That 61% of Catalan students finish compulsory education without having worked on evolution is not an anecdotal figure. It is a structural symptom. The current curriculum does not include evolution in primary school and places it as an optional subject in 4th year of ESO. This is equivalent, in practice, to making the conceptual framework that gives meaning to all of biology dispensable. And this is, simply, an intellectual barbarity.

"In biology, nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution." This is the title of an influential article that evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky published in 1973 in the journal American Biology TeacherThe phrase became instantly popular and is still cited by many authors today, especially in relation to education. Biological structures and processes can only be explained as the result of an evolutionary process modulated by natural selection, as established by the British naturalist Charles Darwin 166 years ago. That is why teaching evolution is considered a key aspect of school learning.

"So far we know it's the heaviest insect in Australia." Australian scientists have discovered a new species of giant walking stick insect (Acrophylla alta) which weighs 44 grams, about the same as a golf ball, and is 40 centimeters long. James Cook University professor Angus Emmott suggested the insect's size could be an evolutionary response to the "cold and wet" habitat of the Atherton Plateau, located in northern Australia and about 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Cairns, where it was found.

Catalonia has gained 700,000 inhabitants in the last 10 years, between 2014 and 2024. It's as if the entire Baix Llobregat region had doubled in size and spread across a few, very specific areas of the territory. According to the experts consulted, this is a boom. The largest population since the end of the economic crisis and the second major growth peak of the 21st century. Last November, the number of inhabitants surpassed 8 million, but how have they been distributed within Catalonia? And what are the factors that generate these internal and external movements of inhabitants? At ARA, we have analyzed, municipality by municipality, the evolution of the population over the last 10 years to see how towns and cities are absorbing this increase, the migratory changes, and what impact this has on the most basic facilities and services, such as schools, healthcare centers, nursing homes, mobility, and, of course, housing.

Last November, Catalonia surpassed the 8 million population mark, and projections indicate that the number is growing. Where have these nearly 700,000 additional people who have arrived in the last ten years settled? How has this impacted public services, mobility, and municipal housing, not only the arrival of immigration but also the internal migration that has occurred? For more than two months, we have been analyzing the demographic data, municipality by municipality, to interpret and analyze it with the help of experts. We have also selected thirty significant municipalities and spoken with mayors and other experts to understand how they have managed it. The result is this Sunday's dossier, a bold approach to what has already been described as the second demographic boom of the 21st century.

Since ancient times, humans have wondered what makes us human. Different disciplines have sought answers to this endless question, and surely one of the most enticing proposals comes from biology, particularly genetics. Comparative biology is, in this sense, a very powerful tool that allows us not only to quantify the differences between species, but also to understand how these differences may have contributed to specific traits in our lineage. By comparing human genomes with closely related species with which we share a recent common origin, such as the great apes, we can identify which molecular changes are unique to humans and which we share with other primates. This evolutionary perspective helps us distinguish which traits are truly human and which are part of a deeper common heritage.

In nature there are several examples of animals impostors They manage to fool their predators thanks to their physical appearance. As their names indicate, the bee fly and the ant spider pretend to be what they are not in order to survive: the first earns respect with its colors and the second appears to be harmless. However, research confirms that one of the queens of mimicry would be the blue fly. According to a study led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), the larvae of this insect are capable of developing a "mask" and a characteristic smell to coexist with termites.