Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe Are Humans Still Evolving? (Featuring Scott Solomon)
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Apr 22, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Dr. Scott Solomon, a teaching professor at Rice University and author of 'Future Humans,' delves into the fascinating world of human evolution. He explores whether we are still evolving and how factors like genetic drift and modern medicine play a role. The conversation touches on intriguing topics, including our microbiomes, the coexistence of hominid species, and the misconceptions surrounding evolution. Listeners are invited to ponder our evolutionary future amidst societal changes and scientific advances.
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Evolution Defined by Allele Changes
- Evolution is defined as change in allele frequencies over generations in a population.
- This quantifiable change indicates that evolution is ongoing whenever allele distributions shift.
Hardy-Weinberg Conditions Rarely Met
- Evolution always occurs due to violations of Hardy-Weinberg assumptions like random mating and no mutation.
- The strict conditions for no evolution are almost never met, so evolutionary change is constant.
Micro vs. Macroevolution Explained
- Microevolution refers to changes within species; macroevolution involves changes above species level.
- Macroevolutionary patterns arise from accumulated microevolutionary processes and can explain origin of species.