A0140153X | Soon Hao Jing
USS Week 11 Essay
1 November 2015
Question: (1) Has evolution ever really been ‘seen’ in the lab? (2) How has enough time elapsed since the beginning of life on Earth to account for the kind of development into complexity claimed by evolution? (3) Isn’t the argument from evolution the equivalent of claiming that a bunch of parts in a junkyard might be ‘blindly’ assembled into a functional airplane through the lifeless, brainless power of the wind?
1 - Evolution occurs in a population over many generations, which usually means we would not live long enough to see the outcome of it. However, in species where the lifespan is short and succeeding generations spring up in a short time, observing evolution is possible. Such a species favoured by scientists working in labs would be the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. One study was able to evince signs of evolution in a population which had been selected for resistance to drought conditions. Of course, while the experimenters artificially imposed conditions on the Drosophila populations to compel artificial selection, it does not affect the validity of the observations. Outside the lab, it is merely
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Critics may argue that evolution, being blind and unguided, cannot produce its results - life as we know it - in such a timespan. However, with self-replicating chemicals (like DNA or RNA), a reliable source of energy (the sun), and a vast surface area and lots of water, organic chemicals and other substances, and a vast amount of time (a year alone has over half a million minutes), it is not difficult to imagine how life could have proliferated, diversified and evolved over aeons, after first appearing as a self-sustaining system supporting and supported by a series of chemical processes happening in tandem and interacting with the
Lastly is artificial selection, which was one of the main pieces of evidence that Darwin used to identify his theory on evolution. Darwin studied and showed how the selective breeding of crops and animals led to highly specialized varieties with unique traits. By studying this he was able to see first hand how evolution can occur by artificial selection. An example would be the Great Dane. Thousands of years ago, the Great Dane was a medium sized breed, but due to artificial selection, humans were able to create a large breed of Great Dane.
1. Define evolution. There are many parameters and conditions that need to be in place in order for evolution to occur. One such parameter is that the population trait in question must be variable. i.e., there will be variations of a trait found in the population. What are some additional parameters and conditions necessary for evolution to take place?
Every since the publication of the Origins of Species in 1859, the theory of evolution has been generally accepted by scientists around the world, that is, until 1996 when Michael Behe published his book Darwin's Black Box, calling the theory of evolution into question. The theory of evolution states that individual single point mutations in DNA give rise to the development of new characteristics in species. If these new characteristics are advantageous for survival, then the genes are passed down to new generations. As these characteristics are accumulated, new species develop. However, while most scientists have accepted evolution as a scientific fact, they have yet to answer some basic fundamental questions about the process itself. Michael Behe points to this and proposes that the reason scientists do not yet have all the answers regarding the processes behind evolution is because they have failed to see the intelligent design that lies within it. The author asserts that the "data of biochemistry argues strongly that many molecular machines in the cell could not have arisen through a step-by-step process of natural selection"¦much of the molecular machinery in the cell is irreducibly complex." (Bohlin, 2000, p. 103)
Evolution is the key thread running throughout this text, signifying its importance to the author and readers. It is emphasized greatly because that is how we understand ourselves, our past, present and even the future. Through evolution we have discovered when the first organisms came around and how modifications led to the first fish to migrate to land about 375 million years
According to Dr. James Krupa of The University of Kentucky “evolution is the foundation upon which all biology rests.” In biology, evolution is the genetic change in characteristics over generations and is dependent on the process of natural selection. ‘The theory of evolution is based on the idea that all species are related and gradually change over time’ (Genome Campus, 2017). Genetic variation is vital to evolution as it affects the physical characteristics or phenotypes of morphology. Natural Selection is affected by environmental factors that act upon a population and result in the mutation of organism through offspring. These mutations enable individuals to adapt to their environments in order to survive, find food, avoid predators and
Adam Smith and Karl Marx are both well known for being the “fathers” of two economic systems, capitalism and communism. Smith and Marx both had very strong views on their own respective favored economic systems. Although, Marx praised communism and thought it was an ideal economic system, Smith on the other hand was one of capitalism’s harshest critic. Their views on capitalism and communism eventually became philosophies that both economists believed would lead to an ideal society. Their views on the most ideal economic system is vastly different but there are also some similarities.
In the fall of the House of Usher, the setting, plot, characters, and imagery, creates a unique unity of sadness and gloomy tone. A woman also returns from the dead in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The story’s narrator is summoned by his boyhood friend Roderick Usher to visit him during a period of emotional distress. The narrator discovers that Roderick’s twin sister, Madeline, is also sick. She takes a turn for the worse shortly after the narrator’s arrival, and the men bury Madeline in a tomb within the house. They later discover, to their horror, that they have entombed her alive. Madeline claws her way out, collapsing eventually on Roderick, who dies in fear (Poe).
Evolution theory is not true because it gives a vague explanation of how the world developed to be what it is today and it also fails to explain why it is no longer going on today. As absurd as it is there are people in the world today who believe it majority of them being atheist.
The definition of evolution is that species over time will change. They will start to adapt over time and become a new species. You see this happening throughout the world and over the course of our planets history. In this lab we will be testing different hypothesis and observing them to make conclusions if they can be justified or not. There are three different parts first is the Artificial and Natural selection, the second is the fossil record, third is comparative anatomy, biochemistry, embryology and the last is Biogeography.
Evolution is a change over time in species to adapt to new environments. Evolution has been a known fact now, but not all people believe in it. Some believe that evolution is a myth, or a lie. There is evidence that evolution is real.
When Charles Darwin came up with his theory of evolution. The only way he could measure evolution was to compare physical attributes. For example, Darwin picked up on the physical variation of finches when they're located in different parts of the world. Today, we have technological advancements that make it easier to analyze and "measure" evolution. The discovery of DNA and Dominant/ Recessive genes surged forward the study of evolution. It provided an explanation of which/ why certain genes were inherited and others were not. This also backs up natural selection. The best organisms survived and their traits were then genetically passed down to their offsprings. In "Evolution caught in the act: Scientists measure how quickly genomes change"
I was scrolling down my timeline I think about a week before I started this class. Upon scrolling, I came across this video of an ape that could communicate English, a human language of course, on the Oprah show. It got me to thinking, “Wow, what if what scientists say is true? Are species really evolving? Is evolution a possible truth?”. Is evolution true? A question that many are determined to answer. To be completely truthful, before I took this class I had little knowledge of evolution. After tireless research, I have gained plenty of knowledge of the subject. Evolution is a theory, a great theory at that, but it is just a theory. There is no concrete evidence to validate this theory. I believe both Darwinists and Creationists have great
Upon his return to London Darwin concluded thorough research of his notes and specimens many ideas. Out of this study grew several related theories: one, evolution did occur, two, evolutionary change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years, three, the primary mechanism for evolution was a process called natural selection, and four, the millions of species alive today arose from a single original life form through a branching process called "specialization."
The argument that cannabis or marijuana is bad for you has been around since the early 1930s. In fact, prior to this time period cannabis and hemp was widely used and produced for many sectors of the economy as well as recreational consumption. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed by congress; effectively criminalizing all uses of the plant. Since this time cannabis has been a topic of discussion and argument. Recently, the US has seen a few states legalize cannabis while others continue to charge and persecute citizens for it’s use. The article titled “The case for marijuana legalization just got stronger” by Christopher Ingraham was written at the tail end of 2015. The article, published by The Washington Post, claims that despite the
The question 5 for evolutionists might not be clearly stated nowadays. Nonetheless, almost everybody believes that biological pathways might have originated from old forms of life. Some opinions are that organisms might have not being as simple as we might have expected. This idea explains the possible for an ancestral organism to have possessed at least a remotely similar mechanism that could have made modern biological pathways possible. Other ideas revolve around the fact that natural selection (a mechanism that advocates for survival and successful reproduction) was the responsible for it, allowing mutations to modify already existing structures into more complex patterns. Nevertheless, there is no way to check all of the existing reasoning since it is not possible to go back in time. But, although the questions seem hard to assess- given the amount of blind spots that we have to come up with to completely understand evolution- new discoveries happen every day. It might be a matter of time before these answers can be conveniently addressed with better substantial evidence that might still be missing in the meantime.