Nathan H. Lents

How Similar Are Human and Chimp Genomes, Really? Quantifying Genetic Difference Isn’t Straightforward | Free Inquiry The Trump administration seems determined to gut the scientific research establishment in the United States. Despite the fact that vaccines have likely save ...

secularhumanism.org/2025/09/how-...

oh man, I wish I could be there, but Thursday evenings are always booked for me. How long are you in town, and do you have time for a meetup? Would love to buy you a beer, if you partake.

New essay from @nathanlents.bsky.social and me in This View of Life prosocial.world -- “Beyond the Binary: The Compounding Complexity of Biological Sex” a mini 🧵

The cover of the book The Sexual Evolution

“I dedicate this to every queer person who has been told they are unnatural. Not only are you natural, you are flawless and beautiful, exactly as you are.”

@nathanlents.bsky.social…can we be best friends? 🥹💚

I’d like to start every book with this fuzzy feeling of being seen

#queersky 🌈 #booksky 📚

Opinion | The Texas Democrats Won by Losing

When people fight principled battles that they know they may lose, others pay attention, writes Prof. @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social in the New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/o...

[Review] Humans: Perspectives on Our Evolution from World Experts | National Center for Science Education

"Humans is an engaging book filled with the thoughtful musings of many of the top minds in anthropology, packed with endless insights and ideas," writes our reviewer, Nathan Lents. ncse.ngo/review-human... @columbiaup.bsky.social #BookSky #HumanEvolution #bioanth

Episode 425: What Determines Our Sexual Orientation? - Sex and Psychology Why are some people straight while others are gay or bisexual? Here's what we’ve learned about the origins of our sexuality from decades of research.

Why are some people straight while others are gay or bisexual? What determines our sexual orientation anyway? Today, we’re diving into what we’ve learned about the biological origins of our sexuality from decades of research with @nathanlents.bsky.social. www.sexandpsychology.com/blog/podcast...

500 Million Years of Evolution Reveal Stunning Diversity in Sex, Gender and Mating Traditional biology has long ignored nature’s sexual diversity—but evolution tells a far more complex story.

Traditional biology has long ignored nature’s sexual diversity—but evolution tells a far more complex story.

Episode 424: Are Humans Made To Be Monogamous? - Sex and Psychology Are human beings made for monogamy or non-monogamy? This is a popular subject of debate, so let's dive into what the science says.

Some argue that humans evolved for monogamy, while other argue that we evolved for non-monogamy. So which is it? @nathanlents.bsky.social, author of the new book The Sexual Evolution, is on the show today to dive into the debate. www.sexandpsychology.com/blog/podcast...

Reading The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships by @nathanlents.bsky.social. Fantastic book.

Figure S III.12. The bottom graphs are average intraspecific gap divergences. In Gorgor1, the value is 0.138151 (the average gap divergence among any two non-related gorillas).

The average interspecific gap divergence between hg002 and Pantro3 is 0.133012 or 0.124732 (depending which is ref)

Alignment of human chromosome #2 (white) with chimpanzee chromosome #2A (green) and #2B (pink). Image generated by the Ensembl Genome Browser.

Finding “genetic similarity” of 2 organisms would be easy if DNA was a simple string of nucleotides, but genomes are more complicated.

How Similar Are Human and Chimp Genomes, Really? Quantifying Genetic Difference Isn’t Straightforward🏺🧪
@nathanlents.bsky.social
secularhumanism.org/2025/07/how-...

The funniest part is that they keep calling it a "bombshell" and going all hysterical as if this study showed something radically new. These gap alignment numbers are in the range of previous estimates. The T2T assembly just added precision to measurements we've had for DECADES! lmao

How Similar Are Human and Chimp Genomes, Really? Quantifying Genetic Difference Isn’t Straightforward | Free Inquiry The Trump administration seems determined to gut the scientific research establishment in the United States. Despite the fact that vaccines have likely save ...

No Ron Lindsay column today. He's working on his Trump Deflection Index, correlating the intensity of Trump's deflection efforts w/use of certain words, such as "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" In the meantime you should read this excellent essay by @nathanlents.bsky.social secularhumanism.org/2025/07/how-...

My other reps: @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov @kirstengillibrand.bsky.social @governor.ny.gov If you folks can't support the nominee that the voters chose, you do not represent us.

Jeffries not yet ready to endorse Zohran Mamdani "We don’t really know each other well," the House minority leader said.

He won a crowded primary, in solidly dem #NYC, against a former governor w/ establishment support. Um, "Blue no matter who?"

Note to my reps: @aoc.bsky.social @tiffanycaban.bsky.social @sengianaris.bsky.social

If leadership wont back #Mamdani, I AM DONE W/ #DEMOCRATS. Who's w/ me?

This is not the time to step back from diversity, equity, and inclusion Recently, I exchanged views with a prominent Ivy League scientist who was complaining about the minority students and junior faculty applying to his program. He claimed that the university, through di...

Many institutions, programs, and individual scientists are stepping back from supporting the efforts to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion. Doing so is a mistake. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Are you aware of when we caught Behe doing way worse back in 2019? He sliced and diced a chart, omitting both columns and rows that had data contrary to his claim. And when caught, he *still* couldn’t admit any fault. Hilarious.

And his response to being caught was to act like it didn't matter, like those data aren't relevant to his point. If that's the case, then he REALLY doesn't understand ANY of this, lol.

Of interest: @gutsickgibbon.bsky.social @swamidass.bsky.social @ncse.bsky.social @center4inquiry.bsky.social @freeinquiry.bsky.social @skepticalinquirer.bsky.social @pzmyers.bsky.social @fossilhistory.bsky.social @qafzeh.bsky.social @joshrosenau.org

I had mostly moved on from debunking creationist claims, but this latest nonsense from Casey Luskin at the DI is even stupider than usual, so they pulled me back in. Predictably, he also left out contradictory data.
#evolution #creationism #intelligentdesign

secularhumanism.org/2025/07/how-...

Three fresh examples of the US government shutting down science [with gift links] 🧪 🧵 1/4

The cover of a book titled The Sexual Evolution by Nathan H. Lents. The subtitle reads “How 500 million years of sex, gender, and mating shape modern relationships.” The cover features an illustrated chimpanzee with a pixelated section over its genital area. The author’s name appears at the bottom, along with the note “Author of Human Errors.” The book rests on a wooden surface.

A responsible sexual ethic must engage our biological reality as evolved, interconnected beings. *The Sexual Evolution* by @nathanlents.bsky.social challenged my assumptions and sparked more imaginative, science-informed theological reflection. 🧬⚧️♀️♂️📖 #thesexualevolution @marinerbooks.bsky.social

Delighted to receive my copy of The Sexual Evolution @nathanlents.bsky.social @canongate.co.uk

What a wonderful dedication . . . 🌈📚🐵

#science #nature #evolution #queer #LGBTQ #pride #pridemonth #PrideInSTEM #booksky #skybooks

WOW! Thanks so much for these kind and very encouraging words. Give my best to the folks in Salisbury and maybe I can pop in virtually and offer my greetings!

It was lovely to meet you, too! The crowd at #cheltSciFest always has the smartest most interesting people!

And, omg, of my entire evening, your comment was the one that left me truly speechless. I'm still dumbfounded! lol

Thanks so much! Yes, are officially launched and I am on my way to the @cheltenhamfestival.bsky.social Cheltenham Science Festival to celebrate!

New interview! @nathanlents.bsky.social discusses what human #relationships looked like before #marriage was invented, how animal #sexuality compares to human sexuality, and how we can help human society stop being so uptight. Listen: bit.ly/nathan_lents @harpercollins.bsky.social #Sociology #LGBTQ

Pub day hardback photos 5 June 2025

Happy hardback publication day to these wonders!

LIFE CYCLE OF A MOTH – Rowe Irvin
THE DRY SEASON – @melissafebos.bsky.social
THE SEXUAL EVOLUTION – @nathanlents.bsky.social
THE ACID QUEEN – Susannah Cahalan
THE DEATH OF SHAME – @ambroseparry.bsky.social

buythebook.online/out-today

Westbrook Lecture—Beyond the Binaries: The New Science of Sex and Gender Join us as Mallika Sarma, Agustín Fuentes, and Nathan Lents reveal how sex & gender are not always neatly coupled in humans nor animals.

This Thursday (May 29) at 6 pm EDT: Sex Is a Spectrum author @anthrofuentes.bsky.social‬ joins the Wagner Free Institute of Science for a discussion w/Mallika Sarma & @nathanlents.bsky.social‬ about the science of sex & gender.

Reserve your spot for free today: