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POPSBye Bye Birdie: Famed Fossil Loses Avian Perch just one of several species of feathered dinosaurs preceding modern birds. It may not even be a direct ancestor. Such revisions make paleontology a science of second thoughts. Reconstructing the history of life, researchers thrash out theories of ancestry, behavior and biomechanics guided by hints from ancient bones. Archaeopteryx -- combining the feathers, wishbone and wings of a bird with the reptilian tail, teeth and claws of a dinosaur -- had already become a question mark. Newly discovered fossils have prompted scientists to revamp their assumptions about archaeopteryx's distinguishing features over the last decade. A cornucopia of fossil finds in China demonstrated that feathers coated many dinosaur species, not just birds. The newest finding, though, demonstrates that our understanding of even well-studied fossils like archaeopteryx -- scrutinized, measured, modeled for 150 years -- can still be upended.
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POPSwhy are we the naked ape? did we come from the sea........go to TED talks 2009 to hear a speaker named Morgan speak on the subject of evolution and hairlessness too
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POPSConvergent evolution
The huge fossil teeth of megalodon had been known for centuries and were once believed to be the fossilized tongues of dragons. Agassiz, noting that great white shark teeth and the fossil megalodon teeth were both serrated, lumped megalodon into the same genus, Carcharodon, (from the Greek karcharos, meaning sharp or jagged, and odous, meaning tooth). Agassiz was not, however, making an evolutionary judgment. In 1835, a young Charles Darwin was just then visiting the Galapagos Islands. There would be no theory of evolutionary descent for nearly 25 years. In fact, the brilliant Agassiz, who later became a professor at Harvard and the leading figure of natural history in the United States, forever resisted Darwin’s revolutionary ideas. Rejecting biological evolution, Agassiz defined species as a “thought of God.” His classification scheme signified nothing about shark origins. But over the next century, the idea that great whites evolved from megalodon took hold. << more at the
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POPSCharles Darwin film ‘too controversial for religious America’ Afraid of controversy? This country has been mired in controvery for ages. Movieguide.org is the source of the controversy in this instance. Describing Darwin as "a racist, a bigot and an1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder" only proves their own bigotry and intolerance for any belief not their own. To say Darwin’s theory is ‘half-baked’ when supported by insurmountable scientifically backed evidence while only ‘faith’ backs up their belief is pure religious zealotry. To condemn Darwin’s theory as ‘half-baked’ while zealously clinging to faith without scientific proof is amazingly short-sighted. I am not condemning believers, I am a believer myself, but to ridicule another person’s belief because it is different is hateful, extremely narrow-minded and very un-Christian.
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POPSHow Chuck Darwin made it from reception to the corner office Thought this was a very colorful piece and worth the quick read at the source. It was written by a long time publishing exec who provides a personal view into the evolution of an industry caught smack in the middle of a technology and media revolution. Having read a number of insightful posts recently (here on Amplify) regarding magazine industry's struggle to bridge traditional and new media, this particular story resonated with me. I wonder if any old school mag publishing execs are still the decision makers. If so, do they realize Mr. Darwin is still sitting in their corner office...
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POPSCreationists are Morons I'm tired of sugar-coating it any longer. The clip title says it all. These people are fools. Not only that but they're willfully ignorant, which is worse. I have serious doubts if any amount of education can help these people. They're so mired in their myths that if the truth bit them in the ass they'd claim it was Satan nipping at their bottoms. Keep in mind, this is the same pool that spawns Deathers, Birthers, and Ten-ers. The whole lot should be ridiculed, marginalized, and shown to be the knuckle draggers that they are. Phew!
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POPSBeef recall after cow abuse investigation This story and the one below about fluffy chicks being ground up alive makes me feel ashamed to be part of the human race. How anyone could sit down to a leg of lamb knowing that a gentle creature had to suffer and be deprived of its life merely to satisfy 5 minutes of a human desire to eat flesh is beyond me. "Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work. More humble, and I believe true, to consider himself created from animals." Charles Darwin.
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POPSFinally ! Where we came from revieled !
Unimpressive.” The chemist then commented: “All quite similar, derived from different sequences of four chemical ingredients.” Next the computational expert opined: “Limited computing abilities. But one, the hairless biped, is unlike the others. It exchanges information in a manner that is primitive and inefficient but remarkably different from the others. It creates many odd objects, including ones that are consumable, others that produce symbols, and yet others that destroy members of its tribe.” “But how can this be?” the engineer mused. “Given the similarity in form and chemistry, how can their computing capacity differ?” “I am not certain,” confessed the computational alien. “But they appear to have a system for creating new expressions that is infinitely more powerful than those of all the other living kinds. I propose that we place the hairless biped in a different group from the other animals, with a separate origin, and from a different galaxy.” The other two aliens nodded,
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POPSThe 10 mysteries of human behaviour that science can't explain Scientists have split the atom, put men on the moon and discovered the DNA of which we are made, but there are 10 key mysteries of human behaviour which they have failed to fully explain. The New Scientist magazine compiled a list of the everyday aspects of life which continue to confound the world's greatest brains, including the reasons behind kissing, blushing and even picking your nose.
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POPSGod or Darwin? some statistics... though i used the same headline as the article, i do not agree to it. Evolution is not equal to religion and they are merely two different perspectives of the same reality. Each one portrays a different worldview, a different world, a different view. the direction in religion is one of preservation, maintaining the existing order as it , whilst in evolution the dynamics are in constant motion of exploring new orders which by nature are transitory.
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POPSWhy do we nod our heads for "yes" and shake them for "no"? Dear Cecil: "With reference to your column on gestures, did you leave out or just not know that in Greece the five fingers spread out and thrust forward at someone means " in your face"? - Had to Tell You. Cecil replies: "Thank you for sharing that with us. Just shows you how the Greeks continue to enrich civilization. " :lol:
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POPSMoles, not magic, make worm 'grunting' work "Ken calls me the giant mole-man," Revell said with a laugh as he carried his equipment deep into Tate's Hell State Forest. "All I'm doing is mimicking the mole but in a larger scale, you know what I'm saying? That's how come they come up in a large area."
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POPSA hummingbird in love moves faster than a fighter jet
Anna's hummingbirds are the main species we see here in the Bay Area. Gorgeous little beasts. More: Why does Anna's hummingbird nosedive? Diving from a great height like a fighter jet and then pulling out just at the right moment is hardly a safe activity, so why does Anna's hummingbird do it? A clue is that only the males do it, and then as a way of attracting females. Charles Darwin was the first to seriously study the acquisition of sexually selected traits that appeared to serve no useful purpose other than to attract mates. It usually means that the male of a species is burdened with a handicap of some sort, such as the peacock's lethally long tail, or a death-defying behaviour, like Anna's hummingbird. One idea is that the lethal nature of a sexually selected trait is a way of testing the "fitness" of the male, or more specifically his genes. Only a supremely fit and parasite-free male hummingbird could possible perform his dance of death and live to tell the tale.
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POPSMISSING LINK FOUND. This is some remarkable news. I'm sure it will be clipmarked excessively. Imagine scientists' delight in discovering such a find. It makes you wish you were a scientist. Here is more from the article: A team of amateur fossil hunters discovered the near-perfect remains inside a mile-wide crater outside of Frankfurt in 1983. Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the inexperienced archeologists didn't realize the value of their find. Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil, and Hurum studied it in secret for two years. His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as "the eighth wonder of the world." "We're not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps with our grand, grand, grand aunt," Franzen said. A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week. http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+History+Channel or on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4NtmZjR3_c
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