Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / May 2007

A new wrinkle in evolution -- Man-made proteins
Nature, through the trial and error of evolution, has discovered a vast
diversity of life from what can only presumed to have been a primordial pool
of building blocks. Inspired by this success, a new Biodesign Institute

For everyone's amusement...
The painted image - of a series of animals:
  http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/c92cdee2e5.jpg
Associated Digg article:

Nature 447, 396-398 (24 May 2007) | doi:10.1038/nature05913; Published
online 23 May 2007
Perceptions of epigenetics
Adrian Bird

Last post I suggested that when unexpressed physical pain memories
in childhood (mostly from the age of 5-10)  are triggered,
the body feels the pain again, even though the physical problem
is no longer there. And that this unexpressed pain can lead

I am not a troll.  My question arises from ignorance and confusion.  I was
reading about a theory of how wolves evolved into dogs.  It involved
thyroxine, the hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.
My confusion is this:  Is the domestication of the wolf evolution at all? In

Histones are the chief protein components of chromatin. They act as
spools
around which DNA winds and they play a role in gene regulation
http://bioisolutions.blogspot.com/2007/05/histones.html

In _Evolving Brains_, John Allman mentions that early modern humans had
brains that averaged 1450 grams, whereas the average for contemporary
humans is about 1300 grams.  He opines that this is a result of the
"domestication" of humans.  The development of agriculture and

"Gene mutation linked to cognition is found only in humans"
 - http://www.physorg.com/news97825267.html

Is there any science fact or speculation about why eyes are different
colors? Are blue eyes better at seeing features in fog and/or ice and
snow? Are brown eyes better at blocking UV rays in sunnier regions?
My research has found rationale that seems to suggest that eye color

This is what evolution theory states-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_evolution
..
And this is what blind people says-

I had an argument recently with someone who seemed to be a bit of a
neo-Lamarcksist.  She was suggesting that human skulls are getting
thinner over the past few thousand years according to archaeological
evidence, because we simply are "evolving" to a higher form.  As if

Dinosaurs ruled for some 160 millions years, and seem to have filled
most biological niches that today are filled by mammals, and then some.
How come, in all that time, there was no dinosaur similar to us?
(apparently...)

"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect
if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good,
nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
http://quotations.about.com/od/morepeople/a/darwin1_4.htm

I have occasionally read a reference to the heart, liver, etc. of
animals other than chordates.  Are these organs merely analogous--
performing the same function as the similarly named organ in a
chordate--or are some of the homologous, arising from the same

Evolutionist withholds evidence on Haldane's Dilemma
For many years I have publicly claimed Haldane's Dilemma is a major
unsolved problem for evolution. A problem so severe it threatens
macroevolution as a "fact" and evolutionary genetics as an empirical