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Showing posts from June, 2011

Alien Life II

On a lighter note today, let's look at fictional alien life forms, and how the principles of evolution apply, as far as their physical appearance and behaviours are concerned. For those of you who have watched the films "Alien" and "Predator", you will be familiar with these characters, but if you haven't, don't worry; their pics are below. The first one to look at is the alien. This might look odd, but in fact this is the young form of the alien. It spawns from a plant-like creature, and it has evolved to jump on people's faces, insert themselves into their digestive tract, where they grow and then escape through the chest, killing them. The only explanation for this adaptation is that at some point in the past the aliens used some other host for their development, which was similar to humans. Otherwise, they have adapted very quickly to humans' advancement into outer space. (The film is set in the distant future when humans are colonising the

Just a little note ... be grateful for your knowledge and freedom

I've just had a chat with a friend from Sudan, currently working in Dubai, about evolution, and was so shocked to find that the copy of Dawkins' "The Greatest Show on Earth" he is reading had to me SMUGGLED into the Sudan, and that he must hide it to protect his social and literal safety. It's so sad that something so fundamental to the human race, the freedom of information and knowledge passing around unhindered, cannot be enjoyed by all, in all lands of the world. Dubai is more secular than Sudan due to its international workers, but in Sudan the laws about infidelity are strict: death. If in the UK we are fearlessly selling Qur'ans in our bookshops along with Bibles and Richard Dawkins, the people can make an informed, personal, independent choice. What have Sudan got to fear? Bottom line, enjoy your freedom of information, because too often it is taken for granted, in a world where it is still taken away. I am so grateful to be an atheist and to

Positive, Negative and Neutral Sexual Selection

Positive sexual selection is the most important and obvious type. It is positive because it involves the promotion and support of a characteristic, be it good looks or ambition, sense of humour or colour. Positive sexual selection is the driving force that results in variety of organisms, as well as the variety of what those organisms make, for example chocolate corn flakes or oats and fruit. This type of sexual selection is found in so many things, a popular example of which is teenage behaviour when teenagers feel the urge to pick things to support, be it a music genre, a sexual orientation, a fashion, a sport, or a club. Positive sexual selection is what fan clubs are made of. Know when you see something on facebook and you MUST LIKE it? You absolutely must click like? The drive behind that urge is positive sexual selection. You like that and everyone must know. Not because you want them to like you, but because you want them to like that thing. This urge might seem superficial, b