Category Archives: Evolution

Recently the Alabama House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 78, an academic freedom resolution that would protect teachers who help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.

Alabamas House should be applauded for taking a proactive step that will benefit Alabama students, who will learn critical thinking, practice scientific inquiry, and delve into more scientific evidence. This resolution advances high-quality, active, and engaging science instruction.

And Alabama is right in step with the rest of the country. A recent national poll revealed that fully 93 percent of American adults agree that teachers and students should have the academic freedom to objectively discuss both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution.

Both the nationwide poll and Alabamas resolution are also in line with what Discovery Institute has advocated for science education for the past two decades. Discoverys Science Education Policy states that

evolution should be fully and completely presented to students, and they should learn more about evolutionary theory, including its unresolved issues. In other words, evolution should be taught as a scientific theory that is open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that cant be questioned.

HJR 78, sponsored by Representative Mack Butler and 28 of his colleagues in the House, takes much the same approach. The resolution simply supports academic freedom for teachers who wish to discuss scientific evidence for and against evolution, and other scientific theories already in the state curriculum.

Unfortunately, the media have distorted the legislation. So what else is new?

Yellowhammer News, for one, claimed the bill would introduce intelligent design in the classroom:

House Joint Resolution 78 was filed by Rep. Mack Butler (R- Rainbow City), who served as a school board member of Etowah County Schools for 10 years. The legislation aims not to remove discussion of evolution in the classroom, but to broaden scientific conversations to include conversation over intelligent design. Related subjects that are addressed by the bill include global warming and human cloning.

No, HJR 78 is not about introducing intelligent design into classrooms. It applies solely to theories already in the curriculum and intelligent design is not in the curriculum anywhere in Alabama.

Representative Butler defends the resolution and explains that it adds nothing new to the existing curriculum.

Certainly, when teaching on controversial topics, classroom discussions already may touch on theories and ideas that are not part of the curriculum. That just comes with free speech and we should welcome such discussions. HJR 78 doesnt change that.

Discovery has always maintained that students questions are protected free speech, but that is very different from mandating that a teacher insert entirely new material into the curriculum. The resolution doesnt support that.

Butler is clear about what the resolution does do:

The real focus of HJR 78 is on scientific subjects required to be taught under the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education. So the resolution does not change the curriculum.

HJR 78 does expressly support teachers in engaging their students in examining the scientific strengths and weaknesses of those topics currently being taught. Science is characterized by open-minded critical analysis of data, and Alabama students will benefit from gaining more knowledge about subjects being studied and learning to reason like scientists.

To head off further media misinformation, lets say it again. What specifically does the resolution call for? It says educational leadership and teachers

should endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions, develop critical thinking skills, analyze the scientific strengths and weaknesses of scientific explanations, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific subjects required to be taught under the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education.

Moreover, educational leadership

should refrain from prohibiting any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught within the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education.

It is all too common for teachers to feel intimidated and thus simply avoid teaching scientific information about origins. This poorly serves the interests of students. The resolution supports protecting teachers and advancing education something approved by the overwhelming majority of Americans.

None of this is difficult to understand. Why is it so challenging for the media to simply report the basic facts?

Photo: Alabama State Capitol, by Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Original post:

On Teaching Evolution Objectively, Alabama Is Right In Step with the Vast Majority of Americans - Discovery Institute

When the government last shut down, in 2013, Mick Mulvaney considered himself part of "the Shutdown Caucus" a group of conservative House Republicans who held such a hard line that they were willing to let the lights go out.

Now, four years later, Mulvaney is on a collision course with his former comrades, responsible for convincing intransigent House Republicans to make a different kind of choice and pass a new spending bill by April 28 to avert another shutdown.

The former South Carolina congressman who was elected in the tea party wave of 2010 and took pride in rejecting his own party's budget proposals, one after another now serves as President Donald Trump's budget director, making him the administration's chief salesman over the next month on spending matters.

Once an outspoken leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Mulvaney now is tasked with bringing along the group with which his boss has plainly lost patience. Frustrated by their obstruction on health care, Trump last week threatened to destroy Freedom Caucus members in the 2018 midterm elections, even as Mulvaney is working with them to forge consensus on an agreement to keep the government funded.

But there are clear limits to Mulvaney's influence, as last month's embarrassing collapse of the Republican health-care bill laid bare. Some Freedom Caucus members speak privately of Mulvaney's "philosophic convulsion," as one put it, and are quick to note that he no longer speaks with the ideological purity they came to respect in him, but rather as an agent of a president on the hunt for a deal.

"All of our lives are composed of trade-offs," said Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., a Freedom Caucus member. "Each person has a different calibration on where 'go' means 'go' and where 'no' means 'no.' I wouldn't attempt to suggest for another where their own lines ought to be on that balancing act of personal philosophy and assigned roles or jobs, but what I would say is that I wish Mick the absolute best."

Trump and his other advisers, however, see Mulvaney as their bridge to the Freedom Caucus, believing he still has unique credibility with the conservative hard-liners, however hostile they may be to some of the administration's priorities.

"If you have to have somebody on your side that understands the complexity of these (bills) and the stakes around a government shutdown, who would you rather have than Mick Mulvaney?" asked Stephen K. Bannon, the chief White House strategist.

Bannon called Mulvaney "the unsung hero of this administration, because he's doing yeoman's work on just about every front. He's a rock star."

Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, said Mulvaney is "anchored in his core philosophy," but that he has said, "As much as he loves his colleagues in the House, sometimes it's less about winning the argument than about actually advancing the ball."

One example of Mulvaney's dramatically altered role came with Sanford, who told The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, that Trump used Mulvaney as an intermediary to threaten to oust Sanford in retaliation for not supporting the health-care bill. Sanford said Mulvaney told him, "The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped you voted 'no' on this bill so he could run (a primary challenger) against you in 2018."

The episode marked an uncomfortable evolution for a man once allied with Sanford who saw his previous job in Congress as protecting the American taxpayer against runaway spending - even for the military and even if the cuts he championed caused pain for his constituents.

Now as director of the Office of Management and Budget, however, Mulvaney has proposed a large increase in defense spending, which would be offset by steep cuts in social services such as housing, job training, and after-school activities, as well as foreign aid.

Some of these positions have infuriated antipoverty advocates, particularly his statements that federal assistance for low-income students and the elderly is ineffective.

"Rarely will any program be able to fully accomplish its goals because the needs are so great, but if you took those programs away, there would be a huge impact," said Libba Patterson, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who ran the state's social services agency for four years.

Fiscal hawks had a different reaction to Mulvaney's first budget. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., a Freedom Caucus member who served with him in the South Carolina legislature before they were both elected to Congress in 2010, cheered Mulvaney's moves. "We were all dancing in the street that Mick was chosen to be OMB director," he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., praised Mulvaney, a friend, as "a committed conservative." But, he said, Mulvaney is wearing "a different hat. He is now representing the administration's policy, so he doesn't have the same freedom he had as someone who represented the people of South Carolina."

During the health-care push, Mulvaney was one of the most visible administration officials. He appeared regularly on television news - Trump thinks he is an especially smooth and punchy communicator, aides said - and lobbied lawmakers incessantly, from negotiating sessions on Capitol Hill to a game of bowling in the White House basement.

Duncan said Mulvaney helped persuade him to support the Affordable Care Act replacement bill, even though many Freedom Caucus colleagues were opposed.

"He couldn't convince everyone," Duncan said. "But even when he was in Congress and the Freedom Caucus, he couldn't convince everyone."

One of Mulvaney's selling points for the budget director job was his connection to the Freedom Caucus, Trump aides said, and there is some disappointment that he fell short on selling the health-care bill. But advisers said blame for the failure has fallen on many officials, including White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, not just Mulvaney.

"There's nothing more that he could have possibly done," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said of Mulvaney. He called the budget director "a very well-steeped, well-regarded workhorse" who has "an instant sense of credibility on Capitol Hill."

Mulvaney was well-liked in the House, a rare Freedom Caucus member who made friends with House leaders, including Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis.

"I think it's easy for the media to paint him in a corner philosophically, but his friendships obviously go across the entire spectrum of the Republican conference, and I think that's why he's such a great asset," Short said.

Yet in the Senate, Mulvaney barely won confirmation. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined all 48 Democrats and independents in opposing his appointment, in part because of Mulvaney's past opposition to higher defense spending levels.

Before coming to Washington, Mulvaney, 49, was a state lawmaker and also owned and operated a South Carolina franchise of Salsarita's Fresh Cantina. He first got elected to the House by unseating one of Congress' long-serving lions John Spratt, then the House Budget Committee chairman in a district that Democrats had controlled for more than 100 years.

Spratt said he was surprised Mulvaney had pulled off getting appointed budget director, arguing that he has no "real experience in budget-making."

"I'm still surprised that he was able to pull down a prize like OMB," Spratt said. "It's one of the most difficult jobs in the United States. He's got to prove himself worthy of the job."

Mulvaney's colleagues said he has proven a quick study, and that he helps them see around corners politically.

Mulvaney has instructed the career staff at the budget office to read Trump's 1987 bestseller, "The Art of the Deal." He supported Paul in the 2016 presidential primaries, but came around to Trump once he emerged as the presumptive nominee.

Now one of Trump's employees - he attends the White House senior staff meetings every morning - Mulvaney is forging a bond with the president. Aides said that whenever Trump talks about numbers, he summons Mulvaney if he is not already in the Oval Office.

Trump also invited Mulvaney to join him last weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, according to one of the president's advisers.

"He can take the mundane budget policy is not the sexiest thing in the world, let's face it and not only make it interesting, but talk to you about the different angles of it," said Rick Dearborn, a deputy White House chief of staff. "It's not just the policy piece of it, but his political insights that make it very interesting. He gives you these 'aha moments' of, 'Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about that.'"

Read more:

Mulvaney's evolution from 'Shutdown Caucus' to budget salesman - MyAJC

A light microscopy image of a Cyanobacterium (Oxyphotobacteria).

Fischer Laboratory/Caltech

One of the most momentous events in the history of the planet is now better understood thanks to the newly uncovered evolutionary history of pond scum the erroneously named blue-green algae.

Research published in Science provides fresh insight into the when and how of the Great Oxidation Event the period in Earths history during which the levels of atmospheric oxygen rose dramatically. Paradoxically, this event caused one of the largest-known extinction events and simultaneously paved the way for life as we know it.

Rochelle Soo, Donovan Parks, and Professor Philip Hugenholtz from the University of Queensland and Jim Hemp and Professor Woodward Fischer from California Institute of Technology have published their findings concerning the evolutionary tree of cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria are sometimes called blue-green algae, despite not being algae at all, and are thought to be one of the most ancient organisms on the planet. Fossilised cyanobacteria in the form of stromatolites found in Western Australia have been dated as far back as 3.5 billion years ago.

Importantly cyanobacteria are photosynthetic, which means they convert sunlight into usable energy and produce dioxygen (O2) as a by-product. But just when, and how, this oxygenic photosynthesis became a feature of these archaic life forms (called oxyphotobacteria) has been a topic of some speculation.

Making this even more difficult was the absence of evidence of closely related organisms (sister taxa) or evolutionary precursors. In 2013, however, a sister taxa, Malainabacteria, was discovered for the first time. Soo and colleagues are now reporting the discovery of yet another: Sericytochromatia.

Interestingly these sister taxa seem not to have been able to carry out photosynthesis of any kind, indicating that these taxa split from the known cyanobacteria before the latter evolved the ability to photosynthesise.

This leads the researchers to conclude the ancestors of modern cyanobacteria gained this capacity by lateral gene transfer the transfer of genetic material between extant organisms, in contrast to vertical gene transfer, which is the process of parents conferring genetic material to offspring.

Genes for parts of the photosynthetic process must have come from some other microbe, the authors argue, and then these evolved further within the ancestors of Oxyphotobacteria. Remarkably, this indicates that oxygenic photosynthesis evolved in only one branch of the cyanobacterial family.

This is the first time anyone has been able to establish how the oxyphotobacteria might have evolved. As Fischer says: Its a big deal that we can now say with some certainty that lateral transfer was important.

It is also a big deal that it is these bacteria responsible for the Great Oxidation Event.

This explosion in abundance of molecular oxygen in the Earths atmosphere had profound consequences. The first was the extinction via oxygen-toxicity of many types of anaerobic bacteria. The second was the production of the environment conducive to the evolution of the most recent and familiar of the three domains of life, the eukaryotes, to which all plants, animals and fungi belong.

Fischer suggests that while it might be tempting to think the genes for oxygenic photosynthesis came, via lateral transfer, from one of the six phyla of extant bacteria capable of non-oxygen producing photosynthesis, it seems just as possible that whoever gave Cyanobacteria the genes for photosynthesis went extinct long ago.

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Bacteria's evolution sheds light on great oxygenation event - Cosmos

When the government last shut down, in 2013, Mick Mulvaney considered himself part of the Shutdown Caucus a group of conservative House Republicans who held such a hard line that they were willing to let the lights go out.

Now, four years later, Mulvaney is on a collision course with his former comrades, responsible for convincing intransigent House Republicans to make a different kind of choice and pass a new spending bill by April 28 to avert another shutdown.

The former South Carolina congressman who was elected in the tea party wave of 2010 and took pride in rejecting his own partys budget proposals, one after another now serves as President Trumps budget director, making him the administrations chief salesman over the next month on spending matters.

Once an outspoken leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Mulvaney now is tasked with bringing along the group with which his boss has plainly lost patience. Frustrated by their obstruction on health care, Trump last week threatened to destroy Freedom Caucus members in the 2018 midterm elections, even as Mulvaney is working with them to forge consensus on an agreement to keep the government funded.

But there are clear limits to Mulvaneys influence, as this months embarrassing collapse of the Republican health-care bill laid bare. Some Freedom Caucus members speak privately of Mulvaneys philosophic convulsion, as one put it, and are quick to note that he no longer speaks with the ideological purity they came to respect in him, but rather as an agent of a president on the hunt for a deal.

(Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

All of our lives are composed of trade-offs, said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member. Each person has a different calibration on where go means go and where no means no. I wouldnt attempt to suggest for another where their own lines ought to be on that balancing act of personal philosophy and assigned roles or jobs, but what I would say is that I wish Mick the absolute best.

Trump and his other advisers, however, see Mulvaney as their bridge to the Freedom Caucus, believing he still has unique credibility with the conservative hard-liners, however hostile they may be to some of the administrations priorities.

If you have to have somebody on your side that understands the complexity of these [bills] and the stakes around a government shutdown, who would you rather have than Mick Mulvaney? asked Stephen K. Bannon, the chief White House strategist.

Bannon called Mulvaney the unsung hero of this administration, because hes doing yeomans work on just about every front. Hes a rock star.

Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, said Mulvaney is anchored in his core philosophy, but that he has said, As much as he loves his colleagues in the House, sometimes its less about winning the argument than about actually advancing the ball.

One example of Mulvaneys dramatically altered role came with Sanford, who told The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., that Trump used Mulvaney as an intermediary to threaten to oust Sanford in retaliation for not supporting the health-care bill. Sanford said Mulvaney told him, The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped you voted no on this bill so he could run [a primary challenger] against you in 2018.

The episode marked an uncomfortable evolution for a man once allied with Sanford who saw his previous job in Congress as protecting the American taxpayer against runaway spending even for the military and even if the cuts he championed caused pain for his constituents.

[Trump wants to add wall spending to stopgap budget bill, potentially forcing shutdown showdown ]

Now as director of the Office of Management and Budget, however, Mulvaney has proposed a large increase in defense spending, which would be offset by steep cuts in social services such as housing, job training, and after-school activities, as well as foreign aid.

Some of these positions have infuriated antipoverty advocates, particularly his statements that federal assistance for low-income students and the elderly is ineffective.

Rarely will any program be able to fully accomplish its goals because the needs are so great, but if you took those programs away, there would be a huge impact, said Libba Patterson, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who ran the states social services agency for four years.

Fiscal hawks had a different reaction to Mulvaneys first budget. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member who served with him in the South Carolina legislature before they were both elected to Congress in 2010, cheered Mulvaneys moves. We were all dancing in the street that Mick was chosen to be OMB director, he said.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) praised Mulvaney, a friend, as a committed conservative. But, he said, Mulvaney is wearing a different hat. He is now representing the administrations policy, so he doesnt have the same freedom he had as someone who represented the people of South Carolina.

During the health-care push, Mulvaney was one of the most visible administration officials. He appeared regularly on television news Trump thinks he is an especially smooth and punchy communicator, aides said and lobbied lawmakers incessantly, from negotiating sessions on Capitol Hill to a game of bowling in the White House basement.

[The closer? The inside story of how Trump tried and failed to make a deal on health care]

Duncan said Mulvaney helped persuade him to support the Affordable Care Act replacement bill, even though many Freedom Caucus colleagues were opposed.

He couldnt convince everyone, Duncan said. But even when he was in Congress and the Freedom Caucus, he couldnt convince everyone.

One of Mulvaneys selling points for the budget director job was his connection to the Freedom Caucus, Trump aides said, and there is some disappointment that he fell short on selling the health-care bill. But advisers said blame for the failure has fallen on many officials, including White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, not just Mulvaney.

Theres nothing more that he could have possibly done, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said of Mulvaney. He called the budget director a very well-steeped, well-regarded workhorse who has an instant sense of credibility on Capitol Hill.

Mulvaney was well-liked in the House, a rare Freedom Caucus member who made friends with House leaders, including Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

I think its easy for the media to paint him in a corner philosophically, but his friendships obviously go across the entire spectrum of the Republican conference, and I think thats why hes such a great asset, Short said.

Yet in the Senate, Mulvaney barely won confirmation. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined all 48 Democrats and independents in opposing his appointment, in part because of Mulvaneys past opposition to higher defense spending levels.

[Trumps federal budget 2018: Massive cuts to the arts, science and the poor]

Before coming to Washington, Mulvaney, 49, was a state lawmaker and also owned and operated a South Carolina franchise of Salsaritas Fresh Cantina. He first got elected to the House by unseating one of Congresss long-serving lions John Spratt, then the House Budget Committee chairman in a district that Democrats had controlled for more than 100 years.

Spratt said he was surprised Mulvaney had pulled off getting appointed budget director, arguing that he has no real experience in budget-making.

Im still surprised that he was able to pull down a prize like OMB, Spratt said. Its one of the most difficult jobs in the United States. Hes got to prove himself worthy of the job.

Mulvaneys colleagues said he has proven a quick study, and that he helps them see around corners politically.

Mulvaney has instructed the career staff at the budget office to read Trumps 1987 bestseller, The Art of the Deal. He supported Paul in the 2016 presidential primaries, but came around to Trump once he emerged as the presumptive nominee.

Now one of Trumps employees he attends the White House senior staff meetings every morning Mulvaney is forging a bond with the president. Aides said that whenever Trump talks about numbers, he summons Mulvaney if he is not already in the Oval Office.

Trump also invited Mulvaney to join him last weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, according to one of the presidents advisers.

He can take the mundane budget policy is not the sexiest thing in the world, lets face it and not only make it interesting, but talk to you about the different angles of it, said Rick Dearborn, a deputy White House chief of staff. Its not just the policy piece of it, but his political insights that make it very interesting. He gives you these aha moments of, Oh, yeah, I hadnt thought about that.

See the article here:

Mick Mulvaney's evolution from 'Shutdown Caucus' to Trump's ... - Washington Post

New York Times

My Son, My Daughter: A Mother's Evolution New York Times Isabel Rose, the telegenic heiress to one of New York's best-known real estate dynasties, has always had an ability to make her publicity-wary family squirm. In 2005 she published a novel, The J.A.P. Chronicles, in which she took aim at the Herms ...

Continue reading here:

My Son, My Daughter: A Mother's Evolution - New York Times

Mark Henderson Mark Henderson is The News-Star watchdog and storytelling coach.(Photo: MARGARET CROFT/THE NEWS-STAR)Buy Photo

Friends,

The evolution started slowly, but the migration of audiences and advertisers from print to online has been nothing short of breathtaking. Increasingly, most of our customers access The News-Star's content and advertising on our website, mobile and tablet devices, and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Like any business that evolves to stay relevant, we must follow in order for The News-Star, now 126 years old, to see another century of operations. We are nurturing that evolution with a series of steps to stay in alignment with audiences.

In a transformation already underway, we are concentrating breaking news and sports scores on our digital platforms, where you can keep up in real time. (Already a subscriber? Join us onlineby visiting thenewsstar.com/activate. Need to subscribe? Go to thenewsstar.com/subscribe.)

As a subscriber you'll bethe first to learn about breaking news with personalized news alerts, flip through a digital replica of the print paper, connect with our digital archive, access exclusive deals and more. Check it out at thenewsstar.com/memberguide.

We also give subscribers Insider perks. In April, you will have access to discounts on vacation destinations and services. Check it out at thenewsstar.com/insider.

Our print edition willfocus on content that youll find more satisfying and in-depth, rather than repeating the headlines you saw the night before.

On the news side, our journalists will dive more deeply into the topics we know you like: Watchdog stories, education, quality of life, jobs, government, public safety and stories of people.

Our sports content is evolving, too, and our focus will shift to unique and compelling content about local players, coaches and teams.

The goal is to get away from conventional reporting and writing methods, fully embracing a digital-first mindset. We will de-emphasize game stories, which are less popular with audiences. (Dont worry; you can always find the score at thenewsstar.com.)

Instead, we will take the pulse on what people are talking about live and on social media and translate that into stories, videos and engaging content. We will place an emphasis on analysis, features, columns, lists and videos, not providing game coverage in the traditional sense.

In particular, we will deliver more: Compelling human interest stories with strong character development. The central characters might be sports figures, but these stories will echo themes and emotions to which everyone can relate. Watchdog and investigative enterprise that hold public officials at all levels of sports accountable. Quirky stories that surprise and delight. Shorter stories driven by the conversation of the day. Personality-driven columns that help brand our sports experts.

We understand that most people, including lots of daily newspaper readers, discover breaking news on their cellphones, Facebook feeds or thenewsstar.com. And we understand that means most readers dont want to reread the same old breaking news like the score of a game when they open their newspapers the next day.

We also will expand our digital offerings including more videos and a wider variety of stories. As part of our commitment to delivering up-to-the minute local news, we encourage you to like the The News-StarFacebook page, which is updated around the clock with stories that might not appear in print.

This much is remains unchanged. A free society depends on the free flow of information. How we get the information to you is ever changing, but our responsibility to you, our readers, has not. You have my sincere commitment that our journalists will continue to strive to be vigilant watchdogs of government and enthusiastic partners in improving and empowering our community.

Mark Henderson is news director at The News-Star. He can be reached at 362-0262 or by email at mhenderson@thenewsstar.com.

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Evolution: Serving our customers as their needs shift - The News Star - Monroe News Star

Evolution is a process whereby something turns into another thing often more complex and sophisticated. There are three kinds of scientific evolution: cosmic/chemical, biological and social. I will concentrate on the biological kind.

Cosmic/chemical evolution describes how after the Big Bang all 92 natural elements were synthesized. Hydrogen is the simplest element and created with the Bang. In stars it undergoes nuclear fusion to form the lighter elements. After aging stars often explode as nova and in this energy heavier elements are made. From these, solid planets like Earth form.

Biological evolution produces new types of organisms from previous forms or allows the process of speciation through a variety of phenomena. Two steps are necessary: genetic mutations and natural selection. Genetic mutation occurs because DNA undergoes chemical change producing new forms of the genes. Selection is the removal of some individuals from breeding populations. Natural selection acts on the differences though physical, chemical aspects of the environment, competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism and pathogenicity, and mutualism. Mutualism is where two types cooperate to the benefit of both.

Biological evolution shows specific patterns based on the various combinations of these events, Hybridization where two types interbreed results in a new third kind. Divergence is when two new species co-arise from a former one. Radiation occurs when divergence happens repetitively and many types come about. Convergence is the case of different species becoming more alike by a common environments selection, like birds, bats and bees which all have wings and fly. These processes have all been observed in the fossil record.

Evolution is actually measured by a science called population genetics. Population genetics is possible because a gene mutates and produces different forms of a gene for a trait. Geneticists count the numbers of all forms in a population and compare each of these to the total number of that gene, called the frequencies. If over time there is a change in these frequencies, scientists say evolution is occurring. A curious form of this, unique from the above, is genetic drift where the change is not selected but occurs randomly.

With all of this, the most common form of evolutionary change is extinction or complete disappearance of a species. This is observed in the fossil record and is occurring now at a rapid rate due to human pressures. Even an event like this is named, called a punctuation or extinction crisis due to large scale.

Human evolution is well recorded in the fossil record. This record is a layered sequence of recent evidence to older and older evidence as we dig deeper in sediments. About 50 million years before the present (B.P), the record shows the emergence through radiation of primates, which we are, including eventually monkeys and apes. Around 2.5 to 3 million years B.P. new types appeared, represented by fossils of australopithecines. These stood upright and had hands. A well-known example of these is the fossil called Lucy.

Diverging from these about 1.5 million years B.P. was the first of our genus Homo. First arose H. habilis that showed the ability to make stone and wooden tools and showed noticeable brain enlargement. After it and briefly before its extinction came H. erectus which was more fully upright and showed more brain expansion and tool facility, developing use of bone and animal hides.

Around 250,000 years B.P., fossils indicate the presence of our species, Homo sapiens. We have a much larger brain with a big prefrontal cortex and an enlarged forehead. Hand to eye coordination is very adroit and fine. The last refinements were seen 150,000 years B.P., probably with extensive hairlessness and with extensive cultural development. From hereon we find extensive, prolonged cultural complexity and eventually modern technologies. Most importantly, humans are the only Earth creature that has languages.

Social or cultural evolution is all the changes since 150,000 years B.P. A culture is a grouping of social practices common to a human group. Starting with stone, wood, bone and hide technologies, we have become increasingly sophisticated, developing more than 5,000 languages (which also go extinct), forming many, many cultures, and making many changes in technological capabilities. Today we have computers, wireless techniques, robots and sadly ever more elaborate ways to kill each other.

The question now is our own extinction. All this knowledge weve gained must be good for something. Lastly, many authors have written about these things. A good one is Thank God for Evolution by Michael Dowd.

Read more:

Williams: Evolution as a science - Roanoke Times

Citizen power: Posters for an upcoming Janatha Vimukthi Peramua party rally outside the old Negombo market on Sea Street. Photo by @amaliniii. Taken at this years Instameet, held in Negombo.

This post by Raisa Wickrematunge originally appeared on Groundviews, an award-winning citizen journalism website in Sri Lanka. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement with Global Voices.

On March 26, 2017, a group of 13 or so people created some confusion among the vendors at the old market on Sea Street in Negombo city at the West coast of Sri Lanka.

Where are you from? was an oft-repeated question. Armed with cameras and smartphones, perhaps the group did look like tourists.

In fact, the group was participating in Instameet Sri Lanka part of a global event where users of Instagram in a particular country or locality connect. There are usually two Instameets held a year, and across the world, Instagram users organise their own meetings on that date.

Yet while the group might have looked like tourists, the participants of Instameet all had something in common a desire not just to meet the people they otherwise would only know of from scrolling through their timelines, but also to explore and document the chosen location Negombo.

I personally think Negombo is a great place [to have an Instameet] because its very diverse. The architecture and its landmarks are testament to its rich culture and history. participant and resident of Negombo, Aadil Marzook (@aadil.marzook)

Some of the asides of Aadil Marzook during the walk revealed much about Negombos culture and history that wouldnt be found in a guidebook, and would often go un-captured by the tourists lens.

Some participants from this year's meet:

The front of St. Marys College for instance, was emblazoned with the words No Hair Cuts. This was actually retaliation from students, Aadil explained.

A lot of students who attend this school are from the fishing community. They are reacting to the strict rules on uniforms. The school doesnt allow spiked hair or pants that are too tight sometimes they cut the students hair as punishment, Aadil explained.

Snippets of information like this are what make Instameet unique. The participants take care not just to capture iconic landmarks or sunsets but also slices of the areas culture and the daily lives of residents.

These conversations have long been a part the Sri Lankan chapter of Instameet, which began when Abdul Halik Azeez (@colombedouin) floated the idea in 2013 to people attending, ironically, another event based around a social media platform TweetUp, for Twitter users.

Sri Lanka has a tradition of online communities meeting in real life such as the open mic events for users of blog aggregator Kottu, Halik said. I saw people hosting meet-ups all over the world on Instagram, and I thought it would be interesting to have one here too, so I asked people whether they would be interested. The answer was yes.

Photos from the first Instameet in Mardana Railway Station in Colombo in 2013

Nazly Ahmed (@nazlyahamed), one of the organisers of this years Instameet comments that Instameet hasnt been commercialised. Brands often try to hijack an event, but here we just try to keep it simple its about connecting with the community and exploration. You can try much more things together as a group than if a brand was involved, Nazly added.

Since that first meetup, there have been changes, not just in terms of participation but also in the way Instagram itself has been used.

Another change was the shift from using smartphones to cameras to take photos. The result meant that there were fewer photos instantly uploaded using this years hashtags. I think when people are on the move, it becomes cumbersome to stop and upload photos. Also, its about what each user is most comfortable with. Personally, I try to capture emotions. I like to get close to my subjects and a DSLR helps me capture that, Nazly explained.

Hashinika Abeygunasekara (@hashiabey) said that it was actually after attending an installation of Instameet, held in Kompannaveedya, that she was inspired to buy a camera and more seriously pursue photography.

Photos from the Instameet in Kompannaveedya in Slave Island in 2015

I find that using a camera gives a better framing and perspective. You can do much more with focusing too. Sometimes I find people feel a bit alienated or scared when I use my phone to take photos. Yet now when I walk around Pettah for instance, I find people are happy for me to take their picture when they see my camera.

While there have been shifts in the way people use Instagram, one aspect hasnt changed and that is the participants desire to capture the essence of the locations they visit. Beyond Instagrammers connecting with each other, the participants also connected with the environment and the different people they met along the trail.

Amalini de Sayrah (@amaliniii) an organiser of this years Instameet said:

Instagram is meant for people to express their creativity. The beauty of the platform, and of Instameet itself, is that it is a window into many different perspectives. When we first put out word of this Instameet, we had several people ask us if it was for professional photographers only the meets and the app itself is for everyone and most of those who use the app are simply people who have a passion for photography, self-taught and curious to explore. Instagram allows people a place to tell their story, regardless of the device you use, or can afford to use.

Photos from this years Instameet in Negombo

This years event kicked off from near the Negombo lagoon. The participants visited the old market on Sea Street, St. Marys Church and the fish market before looping back to walk along the canal, ending up by the beach for sunset.

The rest of the photos from this years Instameet can be viewed through the hashtag #wwim15srilanka.

Link:

The Evolution of Sri Lanka's #Instameet - Global Voices Online

Anxiety about their position in the mating market stemming from their understanding of evolutionary theory leads many men to extremely misogynistic thinking. Photograph: Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images

Jules Howard writes that teaching evolution from an early age would help combat racism and promote humanist values (Utopian thinking: Forget British Values teach children they are apes, theguardian.com, 27 March), but this is not borne out by experience. Most early evolutionists were racist, Darwin included. Some of the most brilliant evolutionary theorists, such as Francis Galton and Ronald Fisher, were strong proponents of eugenics. That this strand of thinking is mostly abandoned in todays mainstream evolutionary biology is reassuring, but does not stem from any particular scientific finding. Rather, it was the horrors of Nazism (itself strongly influenced by evolutionary ideas) that made further promotion of racism and eugenics untenable.

Another optimistic expectation is that the realisation that we are apes would free us of our bodily embarrassment. Again, this is not supported by evidence. The contrary seems to be the case, where anxiety about their position in the mating market stemming from their understanding of evolutionary theory leads many men to extremely misogynistic thinking. This can be seen in the flourishing of the online red pill trolling culture.

None of this is to say that evolution, which is an elegant and intellectually stimulating scientific theory, should not be taught. It should, however, disabuse us of the notion that how this teaching will be used can be separated from the wider moral values a society holds. Vukain Zrelec Guangzhou, China

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Teach evolution but not in a moral vacuum - The Guardian

Christian Science Monitor

Discovery of new predatory dinosaur species gives new insight on their evolution Science Daily LSU Health New Orleans' Dr. Jayc Sedlmayr, an evolutionary biologist whose research is in evolutionary anatomy, provided the biological non-boney anatomical perspective and interpretation. The team worked with excellently preserved fossils -- a skull ... This new dino might change the face of tyrannosaurs, evolutionChristian Science Monitor This Is Our Best Look Yet at a Tyrannosaur's FaceNational Geographic A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system : Scientific Reports - NatureNature The Guardian all 43 news articles »

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Discovery of new predatory dinosaur species gives new insight on their evolution - Science Daily