Q&A - Arrival of the Fittest
4,695 views · Published 21 January 2015 · 17:06 · Indexed 23 September 2026
Channel: The Royal Institution · 2015 · Science & Technology
What’s the greatest human mutation of all time? Can evolution only speed up after complexity has already developed? And what does a three-legged dog have to do with it all? Following his talk, Andreas Wagner answers questions from the audience. Watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD4HUGVN6Ko Andreas' book "The Arrival of the Fittest" is available to buy now - https://geni.us/Y0raJi Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe How do innovations arise in biology? Darwin’s theory of natural selection doesn’t tell us, except that they come about by ‘trial and error’. Evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner shows how adaptations are not only driven by chance, but rather by a set of fundamental laws that give rise to a world of biological creativity, and to innovations as diverse as animals that fly and plants that harvest energy from sunlight. Finding where innovations in nature come from begins to place the final puzzle piece in the mystery of life’s rich diversity. Andreas Wagner is professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich. His main research interest is in the evolution of biological systems, from genomes to complex molecular networks. Wagner is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and a medal-winning popular science book ‘Paradoxical Life’. This event was filmed at the Royal Institution on 13 November 2014 The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link. #ArrivalOfTheFittest, #QA, #EvolutionDiscussion, #SurvivalOfTheFittest, #FitnessJourney
