When evolution converges
The pre-ordained and the contingent
This month, I’ve been drawn to a pattern that keeps surfacing across both nature and man-made systems: when circumstances repeat, so do the outcomes. In Nautilus, I wrote about rove beetles—tiny insects that have repeatedly evolved to mimic ants in astonishing ways. From their narrow waists to their chemical disguises, beetles from entirely separate lineages have converged on the same adaptations to survive in ant colonies, shaped by their evolutionary constraints.
But this isn’t just a story of biology. I’ve also been reading about how rigid processes in clinical trials and immigration policy create bottlenecks that limit innovation. In both cases, systems set the parameters of what’s possible. Yet, people still find ways to adapt, innovate, and challenge those constraints.
These stories seem to ask the same question: how much of the future is shaped by existing structures, and how much can we change through effort, ingenuity, and resilience? It’s a tension I’ve been grappling with in many different ways recently.
What I’ve written
This month, in Nautilus, I explored the surprising world of rove beetles—tiny insects that have evolved to mimic ants in remarkably sophisticated ways. A dozen distinct rove beetle lineages have independently converged on similar “ant-like” traits: from mimicking an ant’s narrow waist and elbowed antennae to producing the same chemical signals that allow them to slip unnoticed into ant colonies.
“The gland itself acted as this reprogrammable device… These beetles keep finding the same solution. It tells us that long-term, highly predictable phenotypic evolution is absolutely possible.”
Keep reading: The Evolution of a Mimic
The story explores how a single ancestral gland in rove beetles evolved from simple defense to a tool for infiltration, letting them intoxicate or deceive ants. Once inside ant nests, these beetles gain access to resources (and sometimes ant larvae), revealing just how inventive—yet strangely predictable—evolution can be. This repeated convergence speaks not just to the power of adaptation, but also to the crucial role of “initial conditions” in steering life along certain evolutionary paths.
What I’ve been reading
This post by Jennifer Pahlka about how adherence to process and procedure can become a barrier to justice and progress.
The reality is that people are frustrated with a system in which it feels like laws — a complex, tangled, often contradictory, seemingly arbitrary web of rules that most people don’t understand — dictate outcomes at the expense of reasonable human judgement.
This report from the Institute for Progress making the case for clinical trial abundance
Promising studies never launch—not because of scientific limitations, but due to the logistics and costs of running trials. Randomized controlled trials are bottlenecks, leaving life-saving treatments backlogged in labs while patients wait.
This post from Lauren Gilbert about H1-B visas and their effect on the American labor market.
Promising ideas and innovations are being delayed or lost entirely because of restrictive H-1B visa caps—despite evidence that skilled immigration drives both job creation and economic growth.
What I’ve been thinking about
The recent U.S. foreign aid suspension has been weighing on me—not just because of the immediate risks to global health programs, but because of what it reveals about how fragile these systems can be. When policies shift, programs like HIV treatment and malaria prevention suddenly face uncertainty. It’s easy to feel like progress is entirely at the mercy of these larger forces.
But what’s been more striking to me is how quickly people and organizations have stepped in to hold the line. Researchers are rallying to quantify PEPFAR's impact, while funders are arranging bridge loans to keep NGOs afloat. These networks—often built quietly over years—spring into action, adapting to maintain stability when formal systems falter.
It’s a reminder that while structural inertia can limit what’s possible, there’s still room for agency. People find ways to push forward by creating informal safety nets and nerve centers of resilience. I’ve been thinking about how these networks become lifelines and how essential it is to build systems that don’t collapse at the first shock. In these moments, we see how much can still be changed, even within rigid systems.