Incipient Speciation in Ensatina Salamanders

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Originally Posted by El_Squid

At the risk of being accused of trying to stay on the original topic, why is not possible for an omniscient, omnipotent "Creator"-type being to set into motion this much bally-hooed evolutionary process. I mean, does God literally have to grub around in the mud and sculpt beings from clay? If God was clever enough to figure out how to balance the whole matter-energy-gravity thing, then evolution is a snap, don't you think? ;) (Doing my best to keep this in Politicos.)

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Ola Señor Calamar.

There is no reason at all why it is not possible.


"Dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux" or "וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר"

If we interpret light as electromagnetic energy, consider the implications of E = mc2 (read superscript 2), and accept the theory, we can conclude that physical universe is only electromagnetic energy (or light).

The speed of light is the "heartbeat" of the Universe."

We might also consider the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and further hypothesize that all life is but a whirlpool in the trend towards entropy -- a harnessing of declining potential (electromagnetic) energy (or light) to perform the work that we recognize as life.


I do not believe that Roger Bacon, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galileii, Issac Newton, Charles Darwin or Albert Einstein (and many others) were atheists. Gandhi said, "Truth is God." When the truth or the pursuit of the truth is suppressed because it threatens orthodox, blind dogma, perhaps the suppression is ironically only a turning away from a greater understanding of the workings of God.

In my agnostic indecision, I don't know. Maybe we should ask Adept/Stalemate.

Videmus nunc per speculum in enigmate


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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

Ah, the terrible indecision of agnosticism, pitting faith against science. It takes me back to my college days and my hobby of baiting believers. It is amazing how reluctant the faithful were, and still are, to concede that their beliefs are based on faith and not some undeniable proof (such as an unimpeachable, God-inspired bible). Any philosophical argument on religion, any religion, will eventually resolve itself to the "by faith alone" answer. :rolleyes:

Life has brought me to the conclusion that this is more than sufficient, for me, as there must be something greater, something eternal and beyond the finite scope of mere existence, else it is all meaningless, a big load of dingo's kidneys. You have to find the "religion", or belief system, which best suits you. ;)

We look through the mirror, darkly, striving to focus on what lies beyond, yet fail to see our own reflection in the glass. :)

Another piece in the puzzle:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science....ap/index.html


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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
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So, you're telling me that Platypus (or a similar facsimile thereof) is much older than we previously believed? :p

Personally, I just think He liked the way clay felt in His hands.

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/TECH/sci...lobster.ap.jpg

Ain't it cute? For a new genus of lobster that is. Meet the blond, blind Kiwa hirsuta. :p

Kiwa Hirsuta

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Originally Posted by El_Squid

So, you're telling me that Platypus ... is much older than we previously believed? :p

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How old do folk believe I am? :D

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Originally Posted by Platypus

How old do folk believe I am? :D

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Older than me :p !

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

Older than me :p !

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It must be the distinguished greying beard...

Bump!

Another piece of the puzzle:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...26278_fish.jpg
Tiktaalik at BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl...4701/img/1.jpg

RealPlayer Video Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/i...&news=1&bbwm=1

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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/0604.../060403-7b.jpg
Tiktaalik at Nature

"Tiktaalik was probably an unwieldy swimmer," says John Maisey, a palaeontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It probably lived in shallow waters, says Maisey, only hauling itself on to land temporarily to escape predators. "Tetrapods did not so much conquer the land, as escape from the water," he says.

Nature Podcast: http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast...2006-04-06.mp3 (9 Mb)

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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
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http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image..._fish_203i.jpg
Channallabes apus at BBC

"Scientists have discovered a fish that can hunt and catch its prey on land. .... They say C. apus bears similarities to fossils found from this period [the Devonian Period, about 400 million years ago], including the recently described Tiktaalik rosea."

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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

Approaching Easter, I think we should all consider what a wonderfull Universe God created for us. Every day brings a new revelation. Fundamentalists have it so wrong. There should be no confilcts between science and religion, but all too many people are incapable of dealing with any kind of change or ambiguity. Personally, I think change and ambiguity are the essence of God.

Bump!

Err... a skeleton in the Griebster's, er... Grebester's, family tree?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl...7187/img/1.jpg
Gansus yumenensis at BBC

"Exquisite Chinese fossils support the idea that the ancestors of modern birds may have lived on water.

Five 110-million-year-old specimens of the grebe-like Gansus yumenensis are described in the journal Science."

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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

Bump!

BBC: killer roos and demon ducks of doom

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http://forums.windrivers.com/images/.../2010/07/1.jpg

It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!