Every single Animal, Organism, Bacteria can evolve (and have to) over time. All of which are made up of atoms. Well, so is everything else that is around us! In order for them to change, something has to be "recorded" in order for change to take place to better the organism. What stops the universe from "recording"? its like an organism itself and It is just as complex! ( I am going to have to rephrase this question once I can better understand what I am trying to say, but hopefully you can catch what I'm trying to say)
2006-10-13 10:27:09 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
You are asking an interesting question (if I understand right) ... but I also think you have answered it.
By "recorded" you mean *inheritance*. That is an absolutely necessary ingredient for natural selection to cause what we call evolution.
Inanimate objects do not have inheritance.
A classic example is a forest fire. A forest fire burns energy, it grows, and it reproduces (it can branch into multiple fires). So it has some of the ingredients that we say define a living organism. But a forest fire does not have *inheritance* ... when it branches into two "daughter" fires, they do not carry any of the characteristics of the parent.
What stops (inanimate objects in) the universe from "recording"? Only the fact that there is no mechanism for doing that recording ... i.e. capturing information and passing it on to future generations. In life (at lease on earth) the mechanism is DNA. There is no equivalent for inanimate objects.
That is not to say that inanimate objects cannot *develop* such inheritance mechanisms. Given (a) enough reactions of inanimate matter of the right kind; (b) a constant supply of external energy; and (c) enough time, inheritance mechanisms can arise. But your average rock or mountain doesn't have any of those three things.
As for the universe as a whole ... that's a deep question. Perhaps our universe is one of a long string of universes that have come into being in a big bang, lived billions of years until a big crunch, only to have a new universe born from the ashes in a new big bang. And perhaps there might be some way of passing information from one universe to the next so that there is some *inheritance* between them. However, I tend to doubt it, for the simple reason that there would need to be an external energy source (something outside the universe) for this to happen by chance.
2006-10-13 14:50:18 · answer #1 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
evolution is due to reproduction
as organisms reproduce they inevitability create changes some are subtle some are major. These changes or mutations can be harmful and some are benign however in some rare occasions there are beneficial ones. In most cases the benign ones have no effect because they usually affect genes that are not used, however harmful ones usually lead death - either affects health, or brain functions or to reproduction ability, so mistake or mutation can not be reproduced.
In the beneficial ones they are stronger, or faster, or some other body change that allows the organism to survive better that others, this organisms reproduces and its mistake or mutation is replicated with it offspring and so on and so on.
Pretty soon you have a population that has mutated or evolved into something better.
in inanimate objects - they do not reproduce so their creation does not change - rocks are the same rocks that existed 100 year ago, no chance for a mistake to happen that changes on a DNA or genetic level.
another way to look at it is No genetic material in inaminate objects
2006-10-13 11:07:02 · answer #2 · answered by smartypantsmbcanada 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The reason that animals evolve is that they have the opportunity to do so every time a new generation is born. Evolution is mutation and that cannot happen unless there is opportunity. A rock is a rock is a rock.
The Universe is evolving in a way. That is, by expanding and changing state of energy to mass and mass to energy. It is not evolving in the classic sense, but is changing its form due to outside forces. Except for expansion, it is degrading, but expansion could also be a form of degradation.
2006-10-13 10:37:44 · answer #3 · answered by FrogDog 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My youthful human beings toy, i've got spent lots time with it, and that's the only ingredient in this planet that knows each ingredient approximately me, i've got shared tears of disappointment and excitement with it :')
2016-10-19 08:35:19 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the point you are missing, as others have said, is that a rock, for example, doesn't breed. Change is caused by purely outside influences, so continents change over millenia because of erosion, depostion or plate tectonics.
Also, please don't fall in to the trap of equating evolution with "better". It is just "different".
2006-10-13 10:53:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Icebergs change the shapes of rocks.
Boulders evolve into beach sand.
Rivers carry alluvial sediments from mountains into farmlands.
Hope this helps!
2006-10-13 10:34:14 · answer #6 · answered by norcalirish 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
lifeless things dont need to procreate to survive so they dont evolve in the same way that living things do. However larger systems act surprisingly lifelike in their ability to balance and adapt. The earth as whole for instance.
2006-10-13 10:32:34 · answer #7 · answered by sssnole 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Evolution occurs due to reproduction. Last time I looked, rocks don't make babies. Well, maybe in Arkansas.
2006-10-13 11:22:50 · answer #8 · answered by stevewbcanada 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can not create nor can you destory matter
2006-10-13 10:34:23 · answer #9 · answered by bprice215 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋