Have to blog and run today. I get to spend three hours this afternoon trying to persuade skeptical calculus students that “related rate” problems aren’t so bad. A forlorn quest, I know. Anyway, how about I just point you towards some interesting reading:

• Over at CSICOP’s site, Penny Higgins offers this excellent article on the topic of transitional forms generally, and Tiktaalik in particular. Worth it for the diagrams alone!
• Joshua Roebke, writing for Seed, gives us a concise summary of Grigory Perelman’s refusal of the Fields Medal for proving the Poincare conjecture.
• The New York Times has this brief account of new research into the demise of the Neanderthals. Worth a look.