"...in sufficiently large populations, every possible mutation in the genome should be present"
WOW

a solid christmas-time lecture by a young richard dawkins

Is There a Massive Deep Biosphere That Preceded Life on Earth's Surface? World's Leading Expert Says "Yes"

this theory is really important... we'll see its application in economics and social networks in the coming decade.

hope, in the race against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

:)

From the page: "Some hospitals fear lawsuits. If they screened every patient, results would show who already had the germ upon admission, and who picked it up while in the hospital. Patients could then blame the hospital for their infections."

~

a case of health vs marketing. i'm concerned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria have the potential to wipe us off the planet

From the page: "Infection by the memes of television advertising is more likely among inexperienced, uneducated, or unsophisticated individuals. Children are more likely to catch these infections than adults; highly educated individuals who have previously been infected to some degree by the skepticism meme are much more resistant. A strongly developed sense of humor also appears to confer a high degree of resistance, perhaps because humor and skepticism are related by way of irony. "

i love when people debate in a reasonable manner :) see page's comments

yikes, the page's comments :( it seems like non-scientists still don't understand that populations of creatures change over time, adapting to their environments. sometimes two populations of creatures grow different enough from each other that they can't interbreed anymore. we call those "species". this process happens continuously, and today we have many many populations of very different creatures that cannot interbreed.

i'm no geneticist, but this argument strikes me as ridiculous

treating darwin as a prophet almost works *better*... considering the astounding accuracy of his (now revised & extended) theory

the results of selection are easy and fun to observe :)

wouldn't it be cool to have a separate, mandatory Creation class, in which several well-known scenarios about the creation of the universe are taught, and then kids debate over which one is best? :D

good bye polar bears :(

wasn't oxygen was also toxic, before being exploited...

:D that sums things up nicely. thanks to ar0cketman

improving people's health by helping germs evolve. it's real, and a real good idea. swiped from caffeina. note: presentation is bumpy, but the message is an important one

i'll bet this applies to economics as well, with money in the place of entropy. in which case, individuals are being out-competed by giant "money-processing" businesses like banks and investment funds

interesting how this stuff is becoming all out in the open nowadays

based on newly discovered principles of animal locomotion, Robert Full introduces robots surprisingly agile for their simple construction (one of them, RHex, is really cute!)

another interesting format for holding general arguments. saved for future reference.

ignoring the content, i kind of like this format of argumentation. saved for future reference.

granted this is an article about sarcasm, and is written in sarcastic style, but it's simply not informative, and may in fact be misleading. i'd file it under humor, but i didn't find it funny either :(

it's the ending that's funny! the *reason* is that an evolutionary sequence like the one shown is supposed to have happened over *billions* of years :D

this was a cool experiment in evolution... with really quick results

a key discovery about the nature of evolution, from the world's longest running evolution experiment. lifted from clickmonkey

huh, xenophiles

clever birds

aliens. if they're not around here already, then are they anywhere at all? and what does this mean for our own future?

From the page: "This challenges the fundamental assumptions of why such specializations occur in nature, Ungar said. It shows that animals can develop an extreme degree of specialization without the specialized object becoming a preferred resource."

From the page: "Science is brutal...theories that cannot hold up to withering scrutiny do not survive, and scientists are always interested in being the one to discover something new, even if that "something new" is the proof that a theory is wrong."

// yes, how easily we forget that

a vicious cycle triggered by pollutants :(

a tragic comedy about modern times, written in biblical style. the hilarious opening chapter highlights the current conflict over creationism.

t-rex, tastes like chicken

looking at the evidence all over again and confirming theory from the ground up

From the page: "low doses of toxins lead to longer lifespans and enhanced growth"

// an interesting follow-up for that story about toxins a day or two ago

oddly enough, the researchers sound perplexed by this finding... but it makes perfect sense for animals to evolve reward-seeking behavior when the natural toxins are benefiting them

i'm not happy with the argument, and i still think mixing logic and faith is inherently a bad idea... but, the evolutionary explanation of infanticide in animals is fascinating

maybe this is splitting hairs, but technically humans are not descended from apes :)

harry kroto, the sean connery of chemistry, gives us a peek at experiments that model life's beginnings

ice: petri dish for pre-life?

this would be fun to participate in

she may not know whether the world is flat, but fortunately, she can just look it up: Search Google...

cool!!

Good explanation!