[PatrickHenry]

Bold and underlining added by me. Everyone be nice.

[PatrickHenry]

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 260 names. See list's description at my homepage. FReepmail to be added/dropped.

[Vaquero]

Brilliant...

[sierrahome]

It pays to check your fly

[Coyoteman]

Oh, no! Here we go again.

Very nice photograph of that fly though. That's hard to do.

[Stark_GOP]

"...and scientists speculate..."
---
"The researchers think..."
---
"This new theory..."
---
"It is thought..."
---
"...still not fully understood by scientists..."
---
"Therefore, they speculate,..."
---
"...if it stands further scrutiny."

All this is is speculative guesswork. Yawn.

[SteveMcKing]

Give me numbers. There's no point arguing abstract concepts - they stand alone, or they fall with the same ease.

For that matter, a skilled person can argue a dumb point better than an unskilled person can argue a good one. Then it becomes a silly game of showing how smart you are, not how right you are.

[VadeRetro]

"They are saying that if you have biodiversity it will create more biodiversity - I can buy that. But it still doesn't explain the initial step: how do you get more biodiversity in the first place?"

Axel Meyer needs to read Schopf's Cradle of Life. OK, he probably has. But I don't see his objection as much of an objection. It did take a long time to grow enough biodiversity for things to take off. It also took a long time to invent sexual reproduction, which was a big breakthrough in speeding up evolution.

[SlowBoat407]

I hate to stomp too hard, but I actually have seen robber flies here in southeastern Va. I was so startled by the first one I saw that I took it to our local nature museum for ID, and the zoologist there did not seem at all surprised by it.

It's possible it drifted on the trades from the canaries, since we also get our hurricans from there, but for the record, I have seen this critter outside of the Canary Islands.

Who knows, maybe I was witnessing the beginning of a variant in the species.

[tet68]

"They are saying that if you have biodiversity it will create more biodiversity - I can buy that. But it still doesn't explain the initial step: how do you get more biodiversity in the first place?"

Legislate from the Bench?

[fso301]

I thought the snail darter and spotted owl aren't found anywhere else either.

[nmh]

"It is thought "speciation" -- the evolution of a new species -- can occur when two populations of the same species become isolated, allowing them to "grow apart" genetically over the course of many generations. "

Translation:

Variation within a species.

Nothing new about this.

[jwalsh07]

First, species that are forced to share a space with a lot of other species usually have smaller population sizes. That means they are more susceptible to genetic drift, which can speed up speciation.

Genetic drift in small populations more often than not leads to extinction rather than speciation, no?

Isolation and diversity. A certain harmony to that. But what the heck, I'm down with diversity as long as political diverstiy is included.

[Old Professer]

If it will put an end to Rap Music, I'm all for it!

[Diplomat]

from the article "...how do you get more biodiversity in the first place?"

I'll save the U.K. school the time and money on this one.

Lands that are warm, have rich soil and plentiful fresh water produce a far more diverse ecosystem than areas that are lacking or are excessive in any these areas.

Good climate = more biodiversity.

[Aquinasfan]

But exactly what drives speciation is still not fully understood by scientists, and it is an area of intense research.

The mechanism is unknown and the process has never been observed, but scientists claim to know that it's true.

And scientists accuse Christians of dogmatism?

[Cold Heart]

I was taught there is more bio diversity in the tropics because of the warmth. Faster cycles etc.

[bert]

Great piece. The Crea's should commit it all to memory.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

 

 

 

Welcome to the HARD Science of Evolution!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

An Advanced Scientific Spectrum Qualifier Analysis

of this post reveals the following qualifiers used to

buttress the claims of evolution:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"... speculate... may... think... may...theory...

It is thought... apparent... may...  they speculate

...might...  believe...  could... "

 

 

__12__   TOTAL

 

 

Yes! By including LESS than 15 qualifiers, this article
remains in competition for the title of
Best HARD Evolution Post of 2005 on FreeRepublic!!!!!