Evolution, Morphology and Exobiology

I live in Kansas, and recently my AP Government class has begun a debate over the constitutionality of requiring intelligent design to be taught in [biology, science] classes as an alternative to evolutionary theory. I was suprised (and disappointed) to learn that the majority believe in unobjective fairness. That is, that because intelligent design theory has been presented, it is a valid alternative to the "biased" education of evolutionary theory. The argument over the validity of intelligent design (ID) theory as a science is important not only because it would decide the fairness issue (that is, the argument for fairness would be fallacious if ID theory were …

Humans cannot be evoluting as there are too many in the population to get a complete change in the gene pool and everybody regardless of the fitness makes it to reproductive age. Therefore, does this mean that we are just waiting until another species catches up or are we now here for ever? without natural disease do you think humans could ever be competiting for food and shelter again? In a million years will we have changed?

What are the odds of the same heritable mutation occuring in more than one individual during a period of time that spans roughly a couple of generations? I guess that's tough to answer. I just find it odd that several individuals in a population would have the same mutation at the same time, resulting in numerous offspring that have an advantage over the rest of the population.

Does anyone know of any examples of 'dishonest' pheromones, and how these could evolve?

is there a difference between evolution of morphology and evolution of behaviour? any ideas?

Let's say I had a population of some species let's say cockroaches.. and I had a computer that would analyze their dna and compare it to my own. The computer computes a number that tells me how similar my dna is to each of theirs. Anyway, now lets say I keep killing off the cockroaches that resemble my dna the least. Theoretically over time, will I eventually end up with a genetic clone of myself matching my dna perfectly? In which case, my clone evolved from a cockroach. They are given infinite time to turn into a human in the experiment. I've had long discussions about this at other places and we haven't been getting anywhere so if there are any experts in evolution a…

Tell me!!!!

How can I explain the genetic basis of a disorder that occurs with equal frequency among chicks and dudes and that doesn't follow basic patterns of Mendel inheritance??????

Hello scientists Why are mammals and birds warm-blooded? What is the reason behind this? How do we maintain this temperature, some sort of special organ? Why are other animals not warm-blooded? Thank you, bonnie:confused:

My little "science projects in the fridge...leftovers in sealed containers that slowly grow a new civilization of fuzz... The process seems to follow a progression: - Substance seems to, for lack of a better word, "ripen". - juices begin to separate out - a thin layer of slim forms over the the food substance, - small patches of fuzzy growth, - explosive growth of a fuzz colony that spreads rapidly and reaches spectacular heights, - deflation, collapse, dehydration, dust. 1. Is there a scientific name for this developmental process? 2. Are there names for the various stages contained within this process? 3. Is there an a…

Google news previewed this article....The most primitive snake fossil found features hips and fully functional hind legs. Now i am a university graduate and this is just my opinion isn't the loss of the hips and the fully functional hind legs a step BACK on the evolutionary chain

Look here for a timeline of the major evolution events, on a linear scale, which really drives home the relative time scales of the grouping that are given. You'll have to scroll if you don't have a 135 foot wide monitor. (there was a complaint where I first saw this that it didn't display well under IE, but did with Firefox. It was fine on Safari for me)

During a lengthy discussion with various colleagues, we came across the topic of Aryan characteristics (blonde hair, blue eyes) and one of my friends suggested that the trait evolved to make persons more distinguished amongst black haired and eyed people, thereby making it easier to find breeding partners. if anyone have any idea/explinations into the cause of Aryan genetics, please respond.

Okay, so I just returned from Everglades National Park, and I noticed something that Charles Darwin noticed when he went to the Galopogas Islands: the animals fit their environment almost perfectly. The everglades is one of the only sub-tropical places on Earth, and so plants and animals from temperate climates and tropical climates clash together. For this to happen, temperate animals must adjust to the dry and wet seasons. What I noticed is that some frogs that I can easily find near my house in Michigan (the same species) that can only go weeks without water near my home can go months without water in the Everglades. I think this alone proves that animals can c…

After reading this thought provoking article I began to wonder what role, if any would be played by the human being starting at a temperature of 98.6 degrees whereas most prey species appear to start at body core temperatures over 100 degrees and up? I assume that cooling ability and the adaptation of sweat glands would be much more significant in a long chase but could a lower initial temperature confer an evolutionary advantage as well? Are there large land mammals with lower starting body temperatures than humans have?

alright i was reading and watching alot about genetic engineering and about how scientists can manipulate certain genes, find what function it creates and change the gene to what they want to. Now this question might sound stupid, but is it possible that if scientists manipulated the key genetic difference (2% or so) that seperates us from Great Apes, they could infact cause a form of devolution , so the individual who is inserted with this changed DNA will have many qualties, characteristics, and similarties to some of our recent ancestors. I do know that there is a difference in the amount of chromosomes between humans and great apes. However i also read recent…

For how long has the current genome of the human species remained unchanged. That is, how old is the modern human being? I've been told we are 100,000 years old. Is this true (roughly)?

in tenth grade biology we are making animals, mine has a cobra head, pteradactyls wings and scales, and a stegosaurus tail. messed up huh?! private message me with your answer

i thought i'd go fishing for any ideas that people may have regarding the evolution of adaptive immunity. for those who don't know what adaptive immunity is, it is the part of the immune system that is involved with pathogen processing and specific recognition. within our lifetime, our immune systems undergo evolution, of course its capacity to do so does ultimately influence our final evolution. from a thread last week, i raised the point that the first appearance of molecules which are central to the adaptive immune response date back 400-450 million years ago/the Devonshire period in sharks/cartilaginous fish. in this same thread, another writer pointed out tha…

I don't think anybody has posted this yet, so I'll put it up. It's not really surprising, but it is good to finally find what everyone knew had to be somewhere.

How do you handle the 1,000,000 dice comparison with evolution?

What are they? I know they don't excist anymore but I need it for an extra credit project. Please help me.

Well, i dont feel that way. however i was wondering how scientists alike respond to the statement that for a cell to create spontaneously would take 1 x 10 to the 40000th years. I feel this view pigeon holes the listener into thinking it requires every step up to the final step of the cell's creation to be valid. While, if we look at that statement being a logical assertion, a cell that fell slightly short, lets say to the 39999 years would be irrelevant, as per their reasoning. They compare this to the construction of a boeing 747 (as im sure we've all heard this) and that the possibility for the atoms to construct this mass in its entirety is identical. I feel this is a…

Remember the 'Ice Man' they pulled out of one of your glaciers? That was an amazing snapshot of the past (when was he dated?) . I do think I read that autopsy found something like fifty - 50! - different kinds of seeds in his gut. This gives me a pretty clear answer to the question, what did we used to eat? Answer: everything we could. Seems to me that grass fields were being gathered and threshed. Is this how we approached agriculture?

Is it possible to take 2 female eggs and reproduce? Stupid question maybe but I heard something about it .....anyone else hear this information?