Monday, January 23, 2006

The Human/Chimp Family?

In recent years, fascinating studies have proven that humans and chimps share about 98% of their genes, which is the closest to us of any animal (including other apes). Now, recent work seems to indicate that chimps are closer to man than they are to any other animal (again, even closer than they are to the other Great Apes). This rekindles the debate others had already begun - that man and chimp should be part of a single genus. If chimps are closer to man than to gorillas, why would they be classified with them instead of us? If you thought the cultural wars of evolution and creation were hot before, this is just a little gasoline on the old fire.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Miracle Planet

The Discovery Channel has a six part series that is well worth your time. It's called The Miracle Planet and shown on Discovery HD Theatre. You can find out more about the series here. If you have "On Demand", just go to the Discovery Channel and pick episode one and begin the fun. If not, check Discovery Channel listings for the next showing.

It starts with theories of the Earth's formation and quickly moves in to ancient life. It shows how life may have evolved and how our planet changed in terms of weather and land masses. It's quite riveting.