grpr1964

Most of us now accept that evolution is a fundamental part of life on Earth, even if we may argue over the details...

My question is simply this: We speculate that life may exist on other planets. Can we assume that this extra-terrestrial life would also have evolved? In other words, is the process of evolution likely to be fundamental across the whole universe? Or is it unique to Earth?

Evolution on Earth has been / is controlled by all sorts of environmental factors that are uniquely terrestrial (climate, sea-level, tides, plate tectonics, and so on...), and the process itself may even have "evolved" specifically under these conditions. On other planets, with totally different conditions, could we assume that evolution (as we understand it) would still occur?

The answer, of course, has immense implications as to the type of extra-terrestrial life that we speculate may be out there. Would we even be able to recognize this life as such?

Scientists, particularly earth scientists, are constantly criticized on Yahoo Q&A by fundamentalist Christians / creationists, on account of their understanding of the enormity of geological time, as opposed to the literal Biblical interpretation (7 days, Genesis; at about 4000 yrs BC, according to Ussher).

As a qualified and practising geologist, I have absolutely no problems in grappling with the enormous periods of time inherent in the rocks I work with. However. the same level of criticism does not appear to be levelled at astronomers and astrophysicists, who routinely observe objects in the universe at many millions of light years away (i.e. the light took millions of years to reach us).

The obvious implication is that, accepting the basics of physics and knowing the speed of light, the universe must be very very vast, and very very old indeed, which collaborates with the geological evidence.

My question is simply this: How is this contradiction explained by the fundamentalist creationists?

Serious answers only please.

Scientists, particularly earth scientists, are constantly criticized on Yahoo Q&A by fundamentalist Christians / creationists, on account of their understanding of the enormity of geological time, as opposed to the literal Biblical interpretation (7 days, Genesis; at about 4000 yrs BC, according to Ussher).

As a qualified and practising geologist, I have absolutely no problems in grappling with the enormous periods of time inherent in the rocks I work with. However. the same level of criticism does not appear to be levelled at astronomers and astrophysicists, who routinely observe objects in the universe at many millions of light years away (i.e. the light took millions of years to reach us).

The obvious implication is that, accepting the basics of physics and knowing the speed of light, the universe must be very very vast, and very very old indeed, which collaborates with the geological evidence.

My question is simply this: How is this contradiction explained by the fundamentalist creationists?

Serious answers only please.

Whatever you may think of Jade Goody; surely, now, the woman deserves a bit of dignity and privacy? Yahoo should not put a picture like this on its front news page which amounts to shock journalism of the most intrusive kind.

I'm getting the following error message when trying to open Microsoft Office Outlook (web access) - note that the PC is a brand new Sony Vaio, with vista.

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library

Runtime error!

Program C:\ Program files \ Internet Explorer \ iexplore.exe

"This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the applications support team for more information"

Does anyone know of a workaround please???

Cheers!

I'm trying to save HTML files on my laptop. Previously this worked OK; now; however, the computer has started defaulting to saving them as Windows media files (even when you specifically select HTML under the "save as" option). Naturally the files are un-openable.

Does anyone know why this is happening / how to work around it?

Note: the computer is a Sony Vaio, using Windows vista. It has up-to date anti virus protection.

Cheers!

Apparently yesterday we were all meant to be sucked into a black hole...

This morning, all seemed normal and OK. Then I heard that England had beaten Croatia 4:1 at football. Perhaps we have passed unscathed through the black hole and entered a parallel universe?

Further evidence that we have entered a parallel universe might be:

England go on to win the World Cup?

London 2012 Olympics turn out to be vastly superior to those just held in China?

Gordon Brown is re-elected as Prime Minister with a landslide result? (and David Cameron enters the Big Brother household...)

People start fretting about "global cooling" and the next ice age?

Any other thoughts?

It's 9.30 British Time, 10th September 2008. I was just wondering (judging by all the other speculation on this Q&A site) why I haven't yet been sucked into a black hole?

you inadvertently found yourself sitting next to a Mr. Paul Gadd, on a plane on a 15 hour flight from Bankok bound to London, with the flight full (so no chance of asking for a different seat, let alone an upgrade)???

Who was your favourite Howards Way character?

My vote goes to Avril.

Did anyone see Michael Portillo's programme on BBC4 last night. I detested the man when he was in Government, but following his humbling by the electorate in 1997, I must grudgingly admit I rather like the "progressive" Tory he has become. Easily preferable to the oily Cameron.

Portillo's interviews with leading politicians of the Thatcher era was more revealing for those he didn't (or couldn't) interview. Where was Major? Hestletine? Tebbit? Thatcher herself? It was fascinating to watch the body language of Michael Howard, who at least had the balls to agree an interview, but nevertheless could barely manage to conceal his contempt!

Is there anyone else out there who has a Sainsbury's Bank credit card, and has found, without warning that the bank has slashed their credit rating???

I am a reliable customer, and for years have rarely failed to pay it off in full. I suddenly found the card was no longer useable, and telephoned the bank to sort out the problem. They bluntly stated that they had run a personal credit check, and whilst they could not divulge the full contents, told me that I had got a bad credit rating. When I said that this was impossible, as I had never been in default of a payment, they changed the story and said that they had found out that I had too many other credit cards, which was irresponsible of me; therefore they were slashing my limit to a mere several hundred pounds. I asked whether this meant they were no longer interested in my custom, and they replied "yes".

Has anyone else been humiliated in this manner?- enough replies and I'd like to start a campaign or petition.

Can anyone vote in the primary elections, or do you have to be card-carrying members of the Democratic or Republican parties?

I think I am becoming addicted to fruit smooties...

Just what do they put in those things???

What are your theories on the recent "mysterious" images of a dark figure apparently stalking the surface of Mars? See:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7205004.stm

Commercial air travel: Why does the pilot always dim the cabin lights during take off and landing?

I can connect to itunes store OK, but when I attempt to make a purchase I get a message saying that iTunes us unable to complete my purchase at this time - please try again later.

I have been trying to get a response from iTunes tech support for a whole month now, but they are useless - all they say is that they ae investigating my problem and will get back to me later.

Has anyone else had this problem, and does anyone know how I can reslove this?

Any helpful answers will be gratefully appreciated!

Last year I asked this question: "Any thoughts on David Cameron? ... Is he a breath of fresh air and potential force for change, or is he more Blair than Blair?

At the time, the response was mostly negative (check Yahoo Q&A if you don't believe me!).

A year on, and he is suddenly in the lead in the opinion polls! Tony Blair's departure aside, what has suddenly changed? Have the British electorate really warmed to David Cameron? Do they really like him and/or his policies? Or do these opinion polls suggest the electorate is really volatile?

My G.G. Uncle, Edward Sharpe PRITCHARD, arrived in Melbourne, Australia, 1852, from Tasmania. He had been transported as a convict to Tasmania in 1843 (originally from Margate, Kent, UK), and having served his sentence was by then a free man. I am trying to find out what happened to him, and possibly if there are any living descendants of his still living in Australia? Any information or recommendations on searchable internet databases in Australia would be much appreciated.

Anyone see Muse perform at Wembley, (London / UK), Saturday 16th June?

Marks out of ten?