Thoughts w/ Casey

My favorite prediction of Darwin's idea of descent with modification is that Earth and life are old. Although the term "evolution" usually refers to biological organisms, things like planets, stars, galaxies and in essence, the entire universe, continue to evolve throughout time. The changing of the universe, of course, and especially the ecosystems of the Earth, creates natural selection amongst species, which is the driving force of evolution. Whether certain mutations become beneficial for an organism depends on the environment and occurs over numerous generations. During this time, the world these animals live in may evolve as well, creating ecosystems beneficial for certain traits and detrimental for others. Record of life has dated back nearly 3.5 billion years, with the fossils of cyanobacteria being found in what is present day Australia (shown below).   Image Source:  https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/cyanofr.html  Scientists have estimated that the universe was...

Evolution is a lot of things. When I wrote on the board on Thursday, I said that evolution was "like the fluid mosaic model", meaning that it is very dynamic and changes can happen all the time (maybe just not as fast). Similarly, I said that evolution was not "stagnant". Organisms are constantly undergoing small genetic changes from generation to generation, whether you can notice it or not. I also like to think of evolution as a simple equation: E = C/t, with E being evolution, C being change, and t being time (minimum one generation). I think of it this way because my brain can comprehend it better, although I know that this equation does not actually exist.  In regards to the second question, evolution is definitely fact. Although it is only defined as a "theory", most verified theories are based in fact and have ample evidence supporting them. One cannot deny the observations of Charles Darwin when he traveled to the Galapagos Islands. Those who argue...

 Hey guys, my name is Casey Worley and I am from the Kansas City area in a place called Shawnee. One day soon, I hope to be going to KU med and a little farther down the road, I want to be a doctor with my own practice. Something I am passionate about is medicine and making connections with others, so that is why being a doctor is the right path for me. There's nothing (I assume) like seeing the smile on a person's face when you tell them they are going to be alright. What fascinates me about evolution is the fact that (I may be wrong here) we have gone from tiny little single-celled organisms to the big ole humans are now. I can't wait to see what we evolve into next. While I might not notice evolution in my daily life, it certainly exists. The ways that humans have evolved from the beginning of human-being-hood affect my life today and the decisions that we make and the environmental factors that push us will affect populations millions of years from now. That is kind of ...