darwin's scientific reasoning, but also of his culture. Dr. Elliott Sober, a philosopher of science, talks about how culture shaped Darwin's ideas.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Sex, Speciation and Fishy Physics
March, 2009
Biology draws on other scientific fields to understand the physical, chemical and environmental forces that constrain and drive evolution. This month, we look at a story about how optical physics influences speciation in fish. Sönke Johnsen, Associate Professor of Biology at Duke, talks about the effects of light and color on fish speciation.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Better biofuels through evolution
April, 2009
Evolutionary biology has many applications in society and this month we learn how scientists use evolution in the search for more sustainable biofuels. Dr. Syd Withers of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center talks about how directed evolution is used in his work.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
May, 2009
Climate change is impacting species across the planet, and the pace of climate change is major issue. One question people are asking is whether or not species can adapt to the changes quickly enough to survive. Dr. George Gilchrist, Professor of Biology at the College of William and Mary, talks about species ability to adapt or acclimate to changing conditions.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
A species' unwelcome inheritance: extinction risk
September, 2009
With the species of the world facing the sixth mass extinction, conservation efforts are underway to protect and preserve as many species as possible. But on which species' should conservation efforts focus? Dr. David Jablonski, Professor at the University of Chicago, explains how his research indicates that extinction risk is not distributed evenly across species, but instead clumped in evolutionarily related groups, which has profound implications for conservation efforts.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Where did all of Madagascar's species come from?
October, 2009
Madagascar is home to an incredible collection of unique and fascinating species. To understand this biodiversity, scientists use an intedisciplinary approach combining geology and biology to unravel the puzzle. Dr. Anne Yoder, Professor of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University, is the Director of the Duke Lemur Center. She talked with us about the evolutionary history of Madagascar.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
Oxygen as an evolutionary constraint
November, 2009
Earth's chemistry is both influenced by and exerts influence on life on the planet. A group of researchers at NESCent have explored how body size has changed over the history of life on Earth, and found an interesting correlation between increases in body size and changes in atmospheric oxygen. They talked with us about their research, what the group discovered, and where their research will take them next.
(Download from iTunes U)
(View on YouTube)
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