/sci/ - Science & Math

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=evolution+in+single+cell+virus&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis
=1&oi=scholart

>direct observation of evolution

Ok, so we now have direct observations of it.
Was evolution accepted before we had that?

>>2002286
>mfw OP needs to read more, before making baseless claims

Define "we"

>>2002310
yes as a theory.

others are things like the big bang theory
(although it has been witnessed in tv show form)

many others would be non observable phenomena that scientists have made very valid theories of with overwhelming evidence, but because we cannot observe them directly will only ever be a scientific theory.

Everyone needs to get this straight:

Evolution is a FACT, stop calling it a theory.

Natural selection is a THEORY.

/thread and all threads like this

>>2002351

>>2002351
>evolution is a fact
>natural selection is a theory
>natural selection is part of evolution

>mfw

>>2002286
Evolution has been directly observed.

>>2002351

10 bucks this is op trolling

Pluto has an oribtal period of 248 days. It was discovered in 1930. Despite having not directly observed it orbit the sun, we can still assume it is going to, based on the law of gravity. Just because you observe something indirectly does not make not acceptable as a theory.

>>2002381
Not trolling actually.

Nevermind guize. I have to go suck my dad's cock. Brb.

>>2002390
248 years*

>>2002286
>Evolution has never been directly observed

but that wrong you retard! Thousands of papers have been published, each with studies done where evolution has been directly observed!

GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!

\thread

STRING THEORY.

>>2002397
He admits to samefagging.
More proof that OP is a faggot.

>>2002397
Theories don't graduate and become facts.

What this faggot is trying to explain is that all life on earth evolved from a common ancestor. We know that. It's a fact.

Natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution occured, in theory. You could also call it a fact, but that's mincing words.

>as far as I know

You know incorrectly.

Evolution has been observed both in fossil record and through modern experiment, but it is not a scientific theory.

It is an observation.

Natural selection is the current standing theory that explains evolution.

>>2002420
He said not to call it a theory because it's a fact. It's like saying veggie burgers are not lunches, they're vegetarian meals.

>>2002351
The scientific definition of "theory" is quite different from the lay person definition.

To a scientist, a theory is a structured explanation for an observable phenomenon that is consistent with observation. Theories also have predictive power, though not as much as scientific law, which is basically a theory with hard math to back it up. Life is too complicated for math, or at least, too complicated for math that human beings can perform.

To non-scientists, "theory" is often used as "best guess", which is more in line with a scientific hypothesis.

Easy answer, gravity.

We dont know what causes it, all we see are the observable and testable outcome of it.

>>2002408
Misread, thought you accused me, the OP, of trolling.

>>2002424
You're probably trolling, but the fossils themselves and the DNA are the only facts. Evolution is the theory we extrapolate from those facts. Experiments we do help confirm and validate the theory of evolution.

>>2002442
>To non-scientists, "theory" is often used as "best guess", which is more in line with a scientific hypothesis.

Conjecture, actually.

Hypothesis and conjecture are words too unwieldy for the lay vernacular, so they use the word theory.

>>2002452
Finish your schooling before you accuse others of ignorance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_as_theory_and_fact

This is what a theory is.

I have to emphasize two things:
1. Accepted theories can very well be facts.
2. Theories, like psychoanalytic theory, can also be bullshit.

A theory is more or less a proposed model, often qualitative, of reality, which is SUPPOSED to help explain and predict things. Could be good, could be bad.

In science, the word 'theory', does not mean 'theory'.

>>2002381
>>2002373
>>2002365

Doesn't understand the difference between evolution and natural selection lol.

>>2002459
Also, hypotheses don't generally become theories. They are usually very simple causal explanations. Hypotheses are usually but not always derived from theories in order to test them. e.g.

>>2002299
Theory: Natural selection / evolution
Hypothesis: Bacterial populations exposed to nitrogen-deficient environments will adapt to them.
Prediction: If bacteria are left to develop in nitrogen-deficient environments, then they will reproduce to fill a new test tube environment deficient in nitrogen more quickly than bacteria not exposed to nitrogen-deficient environments.

>>2002485
Natural selection is one component of evolution. The other is differentiation.

As organisms breed, their genes diversify, meaning that their species' traits "fan out". Natural selection is when stress is put on the species that kills weaker branches of the fan, or at least prevents them from breeding.

>Someone displays their idiocy.

>Everyone flips their shit.

>mfw shit was flipped.