My Science School

The theory of evolution by natural selection, first formulated in Charles Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, describes how organisms evolve over generations through the inheritance of physical or behavioral traits, as National Geographic explains. The theory starts with the premise that within a population, there is variation in traits, such as beak shape in one of the Galapagos finches Darwin studied. Individuals with traits that allow them to adapt to their environments will help them survive and have more offspring, which will inherit those traits. Individuals with less adaptive traits will less frequently survive to pass them on. Over time, the traits that allow species to survive and reproduce will become more frequent in the population and the population will change, or evolve. Through natural selection, Darwin suggested, a diverse life-forms could arise from a common ancestor.    

Darwin chose the term "natural selection" to be in contrast with "artificial selection," in which animal breeders select for particular traits that they deem desirable, according to National Geographic. In natural selection, it's the natural environment, rather than a human being, that does the selecting. 

Put simply, the theory can be described as "descent with modification," said Briana Pobiner, an anthropologist and educator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who specializes in the study of human origins.

The theory is sometimes described as "survival of the fittest," but that characterization can be misleading, Pobiner said. Here, "fitness" refers not to an organism's strength or athleticism but rather its ability to survive and reproduce.

Credit : National Geographic Society 

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Tony Stark is a genius inventor and billionaire industrialist, who suits up in his armor of cutting-edge technology to become the super hero Iron Man. The adopted son of weapons manufacturer Howard Stark, Tony inherited his family's company at a young age following his parents' death. While overseeing a manufacturing plant in a foreign country, Stark was kidnapped by local terrorists. Instead of giving in to his captors' demands to build weapons for them, Stark created a powerful suit of armor for himself to escape. Returning to America, Stark further upgraded the armor and put his vast resources and intellect to use for the betterment of the world as Iron Man.

Tony kept his alter-ego a secret for most of his career, juggling his responsibilities as head of Stark Industries while becoming a key player in the superhuman community as Iron Man and founding the world's premier super hero team, the Avengers. Over the years, Stark has faced numerous enemies, such as the Mandarin, Justin Hammer, Iron Monger and the Titanium Man, as well as many personal demons, most notably his addiction to alcohol. For many years, Tony covered for his alter-ego by claiming that Iron Man was his anonymous bodyguard, but Tony eventually brought his dual identity to the public light.

Recently, Tony escaped death by reconfiguring his body with a digital back-up of his mind, inadvertently causing him to become temporarily convinced that he was a clone of the real, late Tony Stark. This resulted in Tony leading an army of artificial-life forms in a war against the anti-A.I. campaign of his adoptive brother Arno. After coming around to the fact that he was the real Tony Stark all along, Tony stopped Arno's deranged plan to enslave humanity to stop a non-existent alien threat, and he then opted to embark on a journey of self-discovery to escape the baggage of his career. Stepping away from his high-tech lifestyle, Tony finds himself returning to his roots in an attempt to put back the "man" in Iron Man.

Credit : Fandom 

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Dante Alighiens duly remembered as the author of the Dane Comody and as the father of the Italian language. On the Mch Anniversary of his death (around September 13-14th, 1321) we list five things you need to know about a titan of world literature.

Known as the Father of the Italian language"

Dante is credited with helping create the Italian language by  using the Tuscan vernacular of his time-rather than Latin-to write his masterpiece. The Divine Comedy originally called simply Comedy is an imaginary journey through hell purgatory and heaven published in several stages in the early 14th century, its popularity led other medieval Italian authors, such as Petrarch and boccaccia to also write in the vermacular, laying the literary foundations of Italian.

On par with Shakespeare

The Diviine Comedy is a poem, a personal tale of redemption a treaty on human virtue, as well as one of the most influential pieces of science fiction British poet T.S. Eliot famously said: "Dante and Shakespeare divide the modem world between them there is no third."

Dante in popular culture

Generations of writers painters sculptors musicians filmmakers and cartoonists have been inspired by the Divine Comedy, particularly the "inferno" portion. These include everyone from Sandro William Blake Botticelli Salvador Dali and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to the creators of X-Men comic books and novelist Dan Brown.

Se7en and Dante

The "Divine Comedy" was also a key inspiration for Oscar-nominated thriller "Se7en", for a popular video game ("Dante's Infemo"), while Dante is quoted in popular TV series such as "Mad Men".

Durante, but call me Dante

Dante is usually known only by his first name, which is a diminutive of “Durante”. He was born in Florence in 1265, exiled in 1302, and he died in Ravenna, on Italy’s eastern Adriatic coast, on September 13 or 14 1321.

Hailing from a wealthy family, Dante never worked for a living and dabbled in politics as well as literature, philosophy and cosmology. He had at least three children with his wife Gemma Donati.

Dante the politician

Dante was active in politics, serving as one of Florence’s nine elected rulers, or priors, for a regular two-month term in 1300. When he became increasingly critical of papal encroachment in political affairs, he was put on trial and banished from Florence AFP.

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