The Affect of Predators and Adaptations on Evolution

Evolution is a widely known theory stating that (based of observation and conclusion from sufficient evidence) over time, life changes and adapts. Causes for life to change vary, but two strong points that will be evaluated in this post are the affects of predators on the evolution of a species and how adaptations affect the evolution of a species.

How Predators and Adaptations Affect the Evolution of a Species:

Before delving into any thought, definitions to remove any confusion are under way.

SPECIES: A group of similar organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring.

PREDATOR: An animal that naturally preys on others.

ADAPTATION: A trait which helps an organism survive and reproduce.

To put it simply, a species naturally wants to live long enough to reproduce, and predators want to eat them to do the same thing. As the predator's natural instinct to survive directly conflicts with its prey's, sooner or later the prey would be extinct due to too many of its own species being devoured by the ever growing population of the predators, who have a great food source apparently - the prey. Take the katydid, for example;

Tettigoniidae Scudderia (Katydid)

The katydid is a species that has lasted millions of years and is currently 6400 species strong. However, its predators (lizards, birds, reptilians and amphibians in general) found them as quite the popular choice of food. Over generations, the katydids reproduced, being eaten, some surviving, and so forth. However, one day a mutation within the katydids population made them that much more harder to find. Those with this mutation had a better chance of surviving and so could reproduce and pass on their mutation. Over the course of millions of years, mutations in regards to mimicry meant that lizards, birds, amphibians, etc. couldn't see these katydids (now named "Leaf Katydids") and thus the species continued on. 

Predators have kept up with the katydids, as now monkeys (for example) just look for moving leaves, which must have been a real kick to millions of years of evolution. 

Another example of adaptations affecting evolution based on the same concept is the one we found in class. Dr. G placed pink bits and green bits of papers resembling insects in the grapevines outside the classroom and asked us all one by one to find them all. This is a chart of my results.

As one might note, the amount of pink insects found is greater than the amount of green ones, as the green ones were the same shade of green as the leaves. Similar results were found with other classmates, most finding on average 10 pink papers and 4 green papers. 

A good metaphor for the Theory for Evolution is Fashion. Everyone must live with the times, know what's "in" and what's "out", and if you can't keep up, you're finished. In the katydid's case, It sort of got mixed up in the fashion of the 80's version of today's SWAG fad. Isn't Evolution great?

The Process of Evolution

Evolution by definition is the process of change in all forms of life over generations. The process is simple enough to understand in roughly 7 steps.

Step One:

A life form becomes numerous by reproducing.

Step Two:

The offspring is different from the parent in tiny, random ways by the means of changes in hereditary information of the organism.

Step Three:

If these changes are helpful, the offspring have a higher chance of living long enough to reproduce.

Step Four:

The life form may pass down their helpful change, and so further offspring have a higher chance of making more offspring than others without the helpful change.

Step Five:

More offspring = more helpful change in future generations.

Step Six:

Differences accumulate in the species' population.

Step Seven:

Over time population branches off as a new species.

This occurs in all life forms.


P.S: Please inform me if this description is flawed in any way.

Genesis 100

1:49 AM, September 7^th, 2013

A scream echoed through the edges of the city. A scientist studying chemical reactions with water at the water processing facility listened to the reverberating sound that bounced off the walls of glass. He looked at the dark hallway to inquire what made the scream. He decided an inspection of the scream would be a great way to occupy himself. He opened the door to the cool air. He was suddenly tackled by a yelling, grunting, man who looked as if he had crossed the border of insanity. He screamed and scratched and was the feral creature of human society. He kept clutching his head as if it were to fly off. As the scientist realized that the man was not fighting him anymore and was rolling on the ground, he got up and brushed himself off. He observed the man as he screamed in agony. His eyes looked as if they would burst.

His scalp exploded, with bits of skull and tissue everywhere. The floor and ceiling were dripping with blood, and the scientist threw up as the brain of the man squeezed out of his head.

As a scientist, he decided it was best to start an autopsy. He had no idea what to do, he was simply mimicking what he saw in the movies. He started by dragging the corpse onto the table.

            The first thing that caught his eye was the brain. It was twice the size of the man’s head. He put on his gloves and touched the slimy brain. He started to stretch the brain aside to see the stem. It was inflamed. As it was exposed, he searched the table with his free hand for the scalpel. Since he focused on the stem rather than where his hand was, the scalpel cut into his palm. He quickly lost all focus and screamed in pain, the blood oozing out his hand. He ran towards the sink a few meters away from him and turned on the water. Immediately he thrust his hand into the cold stream and pain ran up his arm. In a panic, he hit the tap to the left, turning the coldness to steaming hot water. He snatched his hand to his chest, looking down to see the blood streaming down his arm. He realized the gloves were still in his hand, so he slowly took them off. The pain throbbed as the glove touched his cut. He saw that his hand had turned a purpley-green color. Thinking it as a blood loss hallucination, he decided to call 911. Fumbling in his pockets with the other hand, he called 911 to say that there was an accident at the Water Processing Facility he was in, and he was fainting. He blacked out as his hand started swelling.

2:03 AM, September 7^th, 2013

            The ambulance arrived within 15 minutes of the call, and two medics ran out to the building. They got to the top of the building to find the body of a man in a white lab coat on the third floor. One medic turned him over onto his back and inspected his arm. It was swollen and green, with purple mucus around a large cut on the hand. He hovered his hand over the man’s mouth and felt a slight pulsing of wind. He was alive.

            The medic reported to the ambulance the situation, and to bring up the stretcher. Another medic ran out the van with the stretcher and went upstairs via the elevator. The doors opened to show a horrific scene.

            The two medics were lying on the ground with their mouths surrounded by purple mucus and a man in a lab coat with a brain the size of a pillow, throbbing out his head. The man in the lab coat turned to see the elevator open with a medic inside. He ran towards him, his brain flopping around on his head. The medic desperately clicked the “Close Door” Button, but to no avail. The doors closed just as the crazed man with a large brain got inside. The medic blocked himself against the crazed man with the stretcher. As the crazed man attacked, the medic shoved him away, accidentally causing the crazed man to hit a button. As the fight continued, the elevator went up to the top floor, where the water was processed. The “ding” signaled the arrival and the medic attempted to escape. He succeeded to find that the crazed man was behind him, still trying to tear the medic apart. The medic ran around the edge of a large circular water processing tank, trying to lose the crazed man behind him. When a considerable distance was made, he threw the stretcher behind him, tripping the crazed person. The medic turned and saw an opportunity to survive, so he ran back and kicked the oversized brain. The crazed man screamed and the sounds echoed everywhere. In a blind rage, he solidly punched the brain. The brain made contact with the ground and burst. Purple mucus spurted out the back, and trickled down into the water tank. Water that was to be distributed to airports, docks, bottling companies, taps, and factories.

8:17 AM, September 7^th, 2013

            A teacher at a school got thirsty. She had left her thermos at home, so she decided that drinking from a drinking fountain wouldn’t cause anyone harm. She had noticed a lot of students were absent, and only 2 were fine. She had assigned them an activity, so she was ok to leave the class momentarily.

            She turned on the water fountain and noticed an odd purple hue to it. She drank the water regardless and found it tasted odd. She was oblivious to the fact that she had drunk a virus, which was making its way into her blood stream via the teeth. Her mouth felt odd.

            A few minutes later, she felt very strange and she had a slight head ache. Her body didn’t understand that the virus had gotten into the brain from the blood stream, and it was changing her DNA into its DNA. The altered DNA was sending messages to the Anterior Pituary Gland to release growth hormone into the brain. The virus added certain enzymes of which would cause the brain to grow a more suited cell for the virus to infest. Her original amygdala and hippocampus cells were being genetically reengineered by her own DNA and the virus, while the altered growth hormones grew plain neurons, and soon those parts of the brain were simply cells of no use other than being a brain. However, since the teacher was unaware of this, she thought she was dehydrated and drank water to cure the headache.

            15 minutes later, the teacher was in agony. Her brain had considerably expanded to the point where it was pressed against the roof of her skull. The migraine she had felt like no other, and she fell onto the floor, clutching her head. The blood vessels in her brain were on the brink of bursting. The teacher felt like breaking her head on the floor to somehow ease the pain. The two students were simply watching, staring in fear as the teacher screamed uncontrollably. She scratched the top of her head until it started to bleed. Then, suddenly, her scalp opened up and her large brain popped out, quivering like a bowl of jelly. It was purplish and covered in mucus that was the virus. She stopped screaming and slowly stood, slightly crouching as if she were sneaking. She looked around and saw the two horrified students, one slightly behind the other in the corner. She snarled as if feral, and then attacked with manicured nails slashing. The students screamed and ran in opposite directions. She managed to catch up with one of the screaming students and she dug her nails into his neck, and with the other hand she smeared mucus from her brain into the wound. The other student ran for their life out the classroom and down the hallway. As he ran, he saw glimpses of the outside world as he ran past the windows, seeing large brained people attacking normal people, cutting a hole in them and then putting the mucus on their hands and rubbing it in the wound they caused. He saw the city and the suburbs around the school with pillars of smoke arising. The student then looked to the other side of the hallway as he ran, seeing some of the teachers and students in pain. Those in agony, he noted, either died as their scalps exploded or survived and infected others.

            5:43 PM, March 9^th, 2014

The Apocalypse of the Brains was cut short as the brain was covered in bacteria and other viruses every time a “brain” took a wipe of mucus. The bacterium and other viruses took the opportunity of a vulnerable, large brain that was easily killed by microbes. The brains were also a large weak spot for any normal human to attack. However, the apocalypse took 6,474,769,97, and left the last 100^th of humans to rebuild the planet.

Being Vegan: FAQs

A month ago, I went vegan (I know I told some of you guys that it was 3 weeks ago; it was an estimate that I told you). A lot of people have inquired as to why I have gone vegan, and how it is different from   a standard diet (omnivore). I have decided to write and post answers to your questions that have been more thought through and researched, and not what I can remember on a bus.

Let me start off with five general reasons to be vegan written by Lindsay S. Nixon, the author of Everyday Happy Herbivore.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT EXACT TEXT FROM HER BOOKS (EXCEPT 2), 4), AND 5)), IT HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY EDITED FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING WHILE MAINTAINING WHAT THE FIVE REASONS ARE

1) Health:
Vegan diets have no dietary cholesterol, meaning no chemicals that constrict arteries and increase blood pressure (Heart attack risk is dramatically cut down to natural heart attacks of old age). A low-fat vegan diet is low in calories and high in fiber. Some studies show that a low-fat vegan diet can prevent, cure, and reverse devastating diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer; 15 of the leading causes of death can be reversed, cured, and prevented with a plant-based diet.

2) Wallet:
A vegan diet can be a bargain. Vegan staples like beans, rice, and non-dairy milks will cost you a fraction of the price of meats and dairy products. Plus, eating healthfully will save you health care products in the long run.

3) Animals:
Standard animal treatment is horrifyingly brutal psychologically and physically. The animal's life is usually filled with torture and ends long and painfully. The standard way of getting dairy is keeping a cow permanently pregnant in order to make it produce milk. The cows stand in fenced off areas and have their milk painfully pumped out. They are fed poorly and are treated almost exactly the same way Nazis treated Jewish prisoners at concentration camps. Once the cow dies from exhaustion, the body is thrown away and buried beneath landfills. Most of the cows that are milked last 4 years after they are able to be impregnated. As a consumer picking up the end product, it's easy to be oblivious rather than conscious.

4) Environment:
The vegan diet is the most eco-friendly and sustainable way we can eat.

5) Humanity:
It is said that if the world went vegetarian (Not even vegan), we would almost immediately end world hunger. One acre of land can either produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes, or a measly 165 pounds of meat.

Now, onto the FAQs.

1. Why don't vegans eat meat, and how do you get your protein if you don't eat meat?

To better understand why vegans don't eat meat, it's best to look at the health effects first.
Studies show that, health wise, veganism is a better option. Why? Well, for starters, let's have a look at nutrition. Protein is the first thing most people relate to meat and nutrition, as meat is dense with protein. Not heavily dense, just dense. However, the amount of usable protein is around 20% by weight. Meat protein isn't nutritionally dense either, inflicting a significant amount of calories along with the protein. Meat protein also tends to inhibit colon cancer. How much energy the body puts into processing the meat to get the protein and nutrients is also a drain on how much energy the body has left to use in other activities. Vegans generally have more energy than those of a standard omnivore diet, meaning more energy to put to the immune system, physical activity, brain activity, etc. Meat also has high levels of cholesterol; funnily enough countries that consume the most meat have "Heart Failure" as one of the leading causes of death. Just to add onto the negative health effects of eating meat, studies show that there are bacterial toxins present only in meat which cannot be killed by boiling, refrigeration, microwaving the meat, and other forms of preparing meat. This bacterial toxin is targeted by the human body (as the toxins inflammate the vascular system), but it takes a huge amount of energy for a body to fully remove all of the bacterial toxin from the system. By the time the human body starts to return to it's normal state of being, it's usually time for another meal which strains the body yet again. The process of irradication of the bacterial toxins from the system usually takes 5-6 hours. This process is made harder to complete to the human body as the animal fat increases absorption of the toxins into the blood stream. On top of this the immune system has to fight and kill every other germ in the air, as well as process the meat (Harder to process than plants), grow (unless you're an adult), and do it's normal routine. Also, above all else; as of last year the Health Guidelines updated stating that the recommended guidelines for blood pressure (on a planet where heart failure is a leading cause of death) were too high.

After the largest health study in human history, scientists have found that people on the Standard diet have more cancer cases than vegan diets, and vegan diets deal with cancer more efficiently. Upon studying the fastest growing tumours  such as lymphoma, are most likely to occur in those who live on the Standard Diet, and had an even higher risk for those who consume more poultry. Consuming half a chicken breast can triple your risk of getting lymphoma.
Moving on with cancer; a study by the Peritikin Research Foundation a few years ago decided to put two groups of people on different diets. One group was on a vegan diet while the other was on the Standard Diet. They then drew the blood from both groups and put both kinds of blood in petri-dishes with a cancer growth to test which kind of blood was the least hospitable to cancer and/or how much the blood suppressed cancer growth. The results of the study showed that while the Standard Diet suppressed the cancer by 9%, while those on a Vegan Diet had blood that suppressed cancer by 70%, meaning the test concluded that vegan blood was around 8 times as good as suppressing cancer.

CAUTION: THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED AND FRANKLY NOT FOR  MOST AUDIENCES. VIEWER DISCRETION/PARENTAL GUIDANCE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As of so far, you have read the health affects of Vegan vs. Standard diets. Now, let me answer another crucial part of this question: Where the meat comes from.
As you might have read in the 5 Reasons to Become Vegan, cows are mistreated for milk. However, I am answering the question of where the meat comes from, starting with the life of the cows.
The cows are constantly moving, being deprived of sleep. They are fed small amounts of cow feed and are even sometimes fed cow. The cows grow up being hit and whipped, leaving sores which are not ever treated. Since they are in a confined space, most cows slowly rub their skin off and bleed. This is not treated either. Some of the more aggressive cow handlers will electrocute the cow's head to make it move. If this does not work, they will break the cow's tail. After all this suffering, they put the cows into a large machine that completely encases the cow except for the head and neck. A cow handler will slice the cow's neck and wait for the machine to empty the cow. The machine usually slams a large metal plate against the cow's throat, and then throws the cow onto the floor next to it. The floor is always covered in blood and never cleaned. At this point, the cow writhes around in pain and attempts to call for others to help him like any animal would (instinct). This is usually replied with another cow being thrown onto the floor, just as helpless and also in immense pain; both cows cannot make much of a sound except for incredibly loud squealing. The dying cows will be one of millions to die, and what's left of the bodies will end up in a land fill.

Chickens are born into the mechanical world and left in a small pen with the other chicks. These chicks are soon put on a conveyer belt after they are all fluffy. At the end of the conveyer belt, workers grab the chicks and snip off the beak. This is done to all chickens. The de-beaker has a dull blade mostly and so most beaks will be fractured and imprecise. Since these beaks are still relatively sharp and/or pointy, they peck other chickens and end up causing large infected wounds. These wounds are then rubbed in by the sides of the cages the chickens grow in. They all grow in solitude, and can hear other chickens suffering. Once the chickens get older, they start to rub off their feathers on the edges of the battery cages and this causes irritance. Naturally, they try and stop the infection by pecking at it much like a human would do to a scab. This continuously infects the skin even more until the chicken dies or gets killed. By the way, the handlers simply put the chickens on a conveyer belt hanging by their feet and then they get their throat slit by a chainsaw. They die slowly bleeding from the neck.

Pigs are put under the same conditions as the cows and chickens: They grow up in a dirty filthy area, they unintentionally harm themselves opening their flesh to the bacteria in the air. Handlers hit the pigs repeatedly with a stick in order to make the pig do something. The pigs get an infected and inflamed area and suffer from it. They get impregnated and then the babies are taken away from the mother, which in any species gets the same reaction. The mother and father are then hung from a forklift by their necks and then get slit in the throat. They grunt and whimper until they die.

Meat consumption is energy straining, unhealthy to certain parts of the body, and also comes from horrifyingly brutal lives of animals, while veganism is just healthy, is used to prevent, reverse, and cure most if not all leading causes of death and a healthier lifestyle, and also gives you more energy.

Now, you can gain your protein and nutrients from meat and suffer the side effects and promote the suffering of animals across the globe, or get all your nutrients from plants with no negative side affects whatsoever and promote healthy eating. After all, it is your choice.

Next FAQ tomorrow...

The Age of The Earth/The Actual Year

NOTE: I do not mean to cause any distress/anger/conflict, I am simply conveying scientific findings.

We know that this year is the year 2012. This is based on the christian belief that the Earth is 5000 years old.  This was to explain the large idea when science wasn't that advanced. However, due to radiocarbon dating and other methods, scientists have found enough evidence to state that the Earth is actually in fact +4.5 billion years old. Having that in mind, I wondered: What would the date be if it was based on the actual age of the Earth?

The closest possible answer is 4,564,906,212, meaning that the year is currently (as of 2012) 4,564,906,212.

I got this answer from more sites than I can remember. The first two numbers were easy enough as several sites all stated the crust radiation patterns put the Earth to 4.5-4.7. I then got reinforcements of 4.5 billion when the oldest rock got radiocarbon dated to around 4.5 billion years old. The rest of the numbers were difficult. I got the number 64 million from the age of rare minuscule crystals off a meteorite impact, and fossils of the first life on Earth. 906 thousand years ago was around the time apes started evolving into humans. 212 was added onto the year as that was when modern humanoids and neanderthals existed, and the 12 thousand was around how long human history has lasted for now. I know it's not the most solid date, but it is the closest so far - Believe me, I searched for an hour. Please put your own "Real" Dates in the comments below.

Levitating Water Particles

When you scream, sound vibrations transfer energy in the form of waves. Talking is sending waves at different pitches that ears "feel" and interpret as talking. Some sounds are too high to be heard by human ears, but it still sends energy around. Otherwise, the sound doesn't exist. The U.S Department of Energy took sound energy a bit further and created a machine that produces sound waves at such a frequency (22 kilohertz) from opposite directions that it mimicked microgravity conditions (Micro gravity is a term to express an area that has just above no gravity) and made water float in mid air. The only downside to using waves is that water can only be placed at the nodes of the waves, otherwise it doesn't quite work out well.

Why make an expensive device that holds water? Because the device is great at making efficient medicine! It makes medicine more efficient by evening out the different substances into a chemical mixture. In other words, its the World's Best Test Tube.

For more information, click the link: http://www.dogonews.com/2012/9/17/levitate-water-harry-potter-style-no-wand-or-spell-needed

Mammoths: Coming Soon to Your Planet!

Picture of scientists doing stuff to a mammoth carcass

Since the time of Jurassic Park, people have found it mind-boggling that we can reintroduce a species to the planet. Now, as you read this sentence with in the two weeks or so of me posting this, scientists are combining cells and Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid to try and make the first mammoth egg cell the world has seen within the last few (thousand) years. 

How To Get A Mammoth Egg Cell (Theoretical So Far)

Need:

Bunch of science tools and test tubes, etc..

1 living mammoth cell (Recently found 100m under solid ice, so well preserved it still has fatty tissue, hair, and bone marrow-conveniently)

Steps:

Step 1: Check to see if cells are - infact - living.

Step 2: Extract living cell's Nuclei

Step 3: Extract DNA from an elephant egg cell; elephants being the closest relative to the mammoth.

Step 4: Place mammoth genes into the elephant egg cell.

Step 5: Put egg cell back in elephant and let a male elephant do his stuff

Step 6: Have the elephant give birth to a mammoth (like a human giving birth to a chimp)

Step 7: Success! You now have a mammoth!

There are some factors which make the birth unlikely eg: the mother rejects the egg/the cells are too dead/it just simply doesn't work. People in charge of the project aren't even 100% sure what they are going to do with another species. Either way, the planet might just change in a few years. 

Link to site: http://www.dogonews.com/2012/9/15/perfectly-preserved-wooly-mammoth-provides-new-hope-of-resurrecting-the-mighty-mammal/page/4