Evolution, Morphology and Exobiology

NOTE: I wrote the following commentary in April 2013, in response to the following “italicized” statement that was posted on a “news forum”, ….. and decided to post a portion of it hereon to see what sort of responses it would “trigger”, …… to wit, enjoy: “I have yet come across an understandable explanation how the brain stores memory. Most likely because there has yet to be any real understanding.” Thus, given the above, I would like to offer my learned opinion on said in hopes that it might provide a better understanding of how and/or where the brain stores information. Or at the very least, “spark” a discussion that will lead to or result in a …

Water, beer, soda.. I prefer them cold. Some prefer room temperature but i assume most prefer chilled. Why is this? Is it evolutionary? Especially water. I don't like roon temperature water

https://phys.org/news/2018-06-species-predators-isolation.html Species found to lose fear of predators after 13 generations of protective isolation: A trio of researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of Life Science, Sydney, has found an isolated mammal species that lost its fear of predators in just 13 generations. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, Chris Jolly, Jonathan Webb and Ben Phillips describe their study of protected northern quolls living in Australia and what they found. As humans encroach on territory occupied by other species, those other species lose out. Often, the result is endangerment or extincti…

An online friend of mine asked me for my input on the evolution of modern human intelligence, especially when contrasted to that of "archaic" hominins like the Neanderthals and Denisovans. As far as I can tell, his position seems to be that since one specific lineage of humans (i.e. Homo sapiens) evolved greater "behavioral modernity" (i.e. intelligence) than other branches of the hominin family tree, it had to be the product of some sort of "grand plan" or "direction in evolution", as opposed to the standard "Darwinist" model. His language made me think he was arguing for some sort of theistic evolution that contrasted with atheistic "Darwinism". Anyway, I feel the …

I've always thought of Survival of the Fittest as a negative feedback system. It implies that the population is declining and that a single individual is responsible for the advancement of the gene pool - only the best survive. Today I was struck that the bigger driving force of evolution is expansion into new territory. Environmental boundaries, e.g. land/coastline, forrest/grass, plain/hills offer room for expansion aswell as a challenge for a species. Individuals with the best adaptations will congregate on the boundary where resources are more plentiful. Even small advantages will be shared through a healthy gene pool of similar individuals, multiplying the r…

I was wondering when scientist figured out when oxygen took a place in evolution. When did they know that oxygen was a byproduct before it was essential for life. At what time did they figure out that oxygen came later?

0down votefavorite I am just a beginner of BIOLOGY as a Grade 7 student! But from the information from my textbook and Internet that got me confused as MY TEXTBOOK SAID:- And 'Acaryote' (or 'Akaryote' or however 'Akaryocyte') is just a Smaller group of ORGANISM than Prokaryote. Example:- Blood (As said in Wikipedia) Pic-1:- A VIRUS DECRIPTION BY BBC (END OF PICTURE 1) Pic-2:- STUDY says "virus" is a "Prokaryote" as said at the Heading of the 2nd Picture HOWEVER YOU COULD SEE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PICTURE OF BBC AND STUDY BUT ACTUALLY NUCLEOID is what DNA is…

does anyone know how African frogs can change genders and how they evolved this way?

Looked at from the point of view of the evolutionary tree it appears that humans are an aberration. ie a departure from the norm 1. The rest of the tree - natural world - is quite self contained and self sufficient without the existence of humans. 2. If you describe humans as 'super-primates' there are no other branches of the tree which have produced a 'super bird', super fish' or 'super insect' with self consciousness and an ability to use tools and weapons to destroy every other branch of that tree (although ' super bug ' comes to mind - lurking somewhere in the DNA of some life-form and ready to annihlate all of us). 3. We're the only life -form which destroys and po…

You’ve probably heard of the RNA world hypothesis. Life started as as self-replicating single stranded RNA. Günter Wächtershäuser proposed that RNA cell membranes could have developed near black smokes. So there was autotrophic RNA as well as chemoautotrophic microbes (archaea) below the ocean in the Earth’s lithosphere, which is the home of these extremophiles, archaea, that show more metabolic similarities with eukaryotes than with bacteria. Single stranded RNA with a membrane does remind of the structure of a viruses, so the question rises whether life started as a virus. Not all viruses have membranes. Were viruses the first free-living cells? Scientist Gustavo C…

The AAA state that race was developed by Europeans to justify slavery. They present some scientific arguments to argue that race is not a valid biological concept. http://www.americananthro.org/ConnectWithAAA/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2583 Is this valid reasoning?

https://phys.org/news/2018-03-life-adrift-clouds-venus.html In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have turned over all sorts of rocks. Mars, for example, has geological features that suggest it once had—and still has—subsurface liquid water, an almost sure prerequisite for life. Scientists have also eyed Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus as well as Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as possible havens for life in the oceans under their icy crusts. Now, however, scientists are dusting off an old idea that promises a new vista in the hunt for life beyond Earth: the clouds of Venus. In a paper published online today (March 30, 20…

I heard it suggested that the degree of sexual dimorphism in a species is inversely correlated with the degree of monogamy? Is that true? If it is, are there any ideas as to why this is?

How do one gets to design an aeroplain wing? Regard Kibet

Humans have already shown that it’s going to be a slippery slope when designer babies pick up full steam. PGD is widely used around the world currently to allow parents to select some of the traits of their children, such as gender and eye color. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a19313/genetic-engineering-allow-parents-select-gender-eye-color-children/ First genetically modified human embryo happened this year. http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/world-s-first-genetically-modified-human-embryo-raises-ethical-concerns/ Is genetic modification of humans to remove genetic illnesses like some cancers, color blindness, Sickle-Cell, Hemophil…

I'd say just males for this, but the female gives birth to the progeny so it applies for both. Male perspective: Ideally, if a male has a high rate of acquiring mates, that's a good thing. More probability of spreading his genetics around a population, he's desirable, most fit in the selection/ competitive aspects. But what changes when a portion of the population of females (~30%) is infected with a transmissible disease that would adversely effect the males sexual performance, such as herpes, HIV, gonorrhea, etc. How would his fitness be effected, the number of females he interacts with etc. Female perspective: Pretty much the same question…

I've come across the trend that almost all crops lost genetic diversity during domestication as a result of selection. But some species seem to have lost more than others. For example maize retains around 83% of its diversity but rice retains only around 10-20%, yet they likely both suffered similar selection pressures. Is there any reason why there would be such variation in genetic diversity loss? I know perennials have retained more diversity than annuals because they've experienced fewer bottlenecks, having only recently been domesticated. But why would maize and rice, both domesticated at similar times and with similar selection pressures, have such variati…

How did the single, circular chromosome of prokaryotes evolve into the multiple, bar-like chromosomes of eukaryotes? How is this connected to the evolution of mitosis and meiosis?

Food is necessary to sustain life. I get it. Killing livestock and crops is a necessary evil if you want to survive. But humans tend to take food to another level. For us, food isn't just a means of survival. It's a fine-art. Culinary art, to be exact. There are artists - known as "chefs" - who specialize in finding new and creative ways to make food. Mealtime is usually treated as a family bonding ritual; the archetypal image of a wholesome family is one who is sitting around the dinner table with food covered all over the table! This is actually a rare - if not completely unique - trait of food consumption. Most animals will kill their prey (and yes, vegetatio…

I have been in a debate with someone that claims that evolution has no evidence. This question, however, is particularly focusing on a factor he mentioned: fossils have been found in wrong places. Does this suggest that evolution or at least the fossil record is in at least some way incorrect or unreliable, or is this an insignificant factor?

Modern genetic analysis shows that ancestors of 90% modern British people came from Eastern Europe around 4500 years ago. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180221131851.htm

If you have a nice example of animals living in symbiosis...

Dear all, I am a researcher in Finance; pretty far from biology. Could you please help me answer the following question? - Can current science deduce the origin of a mammal? For example, it is well circulated that dogs originate from wolves? Can I, with absolute certainty, prove this with the current available science tools? Thanks a lot. Ali

At the risk of sounding simplistic, I wonder how old one could say each human sense is, evolutionarily speaking. I've read that the first sign of what could be called an eye appeared 550 million years ago but what could be said for the other 5 senses? I've read that hearing is in many ways an extension of the sense of touch, and its well known that smell and taste are conflated senses. Could this be the case for other senses (one being and extension of another)? How old could we say the sense of touch is? Assuming it to be a more basic sense, how basic (or old) could a lifeform and still experiencing what we call touch? I'd love to hear any theories on the subject. T…

I'm not sure if this should go here but here is my question. How does hive mind work I know that it is most often associated with bees but what is it and how does it work? Also could we humans develop something like this to use? And yes I know that I could google this but I want to ask some real people that know stuff and not a wiki article.