#haldane

[kryptonbabe]

What does a 90's Superboy comic book has to say about the biochemical evolution of early life on Earth

I love bad science in comic books and I'm glad there's so much to choose from, from the 1940s to today. Even though I'm a biology teacher and usually dislike when media gets Evolution so wrong, spreading disinformation about an already complex scientific theory, I still have a soft spot for these comics that try to implement evolutionary concepts and fail. And this Superboy issue does just that, but in such an entertaining way, I had a few good laughs and saw it as a learning opportunity.

In this issue there's a Superboy "animated series" pilot being produced featuring the real Kon el and his entourage, this is a brain child of Rex Leech, Superboy's manager at this time in the comics. We see the "animation" as the characters watch it in the comic. In the pilot episode Rex reveals that his daughter, Roxy, was turned into "primordial slime" (panel above) by a villain. This is a reference to the "primordial soup" concept from the heterotrophic theory proposed by the scientists Oparin and Haldane. They stated that a prebiotic liquid with lots of elemental molecules evolved into organic molecules due to the intense conditions the primitive Earth faced (thunderstorms, volcanic activities, asteroid bombardment etc). Then, said organic molecules later grouped in cell-like structures (coacervates) capable of replication, thus creating a primitive form of life.

Roxy IS that prebiotic soup, a slime contained in a glass, that tragically gets shot during the pilot, leaking into an underground pool of undetermined origin water (in which Superboy says he occasionally bathes in).

Behold then, that by the end of the pilot (panel right above), Rex, Conner and Dubbilex discover the pool of mysterious water changed, now that Roxy was mixed into it... EVOLVING into algae (according to Dubbilex) and a fungus (according to an emotional Rex - happy to see his daughter once again alive in the form of this green goop). To be clear, algae and fungi are as different as insects are from trees, they're not only into separate biological kingdoms, but while algae has a machinery to make photosynthesis and produce their own food, fungi cells need to extract their energy from their surroundings (soil, trees, animals, you and me) and they have a cell wall made of the same material as insects exoskeletons! So, pretty different...

But the most insane thing about this development in the story is the implied idea that Roxy is evolving, going from organic slime to unicelular algae to fungi and... what's next? According to Rex (in the panel below - when the animation episode ends and real life Roxy is upset about being turned into a fungus) - A slug - oh yes, the next big step in evolution.

This was so funny to me because it's a different way to portray that old and very wrong idea that the evolutionary process is like a set of stairs in which life is slowly going up, higher and higher, getting "better and better", step by step. While truly, a more realistic view of evolution would look like a twisted tree of ramifications, some going nowhere, some staying apparently the same, and some getting more and more twisted by the minutes (yes, those would be bacteria).

Evolution is not a progression from less complex to more complex, evolution is simply changing, adapting, transforming through time. Birds would consider humans lesser beings for our lack of wings the same way most of us consider flatworms lesser for their lack of, well, lots of stuff, arms, backbone, blood, a respiratory system. And yet, we're all equally well adapted to our respective habitats, we are on the same level because we are alive and thriving, there's no hierarchy in evolution.

To think that Roxy would go from primordial slime to algae to fungi until potentially reach the complexity level of a human being is, as Dubillex put it in that panel above: bad science. However I had so much fun reading this story. I don't know if it's right as a biology teacher to have such an enthusiasm for bad science in comics, but I refuse to deny Art! I'd love to bring this issue to my students so we could read it in group and interpret together the message implied in Roxy's "evolution", and what is wrong about it. It would be a nice way to make the students read the comics I enjoy and learn something about real science.

My favorite thing about this issue is that the butt of the joke does not seem to be the theory of Evolution, but the distorted view someone can have of it. I didn't highlight it here, but in the end, there was a lot comically wrong with the pilot besides the Roxy "evolution" plot. So when Dubillex acknowledges to Rex that his pilot episode is not educational, but presents poor science, it's clear to me we're laughing at Rex's perception of scientific ideas and not at the ideas themselves. Which is refreshing. Yes, this is my favorite issue of this Superboy run so far and yes I'm biased. Thanks for reading this!

From Superboy #4 (1994) by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett & Mike Parobeck

[onlytheflies]

why is this getting to me so much 😞

[capsulas]

[englishcarssince1946]

1991 Haldane HD 300

My tumblr-blogs:

www.tumblr.com/germancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/frenchcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/englishcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/italiancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/japanesecarssince1947 & www.tumblr.com/uscarssince1935

[laura-ess]

Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian system or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were much too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy.

J. B. S. Haldane, “Possible Worlds”, 1927

[gerryandersontv]

Space Precinct: The Late Shift - A Gerry Anderson A21 News Story

The huge, yellow shape of the 88th Precinct Station-house drifted silently and watchfully over the bright lights of Demeter City far below on the planet Altor. Inside the station, things were winding down for the night, though “winding-down” might have been an overstatement. No one could remember a day when things had been so quiet. “You’d think that for once, everyone decided to become model…

[jonathan-parra-acero]

[zmkccommonplace]

I'd lay down my life for two brothers - or eight cousins.

JBS Haldane

[enchantedbook]

'A princess Walking in a Forest with Birds' by Haldane Macfall (1860 - 1928)

[andromeddog]

captain

[sharkboyandlavalieb]

THE PACIFIC - fandom text posts

insp. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

[rockpaperscissuhs]

HBO War + The Onion's 'Things to Never Say to Someone Who Just Came Out' (x)

[onlytheflies]

the fact that ack ack took "men at war" to the pacific with him is something i cannot get off my mind. imagine him picking up that book, maybe at the recommendation of someone else, for some kind of inspiration, some kind of source of wisdom as to how to lead his men in bloody battle after bloody battle. he was constantly trying his best to make it as easy for the people under his command as possible, i can imagine him reading the book and searching for what he could take away from it and apply to his situation. i can imagine he probably got frustrated with it at points and no doubt found it hard to read after enough time in combat. he wanted it to be over, he just wanted to be a civilian, but he put this effort into understanding the war, understanding his duty, all for the benefit of the other men in k/3/5. man i don't know it makes me emotional. He was so good

[sachart]

The Captain and his First Lieutenant

Some Hilldane for @ackackh because he has the best ideas.

[lamialamia]

The Pacific ▶ K company

[staud]

hillbilly & ack ack + shoulder pats