Age of the Earth

A very excellent post:
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=143200&view=findpost&p=2662662

And, also, remember that TalkOrigins can now be accessed at:
toarchive.org

-SQLserver

New TalkOrigins Domain Name

For a while I was devastated, because the TalkOrigins archive went down. However, it is still available at:
www.toarchive.org

Hurray!

Excellent Video

From fish to land

I just finished reading Your Inner Fish(an excellent book), and did some more research on the amazing transitional fossils from fish to land creatures.

TalkOrigins has an excellent article on them:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional/part1a.html

Laughing at Creationists

In the Creationist news today?

They try and pass off a Rock as a brain... What are they trying to accomplish here?
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/10/well_maybe_it_is_exactly_like.php
Even better: They get a bunch of people from Conservative, Christian universities who tell them "It's a real brain!"
Somehow(They never explain) this is supposed to prove Creationism.

There's going to be a mock "Creationism vs Evolution trial" in Kentucky. Dear god...
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/10/creationists_gaming_kentucky.php#comment-1164482

That Creationist teacher, who tried to pass off Creationism in class, resigned. Thank God.
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-10-16/article/31377?headline=Jefferson-Teacher-in-Creationism-Controversy-Resigns

Something is going down in Texas... There will be 3 Crazies, and 3 pro-science people on the Board of Education, and they will revise the Science standards...
http://www.ktrh.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=4429168

Dear god... Two Crazies from Maine both want Creationism taught in Schools "Alongside" Evolution...
http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=131547

The Creationists are also trying to get a foothold in Washington County... Dear god...
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=206262&format=html

The moral? The Creo-Bots are on the move once again, idiotically prancing their way into schools. They must be stopped.

Only 0.15% of Biologists and Geologists Are Creationists

This should put Creationists in perspective.
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoCreationScientists.html

Even funnier:
There are more NCSE registered Scientists with the name Steve then scientists who doubt Evolution!
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/3541_project_steve_2_16_2003.asp

Cheers,
SQLserver

5 Extraordinary pieces of evidence for Evolution

There is a LOT of evidence for Evolution; Every scientist knows that.
Here's 5 of the most compelling pieces of evidence for Evolution. We've only touched on a little here. Perhaps I'll post some more later on.

5. We see all the processes occurring today that are needed for the Evolution of all life.
We've observed mutations add information, mutations create new features, mutations create beneficial new features, and mutations create new species. Nothing more is needed for the entire Evolutionary tract of life.
See:
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB101.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB101_2.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB102.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_speciation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_antibiotic_and_pesticide_resistance
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/VSpeciation.shtml
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/speciation.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation#Beneficial_mutations
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoMutations.html
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoHumBenMutations.html
Drug Resistance in bacteria has been proven to be a mutation, not adaptation:
http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/BB/Views/Exhibit/narrative/bacgen2.html

4. Evidence from Geographic Distribution
Basically, life on isolated parts of the planet(IE the Galapagos) is radically different from anywhere else, providing strong evidence that it has evolved separately and differently over time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_geographical_distribution
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0_0/lines_09


3. Vestigiality and "Stupid Design".
Quite simply, life and the universe do not looked designed by an Intelligent Designer, but rather a natural, blind watchmaker. In other words, life looks like "Stupid Design". There's useless parts and useless DNA that can only be explained with Evolution: At one time in the past, they were useful.
For examples of "Stupid Design", see:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section2.html
See the book: "Why Darwin Matters: The Case against Intelligent Design"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nqySMvkcw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestigial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_vestigiality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Vestigial_structures

2. Homology
All of life is amazingly similar in chemistry and anatomy, which shows we are all related. What is even more amazing is when one compares anatomy and chemistry, and divides all of life into a tree based on who has what features, you get the same tree of Evolution. The anatomy and Chemistry of all organisms ever on Earth lines up perfectly with the Evolutionary tree.
For more, see:
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/hum_ape_chrom.html
The Book: "Your Inner Fish"
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section4.html
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/lines_04
http://godbegone.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-chimp-chromosome-2-proves-evolution.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_genetics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_comparative_anatomy
Homology is not a circular argument:
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB810.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_comparative_physiology_and_biochemistry

1. The Fossil Record
The fossil record is perhaps the most compelling evidence for Evolution. We see an amazing, slow, steady progression of Evolution throughout the fossil record around the world with thousands of transitional fossil forming an amazing tree of life. When these fossils are dated, they again line up perfectly.
For examples of the thousands of transitional fossils, and more on the fossil record, see:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/life.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section1.html
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/lines_02
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hominina_fossils
http://www.holysmoke.org/tran-icr.htm
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional/part2c.html
http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Transitional_fossils
See the book: "Your Inner Fish"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent#Evidence_from_paleontology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution

Evolution of the Eye

Hello:

Contrary to Creationist claims, scientists have a pretty good idea how our eyes evolved.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_eye
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_01.html
http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20050822230316data_trunc_sys.shtml
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.evo.nilssoneye/

TalkOrigins raises an interesting point:

intermediate stages through which eyes might have evolved via gradual steps (Darwin 1872).

* photosensitive cell
* aggregates of pigment cells without a nerve
* an optic nerve surrounded by pigment cells and covered by translucent skin
* pigment cells forming a small depression
* pigment cells forming a deeper depression
* the skin over the depression taking a lens shape
* muscles allowing the lens to adjust


All of these steps are known to be viable because all exist in animals living today. The increments between these steps are slight and may be broken down into even smaller increments.

Read more:
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB301.html