The Third Evolution: main characteristics (3/3)

Here we show how the Third Evolution shares many characteristics with the Second Evolution: the blindness, the randomness, the digital base, the unicity, the diversity, the role of the environment, the inheritance. Today we finish the grand tour with diversity, environment and inheritance.

Diversity and the role of the environment

Evolution happens as a gradual matching between the diversity which is present in the system and the environment.
 

The star formation rate in a galaxy (First Evolution) is likely linked with its immediate surroundings (made of other galaxies). Spiral galaxies are all over the Universe, but they are all different from each other. We do not stop marvelling at the various shapes of galaxies. There are no two identical galaxies. We know that interaction with the other galaxies is shaping the galaxies. The environment to that galaxy is specific to that galaxy.

M51 galaxy has been collided by another galaxy, NGC5195 (Blue blob at the top). That far infrared image by Herschel Telescope shows (in blue) sites of star formation, which has been triggered by the collision. Each galaxy has its own specific history of environmental influence.

 

Bacteria can be of exactly the same species, but yet they all show slightly different shapes and contents. Ultimately, the origin of species is the response by the (Second) Evolution to various environments. Bats are adapted to nocturnal vision. Fish are adapted to the sea, and so forth.

 
The brains can look the same, but we now know that the exact wiring has been produced as an interaction between the genetic code and the environment that people get all along their life. Hence, there are not two identical brains, even with twins with the same genetic code. The diversity of human cultures is staggering. But we see how the environment has been the main driving force. Olives are a central culinary piece in Greece, not in Greenland.

Inheritance

Evolution is about gradual changes. Spontaneous and instantaneous transitions do not happen. Each species comes from an ancestor, and this is true for the three evolutions. The tree of life seems to be a generic concept: galaxies are born from the agglomeration of smaller units. The genetic material of children comes from the parents. Ideas, concepts, memes, institutions can usually be traced historically to previous ideas.