Amid a tropical paradise known as ‘Lizard Island,’ researchers are cracking open evolution’s black box – scientist at work

A decade of fieldwork is revealing how one of biology’s fundamental principles works in real time.

James T. Stroud, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
March 25, 2025 • ~11 min

Extraterrestrial life may look nothing like life on Earth − so astrobiologists are coming up with a framework to study how complex systems evolve

A specific set of chemical conditions led to the emergence of life on Earth. But can life emerge from other chemistries?

Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona • conversation
Dec. 6, 2024 • ~10 min

Sunflowers make small moves to maximize their Sun exposure − physicists can model them to predict how they grow

Plants don’t just grow straight up. They can move in loopy and zigzagging ways to get more sunshine. And studying these movements goes all the way back to Darwin in the 19th century.

Chantal Nguyen, Postdoctoral Associate at the BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Sept. 13, 2024 • ~10 min

At its core, life is all about play − just look at the animal kingdom

Reduced to its essence, the process of natural selection would look a lot like play.

David Toomey, Professor of English, UMass Amherst • conversation
Aug. 12, 2024 • ~8 min

Unravelling life’s origin: five key breakthroughs from the past five years

The origin of life on Earth is one of the biggest mysteries in science.

Louise Gillet de Chalonge, PhD Student in Astrobiology, Dublin City University • conversation
May 2, 2024 • ~9 min

How a little-known clergyman studying worms by candlelight in the 1700s inspired Charles Darwin – but didn’t get the credit he deserved

My passion for earthworms and ecology led me to continuing Darwin’s experiments in his own ‘back garden’

Kevin Richard Butt, Reader in Ecology, University of Central Lancashire • conversation
April 16, 2024 • ~22 min

Scientists can't agree on when the first animals evolved – our research hopes to end the debate

Charles Darwin knew the evidence from fossils contradicted evolution. Researchers are still trying to work out the problem today.

Ross Anderson, Research Fellow in Palaeobiology, University of Oxford • conversation
Oct. 13, 2023 • ~6 min

Flowering plants survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid – and may outlive us

The fossil record tells conflicting stories about what happened to flowering plants after the asteroid.

Jamie Thompson, Postdoctoral Evolutionary Biologist, University of Bath • conversation
Sept. 13, 2023 • ~8 min

It's reassuring to think humans are evolution's ultimate destination – but research shows we may be an accident

We may have become the most complex living creature in part by accident and replication of error.

Marcello Ruta, Senior Lecturer, Life Sciences, University of Lincoln • conversation
Sept. 5, 2023 • ~8 min

How do coral reefs thrive in parts of the ocean that are low in nutrients? By eating their algal companions

Reef corals grow vigorously in nutrient poor water – new research has found out why.

Cecilia D'Angelo, Associate Professor, Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton • conversation
Aug. 24, 2023 • ~8 min

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