Asteroid Impacts May Have Boosted Evolution

19 December 2007

 65 million years ago an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, 250 million years ago an asteroid killed the marine animals, and... 470 million years ago an asteroid started evolution? Got a problem, just add another asteroid. A geologist from the University of Lund in Sweden has spent the past several years looking for rocks containing radioactive chromium. His results found that there was almost 100 times more chromium found in rocks around the Ordovician Period, before there was a large diversity of creatures.

Good Science: Found rocks with chromium
Good Science: Rocks were below most fossils
Bad Conclusion: Asteroids caused evolution

 Is it possible that asteroids brought the chromium? Sure. I was not there so I'm not sure of the source but is it possible that they came from somewhere else? Walt Brown has a book called In the Beginning where he gives evidence for his hypothesis that the asteroids and comets in space actually came from the earth when the fountains of the deep broke open during the flood (How exactly did all this water evolve in space anyway?). Is it possible that there are elements in the crust of the earth like chromium that we do not see? The deepest hole that was ever drilled was around 7 miles and they were surprised to find water far under where it was possible for the water table to penetrate (like the Bible says).

 The question left partially open in the article was how an asteroid would spark evolution. Schmitz said, "If you push an ecosystem too hard, you'll destroy it, but for the organisms living on earth at the time, [the environment] pushed them to adapt and fill new niches. It's like at the university: I tell my students all the time that if we don't push you, you don't evolve." My question is, How did the environment push them without killing them? What we observe is that animals can only adapt if they already have all the genetic information available. How would a asteroid impact cause these trilobites to gain genetic information and turn into humans? They may turn into smaller trilobites or bigger trilobites (horizontal evolution), but not into dogs, pigs, or dinosaurs (vertical evolution). If you want to test this, why don't you try to push one of your students to evolve by telling them they will not pass unless they evolve wings. They would all have the desire to pass, but that will not cause evolution. You could otherwise tell them that if they did not evolve wings by the end of the semester you would kill them. Would they now evolve wings simply because their life depended on it?

1. The fear of certain death does not cause evolution.
2. Adding asteroids do not make your genes more complex.
3. Good science can produce bad conclusions.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317375,00.html