Fast Track Evolution

[Minimalist]

While the creationists piss and moan about their holy fucking book, science continues on its merry way to making it irrelevant!


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...115311.htm

ScienceDaily (June 23, 2011) — Evolution is usually thought to be a very slow process, something that happens over many generations, thanks to adaptive mutations. But environmental change due to things like climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, etc. is happening very fast. There are just two options for species of all kinds: either adapt to environmental change or become extinct.

[Epimethean]

It's a creepy celebration, that.

[Cinjin]

Cool article.


Won't matter to the bible-bangers though. I swear scientists could uncover a neanderthal, revive it, teach it to speak English and have it give a report on the prehistoric world it came from - and the brainwashed religious right still wouldn't acknowledge evolution.

Blinders and earplugs anyone?

[Minimalist]

As 95% of all species who ever existed are extinct it would seem that evolution is not fast enough most of the time.

Of course, if there were a 'creator god' then a 95% failure rate would be a pretty dismal fucking performance.

[Cinjin]

Of course, if there were a 'creator god' then a 95% failure rate would be a pretty dismal fucking performance.

5% survival rate is a lot higher percentage of success than prayer gets.

[Anomalocaris]

Actually, the figure is more likely to be >99.5% for complex animals. Your average higher animal species seem to live about 2-5 million years or so, and complex animals have been on earth for at least 600-700 million years, if you include the likes of Jelly fish.

Evolution is actually easy to induce, observe and even artificially direct in the laboratory, provided you work with species with short life span and fast reproduction cycle. Bacteria with life span of 20 minutes can easily to induced to evolve before your eyes.

As to success rate of prayer, prayer can only claim any success rate at all if it gets you what you want more often can be expected from pure random chance. I suspect if one were to deduct the contribution of random chance, the success rate of prayer would be zero.

[downbeatplumb]

Evolution is actually easy to induce, observe and even artificially direct in the laboratory, provided you work with species with short life span and fast reproduction cycle. Bacteria with life span of 20 minutes can easily to induced to evolve before your eyes.

which is why antibiotics are not as effective as they used to be.

[Gawdzilla]

Bang on, Chuck! I've seen >99.9999% no longer surviving. That's an acceptable number when you consider bacteria into the count.

[Autumnlicious]