What is evolution? with Alice Hughes

This is the conversation with Prof. Alice Hughes. She is working at XTBG in China. Her work focuses on understanding patterns of biodiversity and drivers of biodiversity change, with an aim to form more rigorous & appropriate conservation. In this conversation we discuss about what is evolution, how it works, why it is important to study, Evolution vs intelligent design, Artificial breeding, proof of evolution and complex traits like altruism.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:57 Alice's work

00:03:36 Life beyond humans

00:05:12 What Evolution by natural selection is?

00:12:12 Timescale of evolution

00:17:15 What is genetics and a gene?

00:22:25 Effects of changes in genes

00:24:01 Importance of variation in natural selection

00:25:03 Strangeness of Panda's

00:26:18 Importance of breeding for evolution

00:27:39 A walk toward our common ancestor with chimpanzees and bonobos

00:31:40 Success of humans in passing on their gene pools

00:35:28 Evolution of religion

00:38:53 Evolution vs Intelligent design

00:42:47 Proof of evolution

00:45:45 Sexual or asexual reproduction

00:49:37 Altruism

00:52:45 Homosexuality

00:56:24 Adoption

00:58:59 Why it is difficult to understand evolution?

01:02:23 Material to read

01:03:17 Thanks!