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Pradeep Mutalik

Puzzle Columnist

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Latest Articles

Chameleons
Insights puzzle

Why Are There Two Sexes?

By Pradeep Mutalik
July 7, 2017
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Asexual reproduction can produce twice as many offspring as sexual reproduction without the hassle of finding and courting a mate. So why do most complex animals have two sexes? Why not three?

Bongard puzzle stars
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘Bongard Problems and Scientific Discovery’

By Pradeep Mutalik
June 28, 2017
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Like scientific puzzles, Bongard problems can lead you through a frustrating blind search until you find that simple, elegant rule that fits a seemingly random pattern.

Bongard stars
Insights puzzle

Bongard Problems and Scientific Discovery

By Pradeep Mutalik
June 8, 2017
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For your frustration, joy and entertainment, our puzzle challenges you to find general patterns or rules based on seemingly random, specific examples.

Hungry giraffe
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘Darwinian Evolution Explains Lamarckism’

By Pradeep Mutalik
June 2, 2017
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How Darwinian natural selection can produce and sustain a Lamarckian “inheritance of acquired characteristics.”

Insights puzzle

Can Darwinian Evolution Explain Lamarckism?

By Pradeep Mutalik
May 11, 2017
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Answering three questions can help reveal how the “inheritance of acquired characteristics” fits into modern evolutionary theory.

Illustration: black, numbered cats crossing a calendar. An extra "13" lurks in the background.
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘Friday the 13th’

By Pradeep Mutalik
April 26, 2017
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There’s more than one good way to bring order to our unruly, seemingly arbitrary calendar.

Illustration: black, numbered cats crossing a calendar. An extra "13" lurks in the background.
Insights puzzle

Is It Friday the 13th Again?

By Pradeep Mutalik
April 6, 2017
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How our society defines years, months and weeks can seem frustratingly arbitrary. Can you bring order to our unruly calendar?

Still illustration: changing genes
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘A Ticking Evolutionary Clock’

By Pradeep Mutalik
April 3, 2017
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How to calculate when a gene’s rate of evolution will slow to a crawl.

GIF illustration: changing genes
Insights puzzle

A Ticking Evolutionary Clock

By Pradeep Mutalik
March 16, 2017
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How quickly will a gene’s rate of evolution slow to a crawl?


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