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Scientists are pretty sure that Saccorhytus coronarius is an ancestor of lancets, sea squirts, fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, and mammals: including us. Much more recently, about 3,660,000 years back, five Australopithecus afarensis strolled across volcanic ash. One of them was "astonishingly larger" than any other A. afarensis we know of. Exactly what that means isn't, I think, clear. Not yet. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Life, and evolution, has been happening for quite a while. Cities are new, but the same processes happen there; with slightly different results. We're learning how urban environments affect critters, and are piecing together more of humanity's story.... ...I see no problem with believing that God is creating a universe that's following knowable physical laws. That's just as well, since it's what we're told to believe.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Contacting extraterrestrial intelligence, meeting people whose ancestors developed on another world, has been a staple of pulp fiction for generations. Lately, it's become a matter for serious discussion. I'll be looking at an op-ed's take on how learning that we're not alone might affect folks with various religious beliefs. I'll also share what I expect: and what I don't.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Something's killing Europe's olive trees: a bacterium that's probably spread by insects. Scientists don't know how to stop the disease, not yet. Other scientists analyzed the Ginkgo genome. What they found helps explain the tree's remarkable endurance. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

At least one Homo habilis was right-handed, about 1,800,000 years ago. It's the earliest evidence of handedness in humanity's history. So far. Our jaws may have started out as armor plate, not gill arches. Paleontologists found a second Silurian placoderm species with surprisingly familiar jaws.... ...Before talking about Homo habilis, and new evidence showing how jaws evolved, I'll do my usual explanation for why science doesn't upset me.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists think they've detected more plumes of water, shooting up from near Europa's south pole. It's early days, but we may have found a comparatively easy way to collect samples from the Jovian moon's subsurface ocean. Stephen Hawking says humanity needs to keep exploring space. I agree, although not quite for the reasons he gave. SpaceX tested an engine they plan to use on their Mars transport, and Gaia's data seems to have raised as many questions as it answers. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The 'Minden Monster,' a whacking great carnivore that lived about a hundred million years before T. Rex, is in the news again. Studying it will help scientists work out details of megalosaur development. I'm fascinated by that sort of thing. Your experience may vary. Other scientists think they know what killed Lucy, our name for a famous Australopithecus afarensis skeleton. It looks like Australopithecus afarensis was a little more at home in trees than we are. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Archeologists found a big stone structure buried under a 43-century-old garbage dump in the Orkney Islands. Öetzi, Europe’s frozen mummy, got his wardrobe from many different critters: why, we don’t know. Piltdown Man’s in the news again, too. Looks like Dawson was the only culprit. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some scientists say they've learned that a 300,000,000-year-old whatsit was a very early version of lampreys. That, Neanderthal DNA, and a newly-analyzed Tyrannosaur, gave me something to talk about today.... ...I'll do my usual explanation of why God's design choices don't offend me: but first, a recap of why I don't miss the 'good old days.'... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We're learning more about why ichthyosaurs died out. Climate change was almost certainly involved: but it wasn't our fault, and I'll get back to that. Long before the first not-quite-an-ichthyosaur made the transition from land back to Earth's ocean, a tiny little fungus came ashore and started turning rock into soil.... ...First, though, my usual spiel about why I'm not upset that Earth isn't flat , Adam and Eve aren't German , and poetry isn't science .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Climate change is in the news: again. Scientists tracked where tiny critters called phytoplankton have been living: which may help us understand what's happening in Earth's ocean. Other scientists reconstructed glyptodont DNA: confirming that the Volkswagen-size mammals were armadillos: big armadillos.... ...Being offended by our increasing knowledge of how this universe works is an option: but not a sensible one, I think. Neither is getting upset over what sort of creatures we are.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some cyanobacteria — pond scum — swim toward brighter areas. Scientists didn't know how the microorganisms could tell where the light is, until now. Other scientists discovered four new species of an odd-looking sort of critter: including one that looks like a purple sock. I'm fascinated by this sort of thing, your experience may vary.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Humans sleep , which shouldn't be surprising. Just about all critters with brains sleep: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish — even insects and nematodes experience something like sleep. Poets and playwrights have written of sleep.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I stopped using the term " Caucasian " several years ago. I've discussed the "Anglo-Teutonic" race, Neanderthals, and getting a grip, before. ( September 25, 2015 ; October 31, 2014 ) Turns out, folks from the Caucasus moved into Europe at least once — along with many other folks.... We're still learning about humanity's family history. It's a lot more complicated than we thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists may have observed chimpanzees in different groups using a different sound when they mean "apple." Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about chimpanzees. Pliobates cataloniae, an ape that lived where Catalonia is now, had a gibbon-like skull: but apparently is more closely related to today's gorillas, chimps, orangutans — and us. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Bits of carbon encased in zircon crystals more than four billion years ago may have come from living creatures. Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about Earth's long story.... ...This space-time continuum doesn't work like Anaximander 's model, either. Anaximander's cosmology had Earth in the center: but he speculated that we might not be standing on the only world, and that worlds change. Aristotle's cosmology had Earth in the center of the universe, too: but he didn't think multiple worlds existed. About 16 centuries later, educated Europeans like Dante Alighieri had a very high opinion of Aristotle.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists from University of the Witwatersrand found skeletal remains in South Africa's Rising Star Cave . This is a big deal, since it's the largest collection of hominin bones found in a single spot: and these folks may have been burying their dead 2,500,000 years ago. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Neanderthals apparently had bigger eyes than folks living today. One scientist says that means they didn't play well with others. Bonobos , chimps living south of the Congo River, squeak. The squeaks are the same, whether they're happy, sad, or angry — and may tell us something about how language developed.... ...I think accepting God's universe 'as is' makes sense, so I'll ramble on about hubris, movies, and St. Thomas Aquinas, before discussing Neanderthals and squeaking bonobos .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists created "super-intelligent mice" — but this isn't a cartoon, so the mice aren't hatching plans for world domination. The research may lead, eventually, to treatments for Posttraumatic stress disorder , schizophrenia , and Alzheimer's disease . Other scientists found hand bones shaped pretty much like ours: from at least 1,840,000 years back.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

During the 1950s, space aliens in the movies came in two basic models. Some were invaders — " Plan 9 from Outer Space ," " Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ," and " Invaders from Mars . The title character in " The Thing from Another World " acted like an invader. But I think the Thing's bad attitude might have come from being shot after the humans blew up his ship, and that's another topic. Then there's Klaatu, in " The Day the Earth Stood Still ," who stopped just short of walking on water. Between Klaatu, movies like " Prometheus , and folks who believe space aliens are angels , I'm not surprised that some Christians don't like the idea that we may have neighbors on other planets. As I keep saying, I don't believe that life exists elsewhere in this universe: or that it does not. We don't know, not yet. If we meet folks whose ancestors developed on another planet, I think Brother Guy Consolmago is r