February 20th, 2011
“A question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?” Altruistic Amoeba - If food supplies have run out, these single-celled creatures join together to create this slug. They move around with it and then 20% commit suicide by using their bodies to create a stalk. The other 80% then to climb up the stalk and attempt to catch a wind to days of plenty elsewhere. From the Radiolab episode “The Good Show”:  http://www.radiolab.org/2010/dec/14/

“A question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?”

Altruistic Amoeba - If food supplies have run out, these single-celled creatures join together to create this slug. They move around with it and then 20% commit suicide by using their bodies to create a stalk. The other 80% then to climb up the stalk and attempt to catch a wind to days of plenty elsewhere. From the Radiolab episode “The Good Show”:  http://www.radiolab.org/2010/dec/14/

  1. deanwallace posted this
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