And now pluto is no longer a planet

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by Kailassa

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Now first I need to explain that there are two theories of pancakes.
One is that pancakes are made by mixing flour, milk and eggs to a batter and frying it.
The other theory is that Mother did it.

Be accurate if you use sarcasm!

More correctly it would be like telling kids there are two theories of pancakes:
1. If you put flour, milk, and eggs in a bowl, with enough time they will form pancakes all on their own.
2. If you believe really hard, and pray to the correct deity, pancakes will be yours.

Your original sarcasm was slanted toward one view, when both views are equally weak and ridiculous on their own!

Evolutionary anthropologists now say that Homo sapiens existed for at least 185,000 years before agriculture began, during which time the world population of humans was roughly constant, between one and ten million. All that time they were burying their dead, often with artifacts. By that scenario, they would have buried at least eight billion bodies. If the evolutionary time scale is correct, buried bones should be able to last for much longer than 200,000 years, so many of the supposed eight billion stone age skeletons should still be around (and certainly the buried artifacts). Yet only a few thousand have been found.

Since 1953, scientists have been able to synthesize amino acids in their laboratories. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Now they have created a building block of RNA. What the scientists have done in months of work, in lab flasks, nature apparently did in the vast oceans and shores of Earth over millions of years.

This is powerful evidence that life arose on Earth quite naturally. Opponents of this explanation for life’s origin claim that it’s ludicrous to expect inert chemicals to just happen to randomly combine in such a way as to produce life. The probabilities strain belief, they say.

But chemicals don’t combine at random, as anyone who has suffered through high-school chemistry will remember. Chemicals are rather choosy about how they combine. Scientists have shown how simple chemicals tend to build up into more complex molecules, producing an “organic soup” in which all the ingredients for life were present.

Now they have produced the building blocks both for proteins and RNA. No special outside force needed: ordinary organic chemistry does the job.

In time, researchers will produce living cells out of non-living chemicals. Test-tube life. Not a Frankenstein monster but a single cell that lives, eats, moves and reproduces.

Religious faithful need not be dismayed, though. If you believe that God created life on Earth (and on other worlds, too) all the scientists are doing are showing the steps involved in the creation.

"Understanding evolution is essential to identifying and treating disease," said Harvey Fineberg, president of IOM. "For example, the SARS virus evolved from an ancestor virus that was discovered by DNA sequencing. Learning about SARS' genetic similarities and mutations has helped scientists understand how the virus evolved. This kind of knowledge can help us anticipate and contain infections that emerge in the future."

DNA sequencing and molecular biology have provided a wealth of information about evolutionary relationships among species. As existing infectious agents evolve into new and more dangerous forms, scientists track the changes so they can detect, treat, and vaccinate to prevent the spread of disease.

Biological evolution refers to changes in the traits of populations of organisms, usually over multiple generations. One recent example highlighted in the book is the 2004 fossil discovery in Canada of fish with "intermediate" features -- four finlike legs -- that allowed the creature to pull itself through shallow water onto land. Scientists around the world cite this evidence as an important discovery in identifying the transition from ocean-dwelling creatures to land animals. By understanding and employing the principles of evolution, the discoverers of this fossil focused their search on layers of the Earth that are approximately 375 million years old and in a region that would have been much warmer during that period. Evolution not only best explains the biodiversity on Earth, it also helps scientists predict what they are likely to discover in the future.

Over very long periods of time, the same processes that enable evolution to occur within species also can result in the appearance of new species. The formation of a new species generally takes place when one subgroup within a species mates for an extended period largely within that subgroup, often following geographical separation from other members of the species. If such reproductive isolation continues, members of the subgroup may no longer respond to courtship from members of the original population. Eventually, genetic changes become so substantial that members of different subgroups can no longer produce viable offspring. In this way, new species can continually "bud off" of existing species.