Public Perception of Evolution: A Reflection of Scientific Literacy in Society

Unfortunately, humans seem to thrive on controversy. Though people may come from diverse economic, social, and cultural backgrounds, there is one thing that we all love: Arguing. In fact, we’ll even argue about things that experts are decidedly *not* arguing about.

Case in point, the Pew Research Center recently conducted a survey (between March 21 and April 8, 2013) among a national sample of 1,983 adults. This survey dealt with individual views regarding evolution. The survey was conducted by professionally trained interviewing staff under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. According to the analysis, six-in-ten Americans (60%) say that “humans and other living things have evolved over time.” That’s a bit comforting; however, not all of the findings are inspiring.

Discover what the numbers say at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/common-views-on-evolution/

Image:
NASA

Understanding Evolution: What is Natural Selection?

“When it was introduced in the 1940s, penicillin was a miracle drug, especially effective at curing infections caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus ("staph"). In 1941, the drug could wipe out every strain of staph in the world. Now, seventy years later, more than 95% of staph strains are resistant to penicillin.” — Dr. Jerry Coyne, "Why Evolution is True"

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In "Why Evolution is True", Dr. Coyne used this example in the chapter entitled, “The Engine of Evolution.” The engine he’s referring to is none other than natural selection, and this little insight regarding the adaptability (evolution) of Staphylococcus aureus is excellent evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection. It’s my go-to “proof,” if you will, when someone asks me to provide proof of evolution because (a) it’s simple and easy to understand, (b) it definitively shows that an organism can adapt to a new environment (in this case, a human body injected with penicillin), (c) it doesn’t require any discourse regarding fossils or the fossil record (which is probably the best evidence for evolution, but it’s very difficult to explain fossil evidence to someone who wants to “see” evolution if you don’t have fossils on hand!), and (d) bacteria are excellent for ‘showing’ evolution in action because they reproduce quickly, meaning that they can potentially evolve much faster than, say, a dog or a dolphin.

Learn all about natural selection at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/understanding-evolution-what-is-natural-selection/

Image:
NASA

6 Ancient Human Fossils that Show us What our Ancestors were Like:

We tend to think of "cave men" as violent savages that would club women over the head to drag them back to the cave (at least, that"s how they are always depicted in cartoons). Truthfully, we do have a rather violent past; however, there"s more to the story than just that. Much more. Our ancestors loved. They Cared. They felt empathy. At times, they were compassionate.

In fact, they were very much like us. And we have the fossil evidence to show it.

Learn what our ancestors were like at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/6-human-fossils-of-compassion/

Crows Could be the Key to Helping Humanity Understand Alien Intelligence

Yes, you read that right, understanding how a crow"s brain works could lay the foundation to helping us understand how an alien mind might work. In case you don"t know, crows are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. They use tools and pass this knowledge onto their children, they will unite to fight a common enemy or intruder, and their ability to remember is almost unmatched. Recently, a study was conducted to see just how reasoning inside the bird"s brain works, because a avialan brain is very different from a mammalian brain. Here, the rabbit hole goes deeper than we could have possibly imagined.

Learn more about how crows are helping us understand aliens here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/crows-could-be-the-key-to-helping-humanity-understand-alien-intelligence/

The Fearsome Komodo Dragon

Have you ever woke up one day and decided "I want a cool new pet," but you aren"t a cat or a dog person? You want something much, much more epic. Upon the realization of this, you take a short trip to the local pet store to scope out your options. Reptiles captivate your attention for one reason or another, thus you decide to take a closer look at the selection of lizards. Monitor lizards, in particular, are rather exuberant little critters. ESPECIALLY the Komodo dragon..

But this pet is one that should definitely stay in the wild. Why, you may ask? Well: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-fearsome-komodo-dragon/

Image Credit: (Top) Adam Riley, (Center) BBC News, (Bottom) Barry Sweet/AP

Immortals exist!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your literary preferences), I"m not talking sparkly vampires. The immortals I"m referring to are a species of jelly fish called Turritopsis nutricula. These fascinating little guys have the ability to revert back to their polyp (jouvenile) state after reaching sexual maturity. The process is called transdifferentiation, in which a non-stem cell morphs into another type of cell and, in this case, rejuvenates itself. This process can be repeated indefinitely therefore making the Turritopsis biologically immortal. It"s likely that we could learn from this jelly fish, it would be interesting to see what we could achieve and the doors it could open with self repairing cells on our side.

Learn more about these amazing creatures at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/immortals-exist/

Evolutionary History Retold: Cooperation Out-Competes Competition - Part 1 of 2

A person"s culture colors the way that they see all of reality. This becomes particularly clear in people"s retelling of history. Even if the story is accurate, which facts get told is still the product of the teller"s worldview, perspective, biases, prejudices, and even temperament.

The story of evolution is no exception. The first accounts of evolution, and the history of life on Earth, were told within a very particular historical context - during the height of the industrial revolution in the mid-1800"s in Great Britain. The influences of this time period are quite obvious: the scarcity of resources, the overproduction of offspring, the death of many in the competition for survival, etc. This perspective reflects the contemporaneous societal difficulties - life expectancy was around 40 and society was plagued by such scourges as tuberculosis, cholera, scarlet fever, whooping cough, the Irish Potato Famine, poverty stricken city slums, slavery, political revolution, and many other large scale difficulties. The Malthusian paradigm that there is a brutal tug-of-war between life and death in society rang deeply true to many during Darwin"s time.

The overall point? Darwin had particular emphases (and biases), just like we all do (myself included!). He was a product of his culture, just like we all are. As such, his emphasis (and the emphasis of those that popularized his work) was often on competition"s role in evolution. In Darwin"s words, evolution is "the war of nature" and a "struggle for life." What I"d like to do is retell the history of life on planet Earth with a different emphasis. This emphasis does not in any way contradict what Darwin and his contemporaries put forth. It just expands on it.

Since discussions of evolution focus so much on competition, it makes sense to take a look at the latter -- cooperation. And an analysis of this reveals that nearly every major revolution in evolution is the result of cooperation. I"ll start at the beginning and show how life as we know it, by-in-large, is the product of non-zero sum relationships. Let"s take a look.

Learn about the importance of cooperation at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/evolutionary-history-retold-cooperation-out-competes-competition-part-1-of-2/

Image source:
Top photo by Biggles 621. Bottom photo by Tambako the Jaguar.

Continental Drift Theory: Understanding our Changing Earth

Plate Tectonics is the theory used to explain the structure of the Earth’s crust and many of the associated phenomena. The rigid lithosphere is split into 7 major ‘plates’ that slowly move on top of the underlying asthenosphere (mantle). This branch of geology studies the faulting and folding of the crust along the various boundaries; convergent, divergent, subduction, and conservative. The concept of Plate Tectonics was first coined by the German geophysicist Alfred Wegener back in 1915, but several ideas of continental drift date back many years before. Today we almost take for granted our knowledge of how the Earth’s crust shifts and regenerates on a continual cycle; but the theory of plate tectonics wasn’t widely accepted until the 1960s!

Learn about Earth’s alterations at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/continental-drift-theory/

Image source before editing:
NASA

Which came First: The Chicken or the Egg?

The chicken or the egg -- one of life’s greatest mysteries. At least, it was one of life’s greatest mysteries; it’s not anymore. On a basic level, this question deals with issues of causality (with cause and effect). The question is used to highlight instances where it is impossible to say which of two things existed first (which is the “cause” and which is the “effect”). In essence, the question goes: Chickens are hatched from eggs, so how can you have a chicken without first having an egg? But a chicken is needed in order to lay an egg that hatches into a chicken, so how can you have an egg without having a chicken?

Does your brain hurt yet? Because mine kind of does.

Want to know which came first? Find out at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/

Image source:
http://what-time-is.com/blaze/finally-the-answer-sort-of-for-what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/

Three Reasons Evolution Is (Probably) a Fact

For over 150 years - since the time of Charles Darwin - the theory of evolution has been through more scrutiny and rigorous investigation than many other scientific claims. Since that time, the theory of evolution has only gotten more firm and robust. While there are many that, for ideological reasons, want to make it seem like evolution is not widely accepted within the scientific community, this is not actually the case. Across universities, research institutions, and scientific organizations, evolution is not only nearly universally accepted, it is also the basis upon which active, exciting, and important research is being done.

Below we have an overview of some of the most notable evidence in support of evolution. The overall goal is to point out the patterns of evolution within nature and help individuals identify other, similar patterns on their own. Doing so will give you the power to, in a sense, test the validity of evolution on your own. Like in a court of law, you have the ability to weigh the evidence in support and against evolution to come to your own conclusion that, in legalese, is “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

This list of "3 reasons why evolution is (probably) a fact" will read a bit different from other lists. It is not meant to be just a “gotcha!” list of examples that support evolution. The goal is much loftier—to give a complete overview of the most direct evidence in support of evolution. The examples that will be provided are meant to be illustrative in addition to exemplary. Without further ado, the big 3:

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/3-reasons-evolution-is-a-fact-2/

Common Misunderstandings of Evolution: Part 2

But isn’t evolution just a theory? How could such amazingly complex systems arise by evolution—by mere chance? Doesn"t evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics?

These are just a few of the questions that are frequently asked about evolution. To get answers to these questions, and develop a better understanding of evolution, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/common-misunderstandings-of-evolution-part-2/

Image source:
http://wallpapersus.com/wallpapers/2012/11/Star-Wars-Evolution-Evolution-Funny-900x1600.jpg

Common Misunderstandings of Evolution Part 3: Observation

Many people believe that we can"t observe evolution, but contrary to popular belief, we can witness evolutionary events; however, perhaps I should clarify -- by observing it, I mean that we have observed results in laboratory and natural conditions that are predicted by evolution, and we see the types of changes that would be expected if evolution were true. Of course, we can’t really observe our own evolutionary history (at least, not until we develop time travel), and witnessing species transitions is difficult as it takes tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.

Does this mean that evolution is unreliable? Hardly. It is important to note that theories cannot be proven per se, but a theory is not just a random idea that has no scientific backing. The way a theory works is pretty simple: it has to make a clear, testable prediction, and (preferably) make a minimum of new assumptions. So testing evolution is fairly simple. We look at the predictions made by the theory, and then compare them to what we can observe. So far evolution has done a very good job of explaining the things that we have observed, and also at predicting new results as we uncover new ways of testing.

Of course, results can be easily demonstrated in the laboratory; however, we"ve noticed an abundance of natural changes that are perfectly predicted by evolution. So to those who suggest we have not observed evolution, I have a few cases for you to consider.

To learn how we can observe evolutions, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/common-misunderstandings-of-evolution-part-3-observation/

Image source:
http://beacon-center.org/blog/2013/04/08/beacon-researchers-at-work-phenotypic-plasticity-and-evolution/