Category Archives: Evolution

Seadras need a dragon scale to evolve.

One of the new features introduced recently to Pokemon Go are evolution items. These five additions help you evolve some Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon when combined with a certain amount of candy. Here's everything you need to know about these items and where to find them.

Before Gen 2 was released, all you needed to evolve a pocket monster was collect enough candies. Now, for some special Pokemon, you need to collect the candies and an evolution item.

Here are the evolution items and how to identify them:

The taser-like upgrade item you need to evolve Porygon.

Right now, only eight Pokemon evolve using anything other than candy. Here's a list and what you need to evolve them:

To evolve Onix you need a metal coat.

There are two different ways to evolve a Slowpoke.

The only way to get evolution items is by spinning PokeStops. Like with the new berries, though, they don't drop as often as balls and razz berries. After more than fifty spins at various stops, I only got one sun stone. Your mileage may vary, but don't expect to collect them quickly.

There's a rumor that you're more likely to get an evolution item when you get your seven-day streak bonus, but that hasn't been confirmed.

The one sun stone I found after more than 50 spins.

Original post:

Everything you need to know about evolution items in Pokemon Go - CNET

One of the first Easter eggs that players discovered when the new update arrived for Pokemon Go last week was the ability to give an Eevee the nickname Sakura to make evolve it into Espeon or Tamao to make it evolve into Umbreon. Unfortunately, this trick only works once, but the sleuths at Pokemon Go Hub have discovered that theres another way to ensure your Eevee evolves into one of the new forms.

After conducting research over the past several days, Pokemon Go Hub has determined that the following criteria must be met in order to ensure that your Eevee evolves into either Espeon or Umbreon:

In order to test the hypothesis that Niantic had added friendship to the game in the latest update, Go Hub put 27 different Eevees through their paces using a variety of variables to determines whether or not it was possible to make sure that Eevee would evolve into either Espeon or Umbreon.

With the Eevees that walked 10km with a trainer as a Buddy, but werent set as the Buddy at the time of evolution, Go Hub got Flareons, Jolteons and Vaporeons. The same was true when they walked 10km with Eevee as their buddy, but didnt receive 2 piece of candy along the way. No Espeon or Umbreon.

At the moment, it seems that the only way to evolve an Eevee into an Espeon or Umbreon is to either use the nickname trick or follow the guidelines that Pokemon Go Hub has laid out above.

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Pokemon Go trick: Another way to make Eevee evolve into Espeon ... - BGR

Posthumously, Charles Darwin, possibly as much as any 19th-century scientific figure, has had his lifes work and reputation maligned, and still to this day, ridiculed with undeserved scorn. What Darwin a man who possessed a boundless curiosity and matchless intellect observed and the theory he then explained in On the Origin of Species is considered a classic.

It seems timely and appropriate that a corrective of sorts, debunking a few of the many myths about Darwin, A primer on Darwin Day, appeared in the LNP Faith & Values section Feb. 11.

After reading the Feb. 2 letter Theory of evolution has significant flaws, I think it seems only appropriate and fair that, in addition to reading a nicely illustrated book about The Origin of Species, the writer also read Darwins own work "On The Origin Of Species.

The oft-repeated claim of a lack of transitional forms and missing links ignores the fact that not all creatures inhabited areas near volcanoes or environments where they would leave history a nicely preserved fossil.

Actually fossils are quite rare. A relatively new technique, DNA sequencing, has filled in much that the fossil record does not tell us.

A book that I unreservedly recommend is Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World by Michael Dowd, a United Church Of Christ minister.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God. Or as David Sloan Wilson stated: The blessings of religion do not require departures from factual reality.

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Evolution, religion can co-exist - LancasterOnline

February 20, 2017 A photograph of a Solenopsis invicta fire ant queen (large), five workers (smaller), one larva (whiteish) on a subset of the DNA sequence of their social chromosome. Credit: Romain Libbrecht and Yannick Wurm / QMUL

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have discovered that the chromosome responsible for the social organisation of colonies of the highly invasive fire ant is likely to have evolved via a single event rather than over time.

Red fire ants are found in two different types of colonies: some colonies have a single queen while other colonies contain dozens of queens. The team had previously discovered that colony type is determined by a chromosome that carries one of two variants of a 'supergene' region containing more than 500 genes.

In a new research paper, published in the journal Molecular Ecology, the team from QMUL's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences sequenced the DNA and compared the genomes of two types of individuals: those carrying the supergene version responsible for colonies with a single queen, and those carrying the supergene variant responsible for colonies with multiple queens.

"We found that the two versions of the chromosome differ homogeneously over the entire length of the supergene. This suggests that a single event, such as a large chromosomal rearrangement, was responsible for the origin of this remarkable system for determining social organisation," said lead author Dr Yannick Wurm from QMUL's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences.

The team also discovered a large number of unfavourable mutations in the version of the supergene responsible for colonies with multiple queens.

Dr Wurm added: "It is likely that only a few genes among the hundreds present in the supergene region are responsible for differences in social organisation. Our finding indicates that the advantages of having several queens in the colony outweigh the costs of the unfavourable mutations in the supergene region."

This finding can help scientists understand how chromosomes evolve over time.

Rodrigo Pracana, a PhD student at QMUL and first author of the study, said: "We know that the Y chromosome in mammals has also been affected by unfavourable mutations. It is exciting to see that the fire ant social chromosome has evolved in a similar way to the human Y chromosome, although it controls social organisation and not sex."

The red fire ant, which is a native species in South America, is infamous for its painful sting, and is known in many other parts of the world where its aggressiveness and high population density have made it an invasive pest. It was accidentally introduced to the southern USA in the 1930s and has since spread to many warm parts of the world including in China and Australia. Efforts at controlling the spread of this species have largely been unsuccessful, as indicated by its Latin name, Solenopsis invicta, meaning "the invincible".

Rodrigo Pracana added: "Our discoveries could help to develop novel pest control strategies. For example, a pesticide that disrupts the social organisation in this species without affecting other species would be beneficial.

"This might be achieved by targeting the genes in the supergene region. We find almost no genetic diversity in the version of the supergene specific to colonies with multiple queens so targeting genes in this region means there would be limited potential for the ants to evolve resistance."

Explore further: Team identifies new 'social' chromosome in the red fire ant

Researchers have discovered a social chromosome in the highly invasive fire ant that helps to explain why some colonies allow for more than one queen ant, and could offer new solutions for dealing with this pest.

Since Charles Darwin, biologists have pondered the mystery of "mimicry butterflies", which survive by copying the wing patterns of other butterflies that taste horrible to their predators, birds.

Invasive animals are often most abundant in habitats impacted by humans, especially man-made habitats, such as roadsides, suburban and urban developments, and areas of intensive agricultural activity. Understanding why this ...

Scientists have identified the cluster of genes responsible for reproductive traits in the Primula flower, first noted as important by Charles Darwin more than 150 years ago.

Picture an ant colony: up to a million ants, all looking identical, harmoniously going about their busy ant lives. But with so many ants around, how on Earth do they know who's friend and who's foe?

The ruff is a Eurasian shorebird that has a spectacular lekking behaviour where highly ornamented males compete for females. Now two groups report that males with alternative reproductive strategies carry a chromosomal rearrangement ...

Beetles that copulate with the same mate as opposed to different partners will repeat the same behaviour, debunking previous suggestions that one sex exerts control over the other in copulation, new research has found.

They build among the tallest non-human structures (proportionately speaking) in the world and now it's been discovered the termites that live in Australia's remote Top End originated from overseas - rafting vast distances ...

A Rice University study suggests that researchers planning to use the CRISPR genome-editing system to produce designer gut bacteria may need to account for the dynamic evolution of the microbial immune system.

An international collaboration of life scientists, including experts at Van Andel Research Institute, has described in exquisite detail the critical first steps of DNA replication, which allows cells to divide and most advanced ...

For decades, scientists working with genetic material have labored with a few basic rules in mind. To start, DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), and mRNA is translated into proteins, which are essential for almost ...

Researchers have discovered a key gene that influences genetic recombination during sexual reproduction in wild plant populations. Adding extra copies of this gene resulted in a massive boost to recombination and diversity ...

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Scientists explore the evolution of a 'social supergene' in the red fire ... - Phys.Org

Combiningtechniques from a field calledresurrection ecology with a look atlake sediments reveals surprising evolutionary responses to heavy-metal contamination over the past 75 years.

Mary Rogalski hatched long-dormant eggs of Daphnia, tiny freshwater crustaceans also known as water fleas, that accumulated in the lake sediments over time. After rearing the critters in the lab, she exposed them to various levels of two heavy metals to see how their sensitivity to the environmental contaminants changed over time. Surprisingly, she found that sensitivity to copper and cadmium increased as the levels of those toxic metals rose in the lakes she studied.

These findings are unexpected because evolutionary theory predicts that a population should adapt quickly to a stressor like this and become less sensitive to it, not more sensitive to it. It is difficult to explain the results of this study, says Rogalski, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Michigan department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

In one of the lakes, Daphnia hatched from sediments dating to around 1990when copper contamination was at its peakwere 46 percent more sensitive to copper exposure than individuals from the 1940s, a period with lower levels of copper contamination.

Rogalski reports her finding in the journal The American Naturalist. The study was part of her dissertation research at Yale University and involved fieldwork at three Connecticut lakes.

Rogalski then estimated sediment ages based on the presence of radioactive materials and measured concentrations of copper and cadmium in the layers back to the late 1800s. Copper contamination in the lakes was largely due to yearly applications of copper sulfate to control nuisance algae. The cadmium likely came from industrial and agricultural development in the region over the past century.

In the lab, Rogalski isolated dormant or diapausing Daphnia ambigua eggs from various dated sediment layers, then hatched and raised them. She measured Daphnias changing sensitivity to copper and cadmium by exposing them to various levels of the metals in glass flasks and determining the median lethal concentration.

In one Connecticut lake where copper contamination has declined recently, she found that Daphnia remain sensitive to the metal 30 years after peak exposure.

It is difficult to know what mechanisms are driving this evolutionary pattern, Rogalski says. Even so, this research suggests that we need to do more to uncover both the drivers and implications of maladaptation in nature.

Paleolimnology is the study of ancient lakes from their sediments and fossils. The branch of experimental paleolimnology that Rogalski used in this study has been dubbed resurrection ecology by its practitioners.

Human activities can drive strong and rapid evolutionary changes in wild animal populations. Those evolutionary responses often leave the population better able to cope with the new environmental conditions, a process called adaptation through natural selection.

For example, a newly introduced pesticide may kill the vast majority of the insects it targets, but the survivors can then give rise to a pest population that is resistant to the chemical.

Some populations, however, fail to adapt to changing environments or can wind up worse off than they were beforehand, an occurrence known as maladaptation. Maladaptive outcomes are less common than adaptive ones and are less studied. In many cases, it is impossible to examine a populations response to a stressor over multigenerational timescales without conducting a long-term study that could take decades to complete.

The Daphnia crustacean, with its diapausing eggs, provides a time machine of sorts, allowing researchers to examine long-term evolutionary responses to environmental stressors by reviving and rearing dormant organisms trapped in lake bottoms.

Daphnia offer a system where examining historic evolutionary trajectories is possible, Rogalski writes in the study. Hatching diapausing eggs from dated lake sediments and culturing clonal lineages in the lab allows us to examine how populations change through time and the genetic basis underlying those changes.

The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies supported the work.

Source: University of Michigan

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'Resurrected' eggs reveal odd evolution of water fleas - Futurity: Research News

Evolution Digital and Conax announced that Conax will provide its multi-DRM solution for Evolution Digitals eVUE-TV platform, which is being made available on the National Cable Television Cooperatives (NCTC) VU-IT!Platform.

eVUE-TV is a managed IP platform for linear and on-demand video, as well as network DVR and catch-up TV features, that Evolution Digital has been pitching to tier 2/3 U.S. cable operators. Last year, Evolution announced that eVUE-TV is the first offering to be introduced as an option for VU-IT!, a platform that includes a solution for backoffice integration, OTT apps and enhanced services that enable IP-based linear and VOD services.

RELATED: Evolution Digital Notches Another NCTC Deal

Support for Conaxs content security system will enable partners to support multi-DRM technologies that utilize PlayReady, Widevine, FairPlay and Nagra PRM, as well as THE next generation Conax Connected Access security client that combines CA/IPTV/DRM functionalities, they said.

They added that the Conax Contego security back-end has been integrated with the eVUE-TV platform in hosted and on-premises models, and that the platform meets the MovieLabs Enhanced Content protection requirements for 4K/UHD.

We have partnered with Conax to offer a best of breed comprehensive content security solution to our NCTC members with eVUE-TV, Brent Smith, president and chief technology officer of Evolution Digital, said in a statement. As cable operators move to IP distribution and begin offering a wide-range of content that can be viewed anywhere, Evolution Digital is committed to delivering content securely and providing operators with a low cost and hassle-free solution that eliminates complexities of technology integration.

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Evolution Digital, Conax Connect on Content Protection - Multichannel News

Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma looks on from the sideline.(Photo: USA TODAY Sports/David Butler II)

After winning for the 100th straight time last week, the UConn womens basketball team almost lost at Tulane Saturday, which would have been like pizza losing to lima beans.

The Green Wave cut the Huskies' lead to two twice in the last 1:15, but missed its final three shots. What would have been an epic upset became instead consecutive win No. 101 for Connecticut, 63-60. Still, the Tulane women did something almost no one else has been able to do since UConns streak began on Nov. 17, 2014:

Made a UConn game compelling.

Took it off the assembly line of Ws. Made it more than another Globetrotters win over the Washington Generals. Made it competitive.

Count me among the legions fawning over Connecticuts streak, which is now 13 games longer than anything John Wooden achieved. Excellence and the attendant work required should never be taken for granted. UConn lost its three best players this season they went 1-2-3 in the WNBA draft and was picked No. 3 in the country yet still rules the world, as if by habit.

Greatness is making the difficult look routine. If there were a word higher than greatness, wed use it in this case. The Huskies dont have to apologize for being 101-0. Everyone else does.

In the process of creating a kingdom all its own, Connecticut has turned the rest of womens college basketball into sharecroppers. In fashioning singular greatness, the Huskies have shown how far the rest of the league still has to go.

In 2015, 349 Division I schools had womens basketball teams. A total of 5,124 women took part. Each team could have a maximum of 15 players on scholarship. Not one school could find enough good players to at least compete with Connecticut?

Dominance requires partners. Otherwise, its just looking into a mirror. Given that womens college basketball has been ascendant for 25 years at least, why is itthat no school can come up with a roster that can keep UConn coach Geno Auriemma awake at night?

Here are some numbers. Here is statistical proof that UConn is the sneaker of womens basketball and everyone else is the bug:

Of the 100 wins, only two were by fewer than 10 points.

Twenty-five were by 50 points or more. Fifty-six were 40-plus. Fifty-six opponents were props. The average victory margin throughout 100-0: 38.4.

UConn is 9-0 this year against the top 5 teams in the country, winning by an average of 14. Earlier this year, the Huskies beat No. 20 South Florida, 102-37.

Cmon.

This isnt sports. Its performance art.

Why cant anyone give them a game? Why cant anyone given 15 scholarships and playing in a more prestigious league than the AAC recruit a roster capable of making the Huskies nervous? What does this say about the depth and breadth of talent in the womens game?

While we celebrate the greatness, shouldnt we also question the evolution?

The mens game is what it is now because no team dominates. March is Mad because none of us knows whose Moment might Shine. Seasons begin with a usual-suspects list of teams favored to win it all. But not even Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina get automatic invites. And the fight for the crown always involves social strivers and climbers such as Butler, Villanova and, this year, Gonzaga.

There is mystery and genuine hope. Sports cant survive without both. There arent 38-point blowouts game after game.

I asked Scott Rogers about this. He coaches basketball at Mount Notre Dame. As the Cougars head coach, his teams have gone to the state title game three times and won it all twice. When Rogers was as an assistant, the Cougars won another. Rogers even sent a player, Mel Thomas, to UConn.

The frustrating part I see is teams subconsciously saying, If we stay within 10, weve done a good job, "Rogers said. Its almost like the streak has gotten inside the heads of some programs."

Rogers admires what Geno Auriemma has built. Not only does he get the top five players every year, he gets the top five he needs,"he said. But Rogers wonders if the lack of competition might turn off some fans. People dont want to watch people get beat by 50."

Thats the rub for the Huskies. Too good for everyone. Too good for their own sport.

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Doc: UConn's success speaks volumes on evolution of women's game - Cincinnati.com

10.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the moon on July 20, 1969. The plexiglass of his helmet reflects astronaut Neil Armstrong, taking his picture.

Walking on the Moon's surface a quarter million miles away from Earth presented a new set of problems to spacesuit designers. Not only did the moon explorers' spacesuits have to offer protection from jagged rocks, but the suits also had to be flexible enough to permit stooping and bending.

The suits had to provide protection from bombardment by micrometeoroids, tiny particles that constantly pelt the lunar surface from deep space, but also insulate the wearer from the temperature extremes of space.

Without the Earth's atmosphere to filter the sunlight, the side of a suit facing the Sun may be heated to a temperature as high as 250 degrees Fahrenheit; the other side, exposed to darkness of deep space, may get as cold as -250 degrees Fahrenheit.

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From Mercury to Starliner: The Evolution of the Spacesuit - NBCNews.com

With humans on the cusp self-evolution, a new report emphasizes the need for a societal conversation that were not likely to have.

Last week, two developments in gene editing shifted this potent new technology from a possibility to more of a probability. Yet its likely that the news didnt register with most people. Despite the revolutionary potential of a tool that may soon make it possible for Homo sapiens to manipulate DNA and to self-evolve - for better or for worse.

The new technology goes by the funny-sounding name Crispr-Cas9 a method that has the power to cut and paste DNA, the basic code of life in humans and all other organisms, almost as simply as moving letters around on a word processor. Researchers expect to use Crispr-Cas9 to fix or improve DNA sequences linked to diseases like Huntingtons and some cancers. The method could also be used to bump up a persons smarts, height, or stamina, although not yet.

We have within our grasp the technology to change evolution, said Paul Berg, a genetics pioneer from Stanford, about Crispr-tech. This could change the course of biological life.

Discovered in 2012 by scientists in California and Sweden, Crispr-Cas9 moved closer to reality last Tuesday when the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) released a report about the ethics and the proper uses of Crispr-tech. The next day came a patent court ruling that decided who has the rights to commercially exploit some basic components of Crispr-Cas9.

The media dutifully carried the news in the usual this is an important science story manner, while experts weighed in on science blogs and websites. Crispr-Cas9, however, is so far not following the usual pattern of scientific and technological breakthroughs, which typically take decades or even centuries to perfect, and for society to absorb them.

For instance, it took us thirty or forty years to properly build and learn to use the Internet. Even with genetics, the pace has been one of mostly incremental discoveries over decades, with society very slowly absorbing the basics of the science, and what it means for real people beyond what they saw in Jurassic Park and Gattaca.

Gene editing, however, is not following the usual, slow-roll-out pattern of most new discoveries. Crispr-Cas9 is still in its early days, but scientifically is moving at warp speed, playing out in years rather than decades.

Invented just five years ago, the technology allows DNA to be edited with an ease and at a lower cost than previous versions of the technology. Last year, a Pennsylvania high school senior named Michael Zhang even won a prestigious Intel Science Talent Search award for a project using Crispr.

Crispr stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, a natural process used by bacteria to remember the DNA of invading viruses so that that they can identify and destroy similar intruders, aided by DNA-slicing enzymes. In 2012 Jennifer Doudna of the University of California at Berkeley and Emmanuelle Charpentier of Swedens Umea University demonstrated in Science how to co-opt this process and intentionally edit DNA in any organism by using a slicer enzyme called Cas9.

Since Doudnas and Charpentiers breakthrough, a Crispr frenzy has generated thousands of scientific papers in hundreds of labs around the world. It has inspired the formation of companies like Editas, Intellia, and CRISPR Therapeutics that expect the gene editing market to one day generate billions of dollars. (All three companies have issued IPOs in record time). Last November, doctors began the first human trials in China using Crispr for patients with aggressive lung cancer.

Crispr-techs rapid deployment has also launched a brisk debate among scientists and bioethicists. In 2015, 18 prominent scientists and experts in law and ethicsled by Nobel Laureate David Baltimore and Jennifer Doudna published a call in Science magazine for a moratorium on some uses of this technology. As I reported at the time:

The group, which met in Napa, California, last January [2015] for a one-day summit, fretted about a possible slippery slope that might occur from using disease-curing applications that everyone wants, toward uses with less compelling or even troubling implications. They call on scientists to impose a voluntary stoppage while societal, environmental, and ethical implications of such activity are discussed among scientific and governmental organizations.

The group was particularly concerned about editing the germline cellsthe sperm and eggthat could pass alterations down to offspring. These are different than the somatic cells that make-up you and me and our organs and other body parts. They are not involved in reproduction, and wont impact progeny if edited.

Not surprisingly, the Crispr-rush has led to a battle over rival patents. Last week, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a 51-page ruling that sided with one of the first parties to file early patents, the Broad Institute in Boston. They won against an even early filer, the University of California at Berkeley. At issue was Berkeleys claim to patent uses of Crispr-Cas9 in all cells, versus the Broad claiming a patent for use in certain cells, including human cells. If this sounds confusing, it is, indicating that the legal wrangling over Crispr is just beginning.

The National Academies of Sciences (NAS) issued a 243-page report prepared after the call for the moratorium in 2015, and a subsequent international summit on gene editing held in December, 2015, in Washington, DC, sponsored by the NAS.

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The report provides a detailed assessment of where the science is, and the ethical and societal issues. It lists a number of recommendations, most notably that in rare and limited cases, germline editing might be allowable to save lives, but only following much more research, according to the report, and only for compelling reasons and under strict oversight. One magazine called this a yellow light, although it does represent a big shift from traditional bioethics, which strictly forbade any modifications to the human germline.

The report is dense and written in academic-speak, but it does a good job of elucidating the science and the conundrums. It also cites polls suggesting that the public seems to be in favor of gene editing to treat grave illnesses and to save lives, but is very wary of using this technology for so-called "enhancement."

Last weeks pronouncements are important in beginning to create a scientific and societal undergirding for Crispr-tech. Yet we still seem a long way off from a societal zeitgeist. Even Hollywood has yet to start spinning Crispr-inspired plotlines, at least that Im aware of.

Nor does the politics of the moment bode well for a proper public conversation about Crispr-techor really about any new and fast-moving scientific enterprise that confronts us with a species-level set of risks and benefits. A failure to elevate this discussion, however, could cause this inevitable and rapidly moving technology to overrun our ability to absorb the implications, and our ability to make intelligent decisions about the future of us, our children, and humanity.

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Gene Editing: The Next Step In Evolution - Daily Beast

Utah Jazz starting forward Gordon Hayward landed in New Orleans on Thursday, marking the first time in six years that a Jazzman has traveled to participate in the All-Star game.

Gordon Hayward described the whole experience as surreal, a description that could easily used when talking about his basketball career as a whole. His journey to becoming an NBA All-Star started years ago, long before he was considered a NBA heartthrob and long before he became Utahs first offensive option.

The once-lanky tennis player from Indiana has worked hard to transform into the reliable offensive power and decisive leader that Utah has needed for so long. Hayward has more than proven that his All-Star selection is well-deserved.

On Friday, after a long day of press interviews and while most of the other 2017 All-Stars were likely enjoying everything New Orleans has to offer, Gordon spent his afternoon working with Jazz assistant coach Johnnie Bryant. This incredible work ethic is central to the evolution of Gordon Hayward. His entire work-hard-play-hard mentality is what has driven his evolution into one of the 24 best players in the entire league.

Hes always been dedicated to the game and has made gradual improvement every season in the NBA. He has slowly bulked up, gaining pounds muscle since his sophomore year at Butler. His overall strength, both physical and mental, has increased, and that has translated into increased production on the court. But after failing to make the playoffs last season, Hayward decided that it wasnt enough. Gradual wasnt going to cut it.

Hayward went right to work after the season ended. Instead of going home to Indiana, Hayward decided to stay in Salt Lake City to work closely with Jazz coaching staff on improving his game. He even passed up the chance to play with Team USA in the summer Olympics. Instead, he stayed in SLC and challenged himself to make the final push that would evolve his overall game.

The 2016-17 season has been the best of Haywards career. Despite less game time on the court, hes averaging 22.2 points per game, a career high and the first time in his career that he has averaged more than 20 points. Hes shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from the three, and 87 percent from the free-throw line. Hes also averaging 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, giving him a shot at being one of the most versatile players to represent Utah for quite sometime.

Hayward has helped the Jazz to a 35-22 record, and at just 26-years-old, he has time to make even more All-Star appearances. Hes just barely entering the prime of his career. With his obvious dedication and work ethic, Gordon Hayward will only continue to transform his game to higher levels. Hes key to a playoff run for Utah, and its clear that hes up for the challenge.

Before Gordon Hayward and the other NBA All Stars took could take the court on Sunday night, the Roots turned the Smoothie King Center into a visual time machine as they tried to answer the one question fans always come back to.

We are culture that is obsessed with one question: Who is the greatest? said Black Thought, as the Roots began their original musical-visual performance. With the help of a handful of cultural icons, including DJ Jazzy Jeff and one half of Run DMC Darryl McDaniels, the Roots guided viewers through a retrospective (and incredibly profound) journey of each era of greatnessfrom the beboppin beginnings to the powerful present.

After listening to celebs present their arguments as to who was the greatest era in the NBA, Black Thought gave his ruling: Who really is the greatest? None of you are. True greatness is not comparison; its evolution. If this is trueif true greatness is evolutionthen Gordon Hayward could very well go down in history as one of the greats.

All you have to do is compare the player he is now to the player who took (and missed) the final shot of Butlers historic NCAA tournament run. He has evolved and transformed more as a player than most NBA players do in their entire careers. His hard work has paid off. From scrawny rookie to Mr. Steal-Your-Girl, Gordon Hayward hardly resembles the player he was when his journey began.

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The Great Evolution of Gordon Hayward - SLC Dunk