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The limits of evolution?; super-fast evolution
Topic Started: Apr 15 2009, 10:13 AM (1,408 Views)
Toad of Spades
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Clorothod
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Is it possible for organisms similar to earth life to exist that evolve at breakneck speed to exist (200 million years worth of evolution in a few days). What would be required? Is that even possible?
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Cynovolans
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I don't think there is an possible way to turn 200 million years of evolution in just a few days. Or at least just not natural evolution.
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Xenophile
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Formerly known as alienboy.
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The only way for 200 million years of evolution to happen in a few days is with genetic engineering.
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SIngemeister
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Or very long days and very short years.
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lamna
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Without someone or something intervening? No.
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Genesis
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To our knowledge, no. However, we exist on a tiny rock that we still know very little about. To get a better understanding of exotic environments and situations, you would have to find alien scientists in an interstelllar community (which is in fact more than likely to exist in quantity in our galaxy).

It may be possible that being at just the right distance from a black hole (Far enough away to remain stable in some form, yet close enough to be affected by the temporal shift.), such as near the center of the galaxy, could accelerate time in a large pocket of space enough to make the timeline of a planet advance far beyond the rest of the Galaxy.

Of course, I understand that both of these idea are full of holes, but the short answer would have to be: we can have no way of understanding the limits of evolution. Not really.
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Giant Blue Anteater
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The speed of which things evolve really depends on how fast and often the organism reproduces. Bacteria for example evolve quickly because they reproduce fast and often. However, an animal like a blue whale wouldn't evolve as fast because it (presumably) only gives birth to one baby at a time, and reproduces every winter rather than every minute as in bacteria.

So, while things like a nuclear bomb can speed up mutational rates (I could be wrong), I really don't see 200 million years of evolution completed in just a few days naturally as feasible
Edited by Giant Blue Anteater, Apr 15 2009, 07:27 PM.
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Viergacht
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Actually something very like this was the premise for Robert Forward's book "Dragon's Egg". The aliens lived on a neutron star and use nuclear instead of electrical or chemical reactions in their biology, so they live a million times faster than us.
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Giant Blue Anteater
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I read the exact same concept in the book "Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings". To me, it is quite a far-fetched concept for hyper-fast, energy-based life to exist on a neutron star, although I am not dismissing it as impossible.
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Viergacht
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I don't know enough physics to say either way, but Forward was a physicist and he created a very believable setting. It's a terrific book, btw, I recommend it.
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Rodge the Linkbot
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I think it depends on the size and complexity of the life form to begin with. Multi-cellular life that resembles us? Don't hold your breathe. Something similar to bacteria? I'd beleive it. With the rate they've evolved in the past few decades, and the discovery of viruses rewriting hosts DNA in nature in a permanent way, sure.
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ATEK Azul
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well i see linkbots point while i also get the other points but as for hyper evolution probably not or at least not that fast any way.
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ashwinder
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Energy-beings and black-holes aside the speed that an organism would have to reproduce to evolve at such a rate would have to be impossible fast. Also even if you were to increase the rate of mutation instead of the rate of reproduction it wouldn't speed up evolution as a high mutation rate would probably just result in a fast extinction due to deleterious mutations.
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ATEK Azul
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i agree with that. but i do think surtain curcumstances can make evolution a little faster than we normaly think just like with artificial selection.
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

The question I have at this point, then, is how fast do you think complex, multi-cellular organisms can evolve?
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