How corn repudiates “intelligent design”
Biologist Stephen Matheson has an elegant discussion on his blog, Quintessence of Dust, about the evolution of corn from its wild ancestor, teosinte, a Mexican grass that looks nothing like its domesticated descendent.
As Matheson notes, IDists argue that evolution proceeds by adding no new genetic information; instead it removes genetic information. So organisms could not become more complex than their progenitors. IDists also contend that since evolution occurs through “random,” rare mutations, mere chance could not possibly explain the complexity of modern day organisms, like people. Ergo, Godidit.
Genetic analysis of teosinte and corn, on the other hand, refutes both contentions, Matheson says. Although corn is a product of 9,000 to 10,000 years of genetic manipulation by humans, its evolution from a humble, unappealing wild grass clearly demonstrates the validity of our current understanding of how evolution in nature works.
Check out the full story on Matheson’s blog.
Before Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Beekman, there was Mr Wizard. During the dim days of black-and-white broadcast TV, Don Herbert portrayed a kindly, soft-spoken science pal to scores of youngsters appearing on his show, and thousands of kids watching at home on the TV. I turned on “Watch Mr. Wizard” whenever it was on, and mourned its loss when it was canceled in 1964.
Popular cartoons and movies may say humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, but the idea is just plain wrong. The dinos were dead long before our hominid ancestors evolved. The fossil record leaves little room for argument.
