- published: 11 Jul 2013
- views: 2583948
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the inherited characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.
Life on Earth originated and then evolved from a universal common ancestor approximately 3.7 billion years ago. Repeated speciation and the divergence of life can be inferred from shared sets of biochemical and morphological traits, or by shared DNA sequences. These homologous traits and sequences are more similar among species that share a more recent common ancestor, and can be used to reconstruct evolutionary histories, using both existing species and the fossil record. Existing patterns of biodiversity have been shaped both by speciation and by extinction.
Charles Darwin was the first to formulate a scientific argument for the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Evolution by natural selection is a process that is inferred from three facts about populations: 1) more offspring are produced than can possibly survive, 2) traits vary among individuals, leading to differential rates of survival and reproduction, and 3) trait differences are heritable. Thus, when members of a population die they are replaced by the progeny of parents that were better adapted to survive and reproduce in the environment in which natural selection took place. This process creates and preserves traits that are seemingly fitted for the functional roles they perform. Natural selection is the only known cause of adaptation, but not the only known cause of evolution. Other, nonadaptive causes of evolution include mutation and genetic drift.
My computer is future shockin'
Download this, and you'll start talkin'
Upgraded, you're now walkin'
Compatible with all that is rockin'
Comin' on fast, it's gettin' digital
It's so huge, like a spiritual
Rippling out to every individual
This is life, it is a miracle
(Chorus)
Evolution has expontential timing
It'll be half as long 'til
The next breakthrough that blows our mind
It's up to the people to brave on with
experimentation
Move forth the species by using our imagination
But can we handle it?
Could we dismantle it?
Or should we fear the void and just be
para-paranoid?
If it's understood, it could be used for good
and would
If you will believe in all we can conceive
On the periodic table, they got it all wrong
Let me lay it down for you in this song
People want Pt, they want Au
But lemme tell you what you really ought to do
Figure out ways to master silicon
Fiber optic connectors, whatever's beyond
So many people don't even attempt to understand
The limitless possibilities of man
(Chorus)
I feel trapped, I gotta adapt
Remain calm, collected, before I get zapped
My computer is a rebel, acting all fine
And, just like that, payin' me no mind
What's up, is it's program overcome by a glitch
Is it becoming conscious and, if so, ain't that a
bitch?
I paid too much for this piece, I'll be damned
if it tries
Any funny business, it'll be the one that pays
the price
(Chorus)
Yes, can we handle it
We could we dismantle it
We should not fear the void and just be
para-paranoid
If it's understood, it could be used for good
and would