FreeThinker

For a long time I was convinced that microevolution (e.g. the evolution of different breeds of dogs, the Galapagos finches an so on…) over millions of years would lead to Macroevolution (appearance of new species). However, I now question this. Microevolution is the selection of particular alleles under the pressure of natural selection. Macroevolution is completley different. It is by the appearance of new genes, new characteristics and is therefore driven solely by mutations ( Allready known and accepted by the scientific community). My reasoning is quiet simple, no matter how much you shuffle the existing genes around; they will still be compatible with each other. This would explain why we get such large phenotypic differences in the breeds of dogs, yet any two breeds can still produce fertile offspring between them. Basically, without mutations there can be no speciation, and ultimately, macroevolution is not just microevolution over long periods of time. I am assuming a couple of things here; 1) the breeds of dogs (which are the most common example of microevolution) derived from the wolf are the result of selection of alleles and not mutations 2) same goes for the Galapagos finches. I don’t doubt that macroevolution happens, I just dont think that it is microevolution in the long run. Discuss. Btw, this is not some creationist attack on evolution, infact I am studing to become an evolutionary biologists. This is just something thats been in my head for the last couple of days and I feel it will make an interasting discussion.

Hey all, I went through a very rough time recently. Mostly becaouse of stereotyping and people spreading rumors. This was not a highschool scale problem, it could have had a huge impact on my life. However, justice came through, even if some people did not. So I feel like talking about opinions, stereotypes and their infliuence on sociaty. Please leave your 2c as I feel it is an important topic. Forming an option about someone should be a careful and rational procedure. It is often too easy to assume or borrow opinions from others. However, assuming and stereotyping are rarely reflections of reality. How do you know that person said that? How do you know he did that? Answers to these questions, and others, should be answered carefully and thoroughly, as they can have a large impact on the person concerned. In most cases, and I would argue all cases, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The problem with the previous statement is that the word innocent is followed by until. This “until” carries with it a lot of doubt. A person who isn’t getting the blame for something is always assumed to be more “innocent” than the person who is getting blamed, even though they haven’t been prosecuted. This is wrong, horribly wrong. Society consists of communities, who consist of individuals who are influenced by other individuals. For example, let’s assume person Y says something about person X. This opinion of Y spreads throughout the community like the plague. Soon enough, the whole society has formed an opinion about X, even though the original opinion could have just been a fragment of Y’s imagination. Are all opinions bound to have an influence in the society? Yes, but their survival value varies ( escuse the Dawkins talk). Some opinions will have a better survival rate than others. For example, if I told you “John was playing soccer today” you might pass it on to a few people but soon enough the rumor would die off. However, if I told you “John kissed Peters girlfriend Andréa” you would probably pass the rumor on to a lot more people (who would in turn spread it around further). Furthermore, "John hit Andrea " would even have a greater survival value. Eventually, a thought that was originally nothing more than a though, has spread its roots throughout the community. The effects can be disastrous. What can we do to stop this trend? As a society , nothing. Only as individuals can we change, and than the society will change as well. So how do we do it? The answer is rationality. Every opinion should be backed up by facts. Opinions change, facts stay the same. Facts might be hard to obtain, but questions can be asked. “How do you know John kissed Andrea?”, “Did you see him hit his girlfriend”. These questions should be followed up by further questions. Nothing should ever be accepted at face value. Truth is important. When buying a car you don’t take the dealers advice that the car works fine ( well, I hope you don’t). You take the car for a test drive, have it looked at by a mechanic and ask numerous questions before paying the money for it. Opinions about people should be no different. They should never, ever, be accepted just because someone said so. If you don’t have evidence, you should not have an opinion. Letting out some fustration, FreeThinker

I will follow the trend of this post, and quote Dawkins “If we wiped out most of the living organisms on this planet besides bacteria, we would still preserve around 95% of life’s diversity”. (Actually, I don’t think Dawkins invented the phase, but he used it in his book The Ancestors Tale). To be successful, and to have a long linage on the evolutionary tree, you have to be prokaryotic. If we go back to when the first single cellular organisms appeared, than suddenly jump to the present, we could be forgiven for assuming that they are the only organisms on the planet (with a few exceptions to the rule). I don’t know what this rule would be ‘summed up” as. Maybe, simplicity is vital for long term survival.

I think the problem is that the "Islamic extemists" do not take the Quran literally...

http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/postmonth/apr04.html Nylon is an artificial material first made in the 1930's. It is found nowhere else in nature. You can imagine the surprise on the face of two Japanese scientists when they discovered bacteria that are capable of digesting nylon. The bacteria, Flavobacterium, do this by a specific protein named nylonase. Since nylon is only around 60 years old, this is a benefitial mutation which gave rise to a novel characteristic in a very short ammount of time. I have not been able to get my hand on the acctual paper by the two Japanese scientists and the information on the internet is rare at best.Despite my best efforts, the link above, from talk origins, is the best information I could find. Can anyone provide some additional links?

I managed to find an even stupider attempt. No words can explain how pathetic these people are. Evolution: god satan occult

That is what he is claiming. He obviously doesn't understand that the 4 letters of DNA translate into 20 amino acids , which can translate into a unimaginable number of different proteins.

Dr. Phil Fernandes on evolution Please have a listen to this guy. It is far beyond ridicules, it is unbelievable! Where do they get these people from? The funniest thing is how he described, rightly so, that DNA and said that mutations do not add new letters, they just mix up the existing ones. But than he used this as his argument that novel characteristics could not evolve! This guy makes Dr. Dino look like a genius. OK, maybe not. Corrected. The link works now.

Nice post Bascule. I am not suprised by the result from Turket or the USA.

The way he said it was wrong. No doubt about it. What he said, is his opinion. Freedom of speach, I think thats what you call it in America.

Sadam...

So where is the end to this? How long will Israel continue to bomb Lebanon? There is no way can they destroy Hezbollah. How do they expect to kill everyone in their organisation? Meanwhile, the eyes have been taken off Iran. Who are , no doubt, getting closer to building a nuclear bomb. Depending on how far this conflict reachers, that might no even be neccessary. I can think of a muslim country in close vasinity with nuclear capabilities. *Cough* *Cough* Pakistan *Cough* *Cough*

You have to trust yourself. When I was doing my networking diploma , I truly loved science.But I was so scared of taking it. There was no-one in the world who could convince me that I would succeed . I had so much self doubt but I enrolled anyway. My passion to learn really did overcome any self confidence issues. After the first semester I got 2 D's and 1 HD. This was a big step for me. Trust me, if you truly want to do something , YOU CAN DO IT. There is nothing in the world that can stop you as long as you have the passion. "Don't be afraid of failing, be afraid of not trying" someones quote.

So if America is legally able to use nuclear weapons, does that mean North Korea is as well? What about Iran? Come to think of it, what about Israel? Would Israel argue that the current situation in the middle east justifies the use of nuclear bombs? If not, how much more "reason" is necessary? Make no mistake, this is the path to the destruction of our species. The fact is it only has to happen once. Just one country to launch a strike and its all over. This is a big step in that direction.

Hmmmm... This is a joke, right?

I finished my Networking Diploma last year. I actually really enjoyed it and am running my own business now ( mostly network support/implementation). It really depends on what you like. Network Engineering requires the ability to be a good problem solver but the same thing would propobly apply to programmin as well. I enjoy working in the field as you come across all kinds of problems. You have to ask yourself; "do I really want to troubleshoot for my career". That's what it really comes down to. The pressure can get pretty intense as well. I am currently doing a Programming subject in my Science degree. From my experience so far, I would rather be a network engineer than a software developer.

How would the body generate ATP without food?

My reading habit is similar to yours, bascule. However, there are exceptions. I am currently reading five books. Most of these books are lengthy and I need a change every few chapters. But when a really good book comes along I can finish it withing a day or two. I have been reading The Ancestors Tale for a few months now. I find that with this book I have to really take it slow to remember the correct sequence of all the pilgrims ( if you havent/arent read/ing the book , dont worry) and in what time period they appeared. Now that University is on again I will be stuck in my text books. Speaking of homework...

Upon some further research I found this forum: http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12887 Some guy on there did a whois on the site and gathered this information: Registrant: ROCnet Data Designs 8 Great Oak Lane South China, Maine 04358 United States Registered through: GoDaddy.com (http://www.godaddy.com) Domain Name: WHATISTHESECRET.TV Created on: 13-Sep-05 Expires on: 14-Sep-06 Last Updated on: 16-Oct-05 Administrative Contact: OConnor, Robert godaddySPLATrocnet.com ROCnet Data Designs 8 Great Oak Lane South China, Maine 04358 United States (207) ###-#### Technical Contact: OConnor, Robert godaddySPLATrocnet.com ROCnet Data Designs 8 Great Oak Lane South China, Maine 04358 United States (207) ###-#### Domain servers in listed order: NS.RACKSPACE.COM NS2.RACKSPACE.COM so it leads back to http://www.rocnet.com And than he found out that it leads to some site called powerfulintentions.com. This is a spiritual site. Someone also posted the blog of the site: http://what-is-the-secret.blogspot.com/ And finaly some dude from that forum that watched the movie posted this spoiler:

To me it looks like a cheap imitation of the Da Vinci Code. But I only watched the trailer. What I gather from the trailer/forums is that its some amazing miracle 'secret' that will make everyone who watches the movie rich and intelligent. Just looks like a scam to be honest. I mean they charge $5 per view of the movie. If they really knew this amazing secret, couldnt they just make millions of dollars in other ways? I am very sceptical and my first reaction is that it is a scam! Oh yeah, the music in the trailer reminds me of the Da Vinci Code as well!

Interesting! I wonder how much more genetic information they can retrieve!

ecoli, I have to go out now. So I have no time for a lengthy discussion. However, in relation to: I found that really funny. Are you suggesting that the terrorists were on the beach getting some tan so they can look good for the 72 virgins? The people 'attacked' by the Israeli ship were AT THE BEACH WITH THEIR CHILDREN!

Are they going to challenge the Israeli military? Of course not. Israels army would walk all over the Lebanese, or Palestinian, army. However, by 'harboring terrorists' they can still put up a fight. I am not defending the terrorists, I am just being realistic. Both of us know that this is a witness-less case. Isreal will say it was by accident with the opposite side claiming the alternative. How would America react if North Korea "accidentally" launched a nuclear bomb on an American city? How long did they have to leave? Where would they go. Common, be realistic. Both sides, the Israeli and Arabs, have been raised to hate the other side. One has an overwhelming army, the other has its terrorist tactics. Kidnapping a soldier is one thing, bombing an international airport, is another. Hardcore fundamentalism on both sides , if you ask me.

I have not made up my mind about the issue. One Israeli solider was kidnapped, so they bomb a whole country. Lets not forget that just a few weeks ago the Israelis fired at the beach of Palestine killing innocent civilians. It is not justified to put the blame solely on the Arabs , Israel has much to answer for themselves. I do not want to see this escalate. But if Israel continues their attacks , I see no other alternative for the Arabs.

If you used CAPITAL letters and structured your sentences properly, it might make your posts less agonising to read!