Sciber

Quanta Magazine's 2025 most surprising breakthroughs in biology included a finding that a father’s environmental exposures can impact the development of their offspring, research confirming that intelligence evolved independently in birds and mammals, and a new mathematical model reveals that evolution happens in explosive bursts. I am particularly excited with the third reported breakthrough: "a new mathematical model suggests evolution doesn’t always proceed gradually, but often occurs in rapid bursts, a process known as ‘punctuated equilibrium’. Using this model, researchers found evidence of this evolutionary pattern across a range of diverse systems, including enzymes, cephalopods, and even Indo-European languages." For more details, see the full paper at Proceedings B of the Royal Society, or an companion article in Quanta Magazine.

Labels: #evolution