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The guys down at Ninjavideo.net have finally decided to post Uncovering our Earliest Ancestor. You may download or watch it here as long as you open the NinjaVideo Helper Beta 0.3.9 (the red link below the video).

Link: http://www.ninjavideo.net/video/27736

More links in my previous article here.

As per my previous article about Ida, the 47 million years old fossil found in Germany, I am currently writing an article about the significance of the findings. Until that is ready for publishing I invite you to view Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor , the documentary which aired on The BBC, narrated by David Attenborough, a few days ago and which tells the story of Ida and the scientists working to uncover her mistery. I currently have three options you can choose from:

1. Torrent via Isohunt.com (DivX) – http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/97196893/?tab=summary&smiley – note: Downloading torrents is illegal in some countries, you should use encryption while downloading. Encryption is available with the Deluge torrent software which you may download here.

2. BBC iPlayer (UK only) (HD) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ksh5y/Uncovering_Our_Earliest_Ancestor_The_Link/

3. Flash via Megavideo.com – http://www.megavideo.com/?v=6L0RN45W

Last week, an international team of scientists have released information regarding a 47 million years old fossil they have been researching in secret for the past two years. If what they claim is true, then this is the “missing link” the anti-evolutionary camp has been complaining was missing for years and the proof scientists needed to show they were right in their assumptions all along. Scientists say Ida is the link between primates and the rest of the mammals, which is a great breakthrough for evolutionary science and a step forward in confirming yet again Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

The team of researchers have released a website, a book and a documentary. The documentary will air tonight (9pm ET/PT) on the History Channel in the United States, tomorrow on NRK (Norway) and on the 30th on ZDF in Germany. The BBC has a version narrated by Sir David Attenborough entitled Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor which will air on May 26th at 9pm on BBC One. For more information please feel free to visit the website at http://www.revealingthelink.com/.

The implications of this are enormous! I will be writing a follow-up article detailing the implications after I have had a chance to see the documentary and probably one more after I get my hands on the book. Until then feel free to have a look at the short presentation from the researchers’ website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bKHAaNxOv0

You may remember that the Texas State Board of Education was discussing weather or not to introduce a longtime curriculum rule that “strengths and weaknesses” of all scientific theories should be covered in science classes and textbooks. This was introduced by Republican conservatives and was aimed at combating Evolution, trying to get creation/intelligent design into the curriculum as a counterbalance to Darwins’ theory.

The reason this motion was allowed in the first place eludes me. Why are people trying to teach religion instead of science? If you want your kid to not know science send him to live in the desert where Jesus lived, with no running water or electricity, because that is the  kind of prehistoric crap you’re trying to shove down his throat.

This was a narrow win, if we can even call it that, considering the vote was 7:7, a draw.

Read more on the story at DallasNews.com.

In a recent book entitled The 10,000 Year Explosion: How civilization accelerated human evolution, anthropologists Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending of Utah University explain why they think humans are evolving, and at an accelerated rate. This theory is raising eyebrows as many evolutionary biologists think human kind has reached a plateau from an evolutionary point of view.

The scientists drew upon a database that contains patterns of human genetic variation and also on the Human Genome Project. Cochran and Harpending say that one of the factors that increased evolution’s pace was rapid cultural changes, brought forward by the invention of agriculture and urbanization.

This book is available at our online store via Amazon.co.uk for £15.99.

New Scientist Magazine reports on the book:

“They found strong evidence that advantageous alleles in these regions [i.e. Europe and Africa] are sweeping through the human population – evidence of natural selection at work. These sweeps began earlier in Africa than in Europe, perhaps 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, respectively.”

“The evidence the authors present builds an overwhelming case that natural selection has recently acted strongly on us and may be continuing unabated, though the authors’ estimate of a 100-fold increase in the rate of recent evolution seems too high.”

You can read a full review of the book on the New Scientist website here.

For more information about the book (continue reading…)