Comments by "k98killer" (@k98killer) on "SmarterEveryDay" channel.

  1. The answer to the original question is: enough. The failed bird wings died out. If you do not understand that concept, then I urge you to obtain a basic understanding of how natural selection works before we move onto the molecular basis for organ evolution.
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  2. Josiah Gravelle I implore you to explore the evidence for yourself. The God of the Gaps is an especially weak argument as scientists find data that continually fill those gaps. The evidence is overwhelmingly in support of models involving natural selection processes. We understand a molecular basis for genetic mutations, and we are rapidly gaining an understanding of the embryo development processes of various species--which provides even further evidence of conservation and development of genes through species evolution. Everyone should keep an open mind, but not so open that his/her brain falls out.
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  3. Elias Azar Fools are those who pretend to understand evolution when they really do not. Fools are those who project their own guilt upon everyone else and claim that they believe something as a form of escapism, rather than realizing that people have actual reasons for believing what they believe. Evolution is scientifically established as the way biological inheritance works in reality. If you want to live somewhere other than reality, feel free to do so. But don't try to convince others to join you in your psychosis.
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  4. Very long-winded way of ignoring the various stages of winged dinosaurs that did not have the musculoskeletal properties for self-powered slight. There are fossils of many dinosaurs that made a living by riding air currents and simply gliding. Is it too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that a climbing creature with some primitive wing-like structure has a greater chance of survival and reproductive success than some other climbing creature that simply drops like a rock? Gliding squirrels do not have powered flight capabilities, but their mutations benefit them in some way. The reason you do not see every single transitory mutation is due to population dynamics: transitory forms very seldom stick around for too long, especially during times of low population (for example, after the KT extinction event, which killed off the vast majority of bird ancestors). In small populations, a mutation that gives even a modest increase in fitness or survival likelihood very rapidly becomes ubiquitous throughout the population. It thus follows that a small population of birdosaurs that climb trees would quickly adopt pre-wing structures that allow the birdosaurs to survive high falls; individuals with better control of this fall/glide gain a selective advantage by landing on other branches; individuals with lighter bone structures are able to glide further and have a further selective advantage; those able to flap are better at climbing trees; and so on. These transitory states of tree-dwellers are less likely to be fossilized than ground-dwellers simply as a matter of distance from the rock/mud slides. There are a number of simulations that demonstrate the validity of evolutionary concepts (they are fun to explore, if you're into that sort of thing). Quite often, transitory mutations appear and disappear very quickly. This is just what tends to happen in a system with random mutation and non-random selective pressures. I suggest that you do your own research if you actually want an answer to your questions. However, if your intent is to simply say that "God dun it", then no amount of explanation will ever convince you. (Sorry for the delayed response. I did not see this notification until just now >.<)
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  5. By the way, "macroevolution" is simply the summary result of "microevolution" over a large expanse of time.
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  6. ChiquitaSpeaks There are a lot of creationists/deniers of evidence for evolution as the origin of species who very often claim that microevolution is possible but macroevolution is impossible because gad blah blah "kinds". You'd be surprised how many times I have had to debunk that particular breed of bullshit. I just figured it was worth mentioning.
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  7. ChiquitaSpeaks Fair enough. I still think that we will have a more solid understanding of the evolution of the bird wing within the next decade or so. The evolution and morphogenesis of insect wings are fairly well understood at this point, and it appears that at least some of the same molecular mechanisms are involved in feather patterning. If you're interested in dev bio, check out these: http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~pingwu/1996Shhmorphogenesis.pdf http://dev.biologists.org/content/126/12/2577.short http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012160699995805 http://www.pnas.org/content/93/19/10246.short
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  8. ***** Pretty decent explanation. If you have the patience for it, you might find molecular genetics interesting. There are a lot of things that contribute to a species' evolution beyond ecological and environmental effects. Concerning the not starting an argument thing: I put on my firefighting boots and grab some gasoline. ;D
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  9. EXPHunterForce The only good troll is control.
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  10. ChiquitaSpeaks If you are asking about why we do not see weird wings in the fossil record, it is because fossilization is a difficult and rare process. Only the successful mutants pass on their genes, so the vast majority of fossilization candidates will always be of the successful phenotype. Is that what you meant?
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  11. ChiquitaSpeaks I guess that I just do not understand your question. Can you restate it?
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  12. This is like straight out of Star Wars or something. They make droidekas yonder.
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  13. I still think you won the Internet, fwiw. Pretty cool that it was a team effort too.
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  14. Seems to me that CNN, PMSNBC, et al. need to learn this as well. There are bad actors spreading misinformation purposefully; sheeple who repost/retweet mindlessly; and MSM orgs trying to emulate the bad actors to rake in views from the sheeple.
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  15. In software, this place would be called a factory factory.
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  16. Just started working on a ranch clearing invasive plants to make room for natives, so I'll sit this one out.
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  17. Velcom to Austria*
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  18. Kinda like solid rocket fuel in a way.
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