Will cook for brains.

I have had a passing interest in human evolution ever since I became human (don't ask). Well, it seems as though the link between cooking and brain size has become less speculative. Not that it was that bad anyhow, it's simply a bit more obvious.

There seems to be a rather massive shift in human evolution about 1.8 million years. Certainly adaptations for running, taller, less muscle bound, secondary adaptations. Probably all kicked off from fire.

Fire allows cooking. Cooking gives more calories from typically inedible food. Less muscles are needed. Running with improved calories and bipedalism becomes improved strategy for scavenging and for running down prey (you could chase an animal until it can't run marathon style). Hairlessness evolves as to improve sweating ability and regulate heat better for running and existence in the savanna, downside of freezing at night countered by shelter and fire. Humans then are quite efficient. Able to hunt successfully and have a much more broad range of possible foods and do not require large digestive tracts or half a face of muscles to chew (don't let a chimp bite your finger). This extra time, allows humans to sit around the camp fire solving sodukos and jumbles, until their brains got big.

Okay, needs a bit better picture for that last step. Having the resources to do well in many climates why an absolutely massive brain? No other improvement rendered any greater survival rates? Socialization significantly advantageous? Prediction of resources? Necessity to replicate the acts of making tools and fire? Need for complex language to help describe the processes required? Our brains do largely differ in our mirror neuron systems so we are more able to replicate and learn by seeing the acts of others. Needed success in a new arms race between groups, required intelligence to accelerate the evolution of tools and strategies?

Or, if one is to believe the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, all this research is just poppycock and the truth has something vague to do with water.

Kyle X, Why?

As a guilty pleasure I watch the ABC family series Kyle XY. It's mostly crap, but some of it is interesting. Well, this new season involves some "explanations" which well, do no justice to anything. Kyle, born without a belly button has some amazing abilities including memory and speed and a few other fun quirks. Though, a bit silly at times were vaguely understandable.

So they decided to explain why. Kyle XY was grown in an artificial womb for longer than a typical because Einstein did some experiments and said that it was his long gestation period that resulted in his intellect. He gave up later, but his work was continued by some secretive cabal. Now Kyle's creator was the result of this cabal's plan and was born after 14 months in the womb. Kyle spent the better part of 18 years in an artificial one. Designed by this previous iteration of.

Now, where the hell do I start. First off Einstein was a healthy baby born on time and probably has Asberger's syndrome (form of autism). He didn't do secret stuff in biology he was a physicist, and a pretty good one. He was no Newton but he was damned smart. Now, development of children's brains is done by 9 months and more time isn't going to do anything. Oh, and did I mention that Kyle's creator can move things with his mind. Oh... ah... What the hell! Sorry I can't be more articulate about the problems with the plot, they are so many I can hardly enumerate them.

Elephants must be supergeniuses!