Evolution 101: Prey colouration of sock to match background

For any Darwin doubters out there, the sock in Figure 1 is only two generations removed from those shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1: Adaptive mutations shown in man's sock, sockus manus. 

 Figure 2: Same effect, but as seen in moths

Figure 3: sockus stupidus

Sockus manus is native to a garden in Crouch End, London, but a closely related sock was recently found in a roadside puddle in Leeds.

Researchers have applied for funding to buy GPS tracking devices, which they will attach to the socks, so as to determine their migratory and mating habits.

In this week's Nature: perfection in numbers?

19th century fairgoers were trying to win an ox by guessing its weight. According to this week's Nature, Darwin's half-cousin, who incidentally coined the term eugenics, kept track of their guesses...and was shocked to find that the final average equaled the exact weight of the ox. Apparently, this threw him into a tizzy and made him doubt his whole premise of eugenics.

A current TV show in Germany replicated this experiment using over 5,000 pieces of candy in a jar. They invited viewers to submit their guesses. Again, the average worked out to be the number of candies in the jar (off only about three pieces).