Evolution and Science

[Vikrant]

Theory of Evolution is not a dogma. It is an humble and courageous attempt to understand how life evolved. Darwin never claimed to have all the answers. He laid out a brilliant foundation for future work.

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On a separate note. I came across this news:


Ice-blasting test proves that comet impacts can spark life's ingredients


Ice-blasting test proves that comet impacts can spark life's ingredients* - NBC News.com

 

[Old Rocks]

PC, the theory of evolution is simply the best Theory that science has developed for any natural phonomena. The modern science of genetics essentially validated almost all of Darwin's theory. That your religion has a problem with that is not a concern of science. Long after your religion meets the fate of past religions, science will applaud the insights of Charles Darwin.

 

[Old Rocks]

Theory of Evolution is not a dogma. It is an humble and courageous attempt to understand how life evolved. Darwin never claimed to have all the answers. He laid out a brilliant foundation for future work.

---

On a separate note. I came across this news:


Ice-blasting test proves that comet impacts can spark life's ingredients


Ice-blasting test proves that comet impacts can spark life's ingredients* - NBC News.com

Abiogenesis is a fascinating subject. It has left the stage of how it could occur, and is now at the stage of which of the many possible paths did it take here. After that, what would life be like had it taken an alternative path? And will we find some places in the universe where it did?

 

[Vikrant]

^ I used to make fun of starseeders till I came across that fascinating article called Did Life Come From ANOTHER WORLD? It was published in Scientific American in 2005. It is a fascinating read.

 

[Vikrant]

Whether terrestrial life emerged on Earth or through biological seeding from space or as the result of some intermediate scenario, the answer would be meaningful. The confirmation of Mars-Earth panspermia would suggest that life, once started, could readily spread within a star system. If, on the other hand, researchers find evidence of Martian organisms that emerged independently of terrestrial life, it would suggest that abiogenesis can occur with ease throughout the cosmos. What is more, biologists would be able to compare Earth organisms with alien forms and develop a more general definition of life. We would finally begin to understand the laws of biology the way we understand the laws of chemistry and physics—as fundamental properties of nature.

Did Life Come From ANOTHER WORLD?
Scientific American, 2005

 

[Steven_R]

I'm a physics student and have no formal training in biology, paleontology, or geology. I would never presume to tell a biologist he is wrong because, quite frankly, I don't know enough biology to make that argument.

That said, I know enough about how the scientific process works and the politics of science and the profession of science to trust that the biologists know what they're talking about. If Darwin and evolution is still going strong after two centuries there's probably something to it. There are gaps in our understanding on many things involving the details of evolution, but biologists are certain about the overall framework of evolution. Even so, the arguments in the biological community are over esoteric details that I am quite certain few people on this message board are qualified to understand, much less judge.