Human Evolution Speeding Up? Apparently so, but the changes vary from continent to continent.
Science fiction writers have suggested a future Earth populated by a blend of all races into a common human form. In real life, the reverse seems to be happening. People are evolving more rapidly than in the distant past, with residents of various continents becoming increasingly different from one another, researchers say.
A study carried out by Henry C. Harpending, an anthropologist at the University of Utah, points, unsurprisingly, to human migration away from our point of origin in Africa, and out across the globe, as the cause for this.
The increase in human population from millions to billions in the last 10,000 years accelerated the rate of evolution because “we were in new environments to which we needed to adapt,” Harpending adds. “And with a larger population, more mutations occurred.”
Intelligent design perhaps? ;) +
22 things you MUST do every day: every day? A couple of my favourite to do items are…
Spend 20 minutes planning tomorrow with a detailed to-do list.
Good idea, but 20 minutes? Just how detailed is this plan meant to be?
Do one thing every day that scares you.
I’ve heard that one before, and it doesn’t, by the way, mean playing chicken with buses on ANZAC Parade… +
Skaffnets: Luke Feldman, aka, Skaffs, whom I profiled at OnVoiceOver last December, has launched a range of toys based on his trademark illustrations.
Via Lost At E Minor. +
Presentation Tips II - Interview with Maxine Sherrin: Miles Burke recently interviewed Maxine Sherrin of Web Directions and Sydney software development firm Westciv, on the fine art of making public presentations.
Tell the story that only you can tell and it’s almost impossible to go wrong. People love walking away with specific anecdotes they can share with others back at work, and apply to their own challenges. So, get up there and tell us “I worked on Project X. We faced this challenge. All our initial research lead us to come up with Solution Y. But then we realised XYZ because of ABC. So, ultimately we came up with the elegance of Solution Z.” Hearing this presentation at a conference is the best, and sometimes the only, way of learning about these kinds of solutions.
Put your geekiness aside, tell it from the heart, and you can’t go wrong… +
Merriam-Webster’s Word of ‘07: ‘W00t’: what can I say?
w00t! +
It surprises me that the difference between those on different continents is becoming more pronounced still. I would have thought that this would have started tailing out because of our increased mobility. I suppose this is just too new in the scheme of things to be apparent as yet though.
Since I have been blogging any planning I do tends to get ignored much more than it should and I put tasks off much more than I ever used to!
I tend to find posting on a blog for the very first time a tiny bit scary so I have done my scary task for the day :-)
Well I plan, usually using just a post it pad, and Remember The Milk, but I don’t make super detailed plans.
I had to see the doctor today and, unusually, spent over an hour in the waiting room… you can’t exactly plan for something like that.
I rank things to be done by priority, and whatever I can’t do today, I put on tomorrow’s list :)