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Here are a few pair comparisons for common animals. Genetic Similarity Table: Domestic vs. Wild Species Species PairDNA SimilarityDifferenceCommon AncestorInterbreeding? Domestic Cat ↔ Wildcat (F. silvestris)~99.9%<0.1%Domesticated ~10,000 yrs agoYes (hybridizes) Domestic Pig ↔ Wild...

The UK has one of the lowest life expectancies in Western Europe. Yet England outperforms the US for every socio-economic group.

Do you agree with this map?

I am an avid follower of EU Made Simple (EUMS) and watch all their videos. Recently Macron and Merz have proposed that Ukraine should have a new status called Associate EU Membership, which would allow partial and gradual integration into the EU. Other countries in the Balkans could also benefit...

Ever wondered how genetically similar (or different) various species are from each other? Whether you're comparing your house cat to a tiger, your dog to a wolf, or humans to chimpanzees, DNA similarity percentages tell us fascinating stories about evolutionary relationships. This article...

A groundbreaking new study reveals that structural variants from ancient hominins played a crucial role in human evolutionary success A new study published in Science has created the first comprehensive global map of introgressed structural variants—large DNA segments (≥50 base pairs) inherited...

In the aftermath of World War II, the developed world celebrated a monumental victory. Vaccines, antibiotics, and improved sanitation were driving down death rates from infectious diseases that had plagued humanity for millennia. Polio vanished. Tuberculosis retreated. Childhood infections...

Anglo-Saxons

I completely agree. If I lived in the US, I would also socialise with people with the same political values. My point was that in countries where there is little political polarisation like Belgium it's very hard for people to viciously argue with one another as most parties and most of the...

What Is This Weird Reflex? If you've ever stepped out of a dark tunnel into bright sunlight and suddenly sneezed, or felt that tickle in your nose when you look up at the sun, you're one of them. You're a photic sneezer. The photic sneeze reflex (also called ACHOO syndrome—Autosomal Dominant...

A Bloomberg Economics analysis of the ramge of estimates on Brexit damage.

Here is an excerpt from the book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert M. Sapolsky. It's about the link between lying for monetary gain and corruption. "The human capacity for deception is enormous. We have the most complex innervation of facial muscles and use massive...

The political situation in the United States is very unusual for a developed country in that there are only two major parties. In this setting it is easy for polarisation to take place. As soon as the Democrats and Republicans lost their moderate Centre, it became a case of Us versus Them, and...

A new study found that young Americans tend to reject potential partners from opposing political parties much more strongly than they prefer those who share their own political views. I recently posted a map of political polarisation and it won't surprise anyone to see that US society is...

I've selected a few interesting excerpts from the remarkable book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert M. Sapolsky. These are all from chapter 12: Hierarchy, Obedience and Resistance. Foundation of Morality Affective psychological differences Implicit Factors...

I have been re-reading Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert M. Sapolsky, one of the most interesting books I have read. I thought I'd share a few passages from chapter 11 "Us versus Them" as I found it very illuminating in humans think, feel and behave towards people...

If that were the case, what would have prompted them to migrate thousands of kilometers away without apparently settling anywhere in between?

This other chart is also interesting. It shows the 5 main nationalities among foreigners in 19 EU/EEA countries. On the left is the foreigners by citizenship. On the right is the people born abroad, including those who were later naturalised. In many countries non-EU immigrants tend to get...

I didn't make the chart. It's from Eurostat. Apparently they only listed 14 countries, maybe those with the highest increase in foreign-born population. This other chart from Eurostat shows the percentage of the population born abroad in all EU countries. They even separate those born in...

France already had a huge immigrant population before 2001. It has the largest Muslim population and the largest black population of any European country. France was also one of the first countries to have a far-right anti-immigration political party (the National Front, founded in 1972, now...