Evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, and evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. The biodiversity of life evolves by means of mutations, genetic drift and natural selection.
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Is T. rex more similar to sparrows than stegosaurus?
From XKCD:
XKCD comic 1211 claims that the anatomy of sparrows and T. rex are more similar than those of T. rex and stegosaurus. While it looks like neither T. rex nor sparrows would be any good at ...
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life and the total solar eclipse - syzygy [closed]
This is more to do with mathematical ( not religious creationism ) probability of chances of life and with those numbers how is the whole scientific method of evolution not a skeptical subject ( ...
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0answers
53 views
Is there a reason for the different size of people? [closed]
It is no prejudice that people from Japan are usually smaller than from central europe. Is there any regional reason for that different evolutionary development(food etc.)?
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67 views
If Evolution is true where are all the fossils? [duplicate]
The problem of large gaps within the fossil record has never been fully explained by evolutionists, beyond that however is a more deeply troubling question which many "skeptics" seem unwilling to ...
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1answer
343 views
Is there a disparity between the number of US schools teaching creationism and the population's desire?
Concerning Evolution and Creation being taught in public schools, is there a disparity between the majority opinion and the extent that each is taught?
This web site says:
Fifty studies were ...
9
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1answer
321 views
Is cancer a trade off to enable faster evolution?
In an interview on pop-sci magazine "The Scientist", Dr. Robert Austin from Princeton is asserting that:
It’s a tradeoff, he says, for the rapid evolution our species has leveraged to become the ...
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1answer
962 views
Is Tehran suffering from a plague of mutant cat-sized rats?
Today, the local newspaper breathlessly reported on an unusual development in Tehran:
TEHRAN has deployed snipers to fight an invasion of hyper-evolved "mutant rats", which officials say grew ...
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1answer
311 views
Are there any experiments that prove evolution? [closed]
If I want to teach some kids about optics, there are simple experiments with lenses and mirrors etc that they can perform which demonstrate optics. Similarly for the other sciences. Has anyone come up ...
13
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1answer
421 views
Do (some) Louisiana schools teach the Loch Ness Monster as evidence for creationism?
A came across this article on addictinginfo.org. It quotes from this article in the Scotland Herald, describing Accelerated Christian Education in Louisiana. I quote:
One ACE textbook – Biology ...
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3answers
833 views
+100
Does homosexuality preserve the species?
From The Huffington Post:
For even without a causal link established between homosexuality and population management, the obvious reduction in population growth attributable to homosexuality by ...
6
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1answer
805 views
Are most people right handed, because they had to protect their heart?
In this thesis, the following explanation was given for why the majority of people are right handed:
Primitive hunters needed to protect their most vital organ of the body
(the heart), so their ...
2
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0answers
21 views
Is the rate of Human Evolution Slowing down? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is human evolution slowing down?
I know that this question already exists and have read through. Is human evolution slowing down?
Mutations have to happen agreed, but ...
3
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0answers
224 views
Is intelligence declining due to the lack of selection pressure?
I have read lately that human intelligence has already peaked and that it will slowly decline over time because humans are no longer naturally selected for intelligence (Darwin award winners aside). ...
12
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1answer
2k views
Are women more sensitive to high-pitched noises than men?
On Season 1, Episode 2 of The Big Bang Theory, characters Sheldon and Leonard are sneaking around in Penny's room. In order not to wake her, Sheldon warns Leonard to be careful to make pitched noises. ...
3
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1answer
294 views
Evidence for early Earth's atmosphere
What best evidences there are that demonstrate what Earth was like in its early years? According to this video Earth started out with no oxygen in its atmosphere. And according to this link the ...
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1answer
330 views
What are the consequences of not believing in evolution? [closed]
Some of my more religious friends ask me questions about evolution. Sometimes I can answer them, sometimes I have to tell them to Google for the answer and let them know that if they're really ...
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3answers
2k views
Is the theory of evolution disproved by bats?
For some species, the Darwin's theory of evolution makes perfect sense to me. I can easily imagine how, for example, the giraffe has evolved to its current appearance: the natural selection was ...
2
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2answers
354 views
Are Genetic Algorithms evidence to support evolution? [closed]
As a software developer, Genetic Algorithms helped me understand evolution.
I stumbled across this page written by creationists, that claims they do not support evolution because the cross over ...
24
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4answers
839 views
Is physical beauty correlated with health?
There is a widespread claim that we use beauty in the selection of a partner as a proxy to their overall health. The idea is that this is an evolutionary adaptation.
Are there any studies to confirm ...
2
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0answers
65 views
Did humans used to be a lot smaller on average? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Were people shorter in the middle ages?
When talking about human evolution, I've heard several people comment that humans used to be a lot smaller, and that we can tell ...
2
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0answers
136 views
Is there legitimate scientific debate about evolution? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Demonstrable and repeatable examples of evolution
Does "The Fossil Record" evidence sufficiently support evolution?
Have we observed evolution through natural selection ...
12
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5answers
550 views
Has natural occuring genetic insertion ever been observed in direct offspring of some organism?
Maybe this is somewhat of an ignorant question of me, and in all honesty I haven't tried very hard to find what I'm looking for1, but I keep hearing the argument that "information" can never be added ...
8
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2answers
825 views
Is Lamarckian evolution still considered credible?
I had thought that Lamarckian evolution had been essentially dismissed in favour of Darwinian evolution. Lamarckian evolution as I understand it is essentially the idea that the traits an organism ...
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2answers
415 views
Does evolutionary psychology predict that humans will be more altruistic to those who are similar?
I read that in "The Red Queen" by Matt Ridley. Racism and xenophobes are samples of these behavior.
Is this true? And if it's true, how does that work?
For example. Evolutionary psychology predict ...
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0answers
91 views
Is/was any research done on cosmological origins of life? [closed]
I understand that Abiogenesis is currently the accepted theory for origin of life.
Are/were there any thorough scientific studies done on possibility of seeding of life from cosmological factors? ...
6
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1answer
2k views
Do bacteria become immune to antibiotics if you don't complete your course of them?
Every time a doctor gives you antibiotics, they ask you to finish all of them, even if you might feel fine after taking only part of the package.
Most searches on Google says that if I don't finish ...
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1answer
594 views
Did Lucretius write about evolution and natural selection?
Robert Krulwich of NPR claims that Professor Stephen Greenblatt claims that Lucretius (around 99-55BC) said:
... moving randomly through space, like dust motes in a sunbeam, colliding, hooking ...
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2answers
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Are apes our ancestors?
I've heard that apes are our ancestors (ranging from chimpanzee to bonobo to gorilla).
Is this true? Can we live side-by-side with our ancestors? I always thought we used to have a common ancestor ...
24
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3answers
2k views
Are only 700 out of 480,000 life scientists creationists?
I've seen this claim stated in many places, for example the talk.origins FAQ:
Of the scientists and engineers in the United States, only about 5% are creationists, according to a 1991 Gallup poll ...
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1answer
310 views
Would increased grip on prune fingers prove that they are evolutionarily advantageous? [closed]
The article Water-Logged 'Prune' Fingers Grip Better suggests that prune fingers - the ones that we get when we keep our hands wet for a long time - might be an evolutionary strategy to give us a ...
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3answers
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Have any transitional fossils (missing links) been found?
When animals evolve, they go into transitional states, when they were still in the process of evolving and haven't reached its complete change. There are bound to be organisms in the transitional ...
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3answers
703 views
Do prions qualify as living and, if so, do they argue for a second origin of life?
Not sure if there's a better Stack Exchange for this, but How could Darwin be sure all life has a common origin triggered this question.
As I understand it, prions are pretty much protein-based ...
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2answers
826 views
How could Darwin be sure all life has a common origin
I don't recall exactly the words he used, but to the best of my recollection Darwin was quite certain that all living things share a common ancestor.
First of all, is this correct?
Second, and more ...
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3answers
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Why do cats and dogs fight?
From our daily experience we know that most of the time cats and dogs are involved in fights rather than in expressions of affection. Is there an evolutionary basis(justification) for this?
Why would ...
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5answers
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Does the theory of evolution contradict the second law of thermodynamics?
I was reading about the Law of Thermodynamics, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics really interested me because the Law apparently stated that in any isolated system, the entropy of that system will ...
3
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1answer
258 views
Is MRSGREN correct? [closed]
In school, we are taught that all living things have these properties:
Movement
Respiration
Sensitivity
Growth
Reproduction
Excretion
Nutrition
I'm sceptical. Do all living things posses these ...
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3answers
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Demonstrable and repeatable examples of evolution
Are there examples of evolution that can be demonstrated as proof that evolution occurs and is a useful mechanism for making predictions?
Some examples that come to mind include:
Animal husbandry ...
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3answers
1k views
Is human evolution slowing down?
It has been said that the human race has basically hit a point where any further evolution is essentially unnecessary: protection from most harmful diseases is provided by medicine, we have very few ...
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2answers
438 views
Have we observed evolution through natural selection in areas of high child/youth mortality?
It has been suggested to me that human evolution has slowed or halted because natural selection no longer "weeds out the weak" before they get a chance to reproduce.
However, there are still places ...
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4answers
2k views
Does DNA add credibility to the theory of evolution?
I have yet to make up my mind regarding the theory of evolution. Whilst doing some reading on dnafish I read that DNA itself provides evidence for the theory of evolution:
Yeast, trees, flowers, ...
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3answers
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What is the commonly accepted mechanism that causes people to experience pareidolia?
I often see cases of pareidolia reported in the news, on blogs, and even here. I think remember reading in Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan that this had an evolutionary origin (i.e. if you see a ...
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3answers
5k views
Were people shorter in the middle ages?
In many castles or museums you'll find medieval armor, belonging to a knight. Those are often very small compared to the average human nowadays. I've heard this explained multiple times as being due ...
29
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1answer
2k views
What's the origin of kissing?
From COSMOS Magazine - Science of Smooching (2007):
Mystery still surrounds the motive for that very first kiss.
As anthropologist Helen Fisher, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, notes, ...
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4answers
4k views
Does “The Fossil Record” evidence sufficiently support evolution?
According to Darwin, the absence of intermediate fossil forms “is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory.” What new fossil finds, if any, have occurred since ...
