Glossary

Actualism, Law of

The process – response law of nature.  “Physical processes at work today operate consistently in the same way whether in past, present or future, if all environmental conditions remain equal.  Moreover, under such conditions they will produce the same responses”.

Adenine

Chemically a purine. It is  a major component of DNA and RNA.

Agnatha

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are  jawless fish falling within Animalia: Chordata: Sub-phylum Vertebrata.

Alleles

Different forms of a gene.

Amino-acid

Alpha amino acids are the chemical building blocks of proteins and their differing sequences produce the variation in proteins.

Amniotic egg

The egg produced by the tetrapod vertebrates that resists dehydration and allow gases to move from inside the egg to the external environment. Found in
the mammal-like reptiles, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Amphibia

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy   Animalia: Chordata: Sub-phylum Vertebrata. Tetrapoda  Vertebrates that do not reproduce using an amniotic egg.

Anagenesis

This is the rate of evolution observed in a phylogeny in which superficially it appears to indicate that a new type of species suddenly arises with few if any intermediate types.

Animalia

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are within the Kingdom Animalia.

Apoda

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Amphibia: Apoda. These are a group of snake-like amphibians lacking limbs.

Archaea

The Domain Archaea of Woese [1977].  Individuals with the traits shown in Table 1 below.

DOMAIN

ARCHAEA

BACTERIA

EUKARYA

Cell type

Prokaryote

Prokaryote

Eukaryote

Cell wall

Muriatic acid absent. The protein
carbohydrate peptidoglycon absent.

Muriatic acid present. The protein
carbohydrate peptidoglycon present.

Muriatic acid absent.

Ribosomes

70S

70S

80S

Organelles

Absent

Absent

Present

DNA

Non-nucleated.

Operans present

Non-nucleated. Operans present

Nucleated. Operans absent

tRNA

Methionine[i]
initiator

Formyl-methionine initiator

Methionine initiator

mRNA

No capping or poly-A tailing.

No capping or poly-A tailing.

Capping and poly-A tailing.

[i] Methionine is an
amino-acid that contains sulfur and occurs within polypeptide chains.
It has two forms L- and D-methonine which can be used to separate taxa
e.g. liverworts and mosses
.

Archaebacteria

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy these are prokaryotic single celled organism within the Kingdom Monera .  Within the three domain system of Woese [1977] they are those organisms placed within the Domain Archaea

Archaeopteryx

Traditionally these are the transitional organisms that evolved from the Theropod dinosaurian Reptilia into the Birds. Living in the Jurassic Period around 155-150 mybp.

Archaeosociety

The earliest form of society represented by the hunter-gatherers.

Artificial uterus

A  synthetic uterus  located externally to its parent organism, within which an embryo can grow.

ATP

Adenosine triphosphate is a nucleotide involved in energy transfer within a cell.

Australopithecus

The probable ancestral genus of Homo, existing from 3.0 to 3.9 mybp in Africa.   Within the Linnaean system of Taxonomy: Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Hominidae.

Autopoiesis

A non-equilibrium system that is stable for long periods [metastability] despite matter and energy continually passing through them e.g. a cell.

Bacteria

A domain of the life.  See Table 1.

Base-pairs

Two nucleotides that lie on opposite strands of DNA/RNA connected by hydrogen bonds.

Brain transplant

The physically transference of a brain from a living individual into the skull of a brain-dead, donor body, from which the brain has been removed.  The brain is connected to all of the functional systems of the donor body [nerves, blood etc].

British peppered moth

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Biston betularia. Two forms  f. carbonaria [dark colored] and  f. typica [light colored] exist.

Buddhism

A religion based upon the teaching of Gautama Buddha that believe that existence is controlled by karma: that ones actions have consequences that determine ones present and future state.

Cambrian

The first geological Period of the Palaeozoic Era extending from 542 mybp to 488.3 mybp.

Catarrhini

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy: Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini, containing the Old World Monkey’s and the Apes.

Caudata

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Amphibia: Lissamphibia: Caudata. Commonly called the Salamander and first evolved in the Middle Permian Period.

Ceboidea

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates. The New World Monkey’s.

Cell

Chemical reactions that are contained within a spherical molecule membrane forming a definable living system.

Cenozoic

The most recent geological Era extending from 65.6 mybp to today.

Cercopithecoidea

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates. The Old World Monkey’s

Chemosynthesis

The oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane  as a source of energy for biological conversion of carbon molecules and nutrients  within the cells of chemoautotrophic organism.

Chimera

A designed chimera is an organism that contains functional genetically distinct cells derived from different species; a natural chimera is a more restricted view and is formed from different zygotes of the same parents joining during embryological development.

Chlorophyta

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are within the photosynthetic prokaryotic green algae belonging to the Class Chlorophyceae.

Chondrichthyes

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy a Class of the Vertebrates that contain all organisms that are jawed cartilaginous fish.

Christianity

A religion, named by Ignatius of Antioch and based around the early writings of Ignatius of Antioch [Theophorus], Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen that professes to  incorporate the teachings and belief system of the Jewish prophet Jesus of Nazareth.

Chromosome

Composite DNA molecules found in the cell.

Chronodeme

An assumed succession of interbreeding populations that is defined by the traits of its representatives extending through a period of time.  Based upon paleontological evidence.

Chronospecies

A species that is defined by the traits of its representatives extending through a period of time i.e. based upon a chronodeme.

Cladogenesis

The process whereby ancestral populations give rise to descendant groups by divergence, each of which remains discrete from every other throughout their subsequent history.  Fundamentally, it is the process by which new species and higher taxa arise.

Classification

The simple division of objects, ideas, etc. into groups [either hierarchical or otherwise] represents their classification system.
Human reasoning allows different classification systems to exist for different purposes: even of the same objects.  Moreover, such classifications are not a pre-determined structure of objects but are developed and can be modified over time and space.

Cloning

Making an identical copy of something.

Combinational outcome , Law of

The law of nature

Complex systems

A system composed of interconnected parts that can exhibit properties not apparent from the properties of the individual parts: referred to as emergent phenomena.  A system that has no largest model that is simulable [Rosen].

Consciousness

The encoding-decoding process that takes place in a brain.

Cotylosaurs

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are within the

Cultural gamodeme

The ethnic, social and cultural aspects of an interbreeding population.

Cycles

A series of causes and effects that cycle back repetitively.

Cytosine

One of the five main bases found in DNA, forming links with Guanine. A member of the Pyrimidines that is metastable and can change into Uracil.

Deliberative democracy

Making political decisions within a representative democracy using consensus of the effected citizens.

Democracy

Making political decisions by voting.

Devonian

A geological Period of the Palaeozoic Era extending from 416 mybp to 359.2 mybp.

Diapsida

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Sauropsida: Diapsida. Reptiles that evolved  two temporal fenestra [holes] on either side of the skull. They include the Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs and Plesiosaurs.

Disruption phase

That phase of cladogenesis during which selection pressure is increasing and with this harshness the species can undergo a drastic drop in numbers. The individuals living in the less favourable parts of the environmental range are wiped out.

Divergence phase

That phase of cladogenesis during which the selection pressure is moderate once more.  The surviving groups start to diverge from each other.  At first the differences are only slight but they continue to become more and more pronounced until they reach specific, generic or even familial distinction.  In the fossil record this is seen when two or more later-fossil populations form a distinctly new taxonomic group that can be related to an earlier form.

Diversity

Variation within a gamodeme; politically: allowing tolerance for people of different views.

Divinity

The study of God.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic Acid molecules that contains the genetic code.

Bryopithecus

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are within the

Emergence

The development of a complex pattern or system  from a multiplicity of simple reactions.

Eocene

A geological Epoch of the Cenozoic Era extending form 55.8 mybp to 33.9 mybp.

Eruption phase

That phase of Cladogenesis during which the population undergoes rapid increase in numbers and variation because the selection pressure is decreasing and with this lenience the species increases its numbers and inhabits a wider geographic area.  In the fossil record the result is a wider range of morphologic types, living in a wider range of environmental conditions, over a wider geographic area with time.

Eubacteria

All organisms that are within the Domain Bacteria. Unicellular Prokaryotes separate from the Domain Archaea.

Eugenics

The improvement of a genetic line by the removal of individuals from the physical gamodeme  who have unwanted traits. Eugenics keeps on
returning as an issue relating to social condition because repeatedly some people see the concept as not only logical but a clear way to improve the cultural gamodeme
. Others cannot separate modern eugenics from the inhuman ideas of the last Millennium, and do not accept that germ line genetic engineering [GLGE] could improve the human condition.

Eukarya

A Domain of life.  See Table 1.

Europa

One of Jupiter’s four main satellites having a frozen water surface with a presumed ocean below the thin ice.  Europa has a magnetic field, and heat derived from its core is believed to be sufficient to keep the water liquid below the ice.  It is likely that the oceans have existed for millions of years and this presents the possibility of living systems having evolved.

Eusociety

Society based upon industrialization and the replacement of war by cooperation amongst nations, empires and religious hegemonies. A need for strong internal regulation clearly understood by the population is evident in Eusociety, and rules and regulations pertaining to all manner of social interaction occur as common law. The role of government is fundamentally one of regulation, the development of regulation, and the imposing of regulation upon the population. An important constraint is that government is perceived as providing access to the basic resource needs of individuals within the cultural gamodeme.

Euthanasia

The act of deliberately dying painlessly and quickly.  Ethically it is initiated by a need to avoid pain and unnecessary suffering in an individual when it is called ‘mercy killing’. Some religious fundamentalists take a stance against mercy killing because it is immoral within their belief system, but this infringes upon individual rights or the rights of kinsfolk in a democratic society. Euthanasia is practiced throughout the animal kingdom.

Exo-hystera genesis

The acts of conception, development and birth outside of the human body.

Experimental design

A statistically designed experiment performed under rigorous constraints and methods of analysis and interpretation.

Extinction

The death of every member of a phylogeny so that the ancestor – descendent process ceases.

Fascism

Originally a movement initiated by Mussolini in Italy. A totalitarian dictatorship with fundamentalist overtones of superiority over the masses.

Ga [sometimes  written GA]

Gigoannum = 1,000,000,000 years.

Gamete

A reproductive cell of an individual, that carries a single set [half or haploid] of the parents chromosomes i.e. is principally derived from the grandmother or grandfather.  This genetic material is derived via meiosis and is not an exact replicate of the individuals somatic [body] cell.  In female individuals the gamete is the egg. In male individuals the gamete is a sperm.  Two gametes  fuse to form the Zygote.

Gametophyte

The haploid reproductive cell of a plant containing a single set of chromosomes.

Gamodeme

An interbreeding population.

Genetic drift

The gradual change of allele frequency within a gamodeme over time.  Most precisely it refers to random change in allele frequency due to the probability of unknown effects altering the chromosome [i.e. contained in the 'error term']. Less precisely it is change in the allele frequency due to very minor effects [i.e. known effects in addition to the error term] that occur randomly.

Genotype

The genetic make-up[based upon alleles] of an individual.

Germ cells

Gametes.

Gilgamesh

The King hero of Babylonian and Sumerian epic myths.

God

With a capital ‘G’ an entity that interferes into events in our Universe.  With a small ‘g’ a non-interfering entity that exists outside of our Universe i.e. outside of space-time, responsible for initiating our Universe.

Great apes

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all Primates that are within the family Hominidae.  They include such common forms as orangutans, gorillas, humans and chimpanzees.

Guanine

A purine.  One of the five main bases in DNA and RNA.  It binds to Cytosine in the chromosome molecule.

Hinduism

The religious system initiated and practised by Hindu’s of Peninsular India based upon ancient writings and oral tradition.  The all embracing nature of Hinduism in the cultural gamodeme suggests it is a proto-religion.

Holomorphospecies

A morphospecies that can be traced over a wide geographic area such that it can encompass more than one morphospecies determined as existing within a single time frame.

Hominidae

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: family Hominidae.  The Great Apes are the tailless Primates, which include orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee and humans.

Hominoidea

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: superfamily Hominoidea.  Together with the Great Apes they include the Lesser Apes [Hylobatidae] such as the Gibbon.

Homo

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo. The genus that includes all of humankind.

Homo cosmos

A theoretical name for those members of Homo sapiens that will result from extra-terrestrial isolated gamodemes i.e. effectively do not interbreed with Homo sapiens.

Homo erectus

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species erectus.

Homo habilis

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species habilis.

Homo heidelburgensis

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species heidelburgensis.

Homo roboticus

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species roboticus.


Homo neanderthalensis

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species neanderthalensis.

Homo sapiens

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Homo: species sapiens.

Human genome

The complete genetic sequence of a human being as seen in the chromosomes.

Humanism

An educational ideal, one of the foundations of which is the human potential to achieve good. Humanism is often associated with the related concept of humanity but humanism is not a necessary part of humanity. The humanist approach has been neither accepted nor used much by Homo sapiens during the history of the species.

Humanity

The study of humankind.

Humankind

All members of the genus Homo. In a restricted sense only members of the species H. sapiens are included.

Hunting-gathering

The early method of obtaining resources practised in archaeosociety.

Ichthyostegidae

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Ichthyostegalia: Ichthyostegidae. Tetrapoda that lived in the Upper Devonian Period.

Immigrant population

The group of individual people who move from one or more physical gamodemes into another physical gamodeme where they remain as part of the interbreeding population.

Immigration

The migration of individuals from one location [commonly a country] to another to become a permanent member of the gamodeme.

Immortality

Perpetual life.

In vitro

Development within an artificial environment e.g. a test tube.

Industrial revolution

The beginning of Eusociety.  The point in time when production became mechanised, starting around 1760 in England.  This is the period when major social changes took place in western civilization.  It was the beginning of Modernism and the influence of the Enlightenment philosophers.  In the book Cosmopolis: the hidden agenda of modernity, Stephen Toulmin writes that by the turn of the seventeenth century, Europe was embarking on “what we now call modernity, an intellectual and practical agenda which set aside the tolerant, skeptical attitude of the sixteenth-century humanists and focused on the seventeenth-century pursuit of mathematical exactitude and logical rigor, intellectual certainty and moral purity.” With this came the whole notion of individual rights.  It coincides with the Age of Reason.

Instability , Law of

Intelligent reaction

The physical-chemical response to a physical-chemical interaction following the laws of conditional statistics.

Islam

A religion, based primarily upon the writings of the prophet Mohamed that professes to  be the words of the one true God [Allah].

Junk sequences

The intron regions of the chromosome molecule. These sequences are probably important in controlling the development
of traits in some way or another because chromosome duplication processes are far too precise to allow replication of useless materials.

Jurassic

The middle geological Period of the Mesozoic Era extending from 199.6 mybp to 145.5 mybp..

Khoi

The San people of Southern Africa and especially the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Zulu myth stories portray the San of present Southern Africa and the Pygmies of the Congo River Basin as the first people put on Earth by the Goddess of Creation. The Khoi were both absorbed and dispossessed by the waves of the Tswana and the Sotho tribes, during a later migration of Bantu from the north down through the central part of Southern Africa.

Kinship

Genetically related individuals forming a family group.

Labyrinthodonta

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Amphibia, existing during the Upper Palaeozoic, Lower Mesozoic eras. Some modern usage places them as pre-amphibians.

Mammalia

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia. They are characterized by a brain containing a neocortex, sweat glands, hair, and triple middle ear bones modified for hearing.

Mammal-like reptiles

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Tetrapoda: Synapsida.  They have a temporal fenestra behind each eye orbit and the side of the skull. Principally including the Therapsids and Pelycosaurs, but ‘clade’ taxonomy includes the mammals which are directly descended from the traditional ‘mammal-like reptiles”.

Marxism

A political system, based primarily upon the writings of Karl Marx.

Meiosis

The kind of chromosomal replication that occurs in sexually reproducing organism resulting in the formation of germ cells

Meritocracy

A social concept that equates a persons merits with his/her ability plus effort.

Mesolithic

The Middle Stone Age.

Mesozoic

The middle Geological Era of the Phanerozoic, extending from 251 mybp to 65.5 mybp.

Metabolic pathways

The linear sequences of chemical reactions performed within a cell.


Militant fundamentalists

People who believe their personal belief system [usually a religion] is the fundamental political system within which all should live.  Other views are completely unacceptable and must be eliminated from the cultural gamodeme.

Missing link

Anything that is discovered, or merely recognized, as occurring between any two adjacent elements of a trend.

Mississippian

A geological Period of the Palaeozoic Era extending from 359.2 mybp to 318.1 mybp.

Mitochondria

Mitochondria are circular molecules of DNA that occur outside of the nucleus of the cell.  They probably originated as isolated sites of chemical reactions during the proto-biologic phase of evolution of organic matter, but today they are localized within a cellular system. Mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA] is inherited only though the maternal line, derived from the maternal germ cell. The mitochondrial DNA does not recombine with any nuclear DNA, although its function is partially controlled by the nucleus i.e. it  is passed on unchanged except for mutations.

Mitosis

A process that makes a copy of each chromosome during the division of the cell such that the two new daughter cells that result from cell division contain replicas of the DNA in the original cell.

Monotheism

Any religion that accepts only a single God

Monotreme

Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Monotremata. Mammals that lay eggs such as the Platypus and the Echidnas.

Morphospecies

A group of individuals with similar or the same morphological characters, the limits of variation allowed in such a species being arbitrarily defined by a competent worker.  Mayr, 1942.

mRNA

Mitochondrial DNA.

Muslim

A person who believes the Arab prophet Mohamed wrote down the words of the one true God [Allah] in the book called the Koran.

Mutation

A change in the DNA structure of the chromosome molecule.  Early ideas suggested mutations were driven by external criteria but although such may be the ultimate cause the proximate cause is internal due to slight inconsistencies in replication and protein synthesis. The phenomenon of chromosomal mutation is in general lethal to the cell or causes sterile offspring such as the mule. Genetic mutations, on the other hand, cause most of the diversity seen in a gamodeme and phylogeny
.

Nanotechnology

The manipulation of matter at the scale of 100 nanometers or less.

Neolithic

Beginning during the last phase of the Stone Age with the incoming of agriculture and ending with the beginning of the Metal Age [Copper, Bronze, and Iron ages]. Beginning in the Levant around 8500 BC it spread outwards from its core.  Characterized by Homo sapiens Protosociety.

Neontology

That branch of biology that deals with extant and living organism.

New soviet man

The evolution by Lamarckian processes to produce the ideal citizen to serve the Soviet under Leninist-Stalinist hypotheses. In the 1960’s the argument went along the following lines. The ‘new soviet man’ is a wonderful ideal for society; therefore, it is valid to manipulate the educational and cultural environment to mold the population into that image.

New world monkeys

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all Primates that are within the Platyrrhini and characterized by a flattened nose with nostrils pointing sideways.  They have 12 pre-molar teeth. They include such common forms as  the marmoset, tamarin, and spider monkey.

Nucleic acid

A family of biopolymer molecules occurring as a single, double or multiple strands. The common DNA and RNA molecules of living systems are macromolecules of nucleic acid.

Nucleotides

Monomers comprising three components: a base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate group. They are the structural units of DNA and RNA.

Old world monkeys

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all Primates that are within the Catarrhini and characterized by a narrow nose with nostrils pointing forwards and downwards.  They have 8 pre-molar teeth.  They include such common forms as the baboon, gibbon and macaques.

Oligocene

A geological Epoch of the Cenozoic Era extending from 33.9 mybp to 23.03 mybp.

Organelles

A specialized structure within a cell that is enclosed in it’s own cellular membrane.

Origin of life

That stage in the evolution of matter in which chemical reactions become enclosed in a spherical molecule and can autonomously reproduce themselves.

Ornithischia

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Sauropsida: Dinosauria: Ornithischia. An order of beaked herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by its pelvic structure. .

Orthogenesis

This is a moderate rate of evolution observed in a phylogeny in which there is a gradual change with time.

Osteichthyes

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Gnathostomata: Osteichthyes. These are the boney fish.

Paleocene

An Epoch of the Mesozoic Era extending from 65.5 mybp to 55.8 mybp.

Paleontology

That branch of biology that deals with extinct and fossil organisms.

Paleospecies

A species based upon morphological variation.

Paleozoic

The first geological Era of the Phanerozoic extending from 542 mybp to 251 mybp.

Pelycosauria

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Tetrapoda: Synapsida: Pelycosauria. A group of Upper Paleozoic Synapsida evolving in the Upper Carboniferous and becoming extinct at the end of the Permian.   They gave raise to the Therapsids.

Permian

A geological Period of the Palaeozoic Era extending from 299 mybp to 251 mybp.

PGD

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.  Genetic testing of embryo’s prior to implantation.

Phaeophyta

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Eukaryota: Chromalveolata: Heterokontophyta:  Phaeophyceas.  These are the Brown Algae.

Pharming

The insertion of genes that code for pharmaceuticals into a host so that large quantities of the pharmaceutical can be produced by biological breeding.

Physical gamodeme

The interbreeding population.

Phenotype

The appearance of an organism, primarily as a result of the environment drawing out the genetic potential.

Photosynthesis

The conversion of light energy into chemical energy in living systems, especially in plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria.

Phylogenesis

The sequence of ancestor – descendent that forms a phylogenic line or Phylogeny.

Placental Mammal.

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Eutheria. Those mammals that reproduce using a placenta and in which the offspring are carried in a uterus until birth.

Placoderma

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Gnathostomata: Placodermi. The Lower Palaeozoic armored fish living from the Upper Silurian to the Upper Devonian.

Planck distance

The present stance taken by science is that the original size of the Universe was  Planck distance.  This is because at present we are unable to delve deeper into time beyond a Universe of such size. The Planck distance, which is 10-33 centimetres, represents the original space and time from which the Universe evolved.  From this space-time on, scientists can logically develop a Theory for the formation of our present Universe.

Planck Era

The first 10-43 seconds of existence of our Universe. Understanding what happened during the Planck Era requires examining what happens within vacuums at the scale at which quantum mechanics operates. The Plank Era was a seething mass of energy and elementary particles constantly coming in and out of existence

Planck space

The place beyond Planck distance.  To go beyond Planck distance is to delve into a world explored by quantum mechanics where the conventional laws of physics break down and the curvature of space-time has no meaning: it is the Era of Planck Space.  Planck Space has some startling properties.  First, it has a mass of 10-8 kilograms and energy of about 1019GeV i.e. a very small size and mass with a very high energy. Einstein’s most famous equation suggests that the energy of Planck Space will create a material universe at the speed of light. [1 GeV = a giga-electron–volt
or 109 electron volts].

Planck time

The time it takes light to travel across Planck distance.

Platyrrhini

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Platyrrhini. The New World Monkeys.

Pleistocene

A geological Epoch of the Cenozoic Era extending from 1.806 mybp to 0.0115 mybp.

Plesiadapiformes

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Eutheria: Plesiadapiformes. An extinct group of mammals that evolved in the Cretaceous Period and are related to the Primates.

Pollution

The addition to a system of some external elements, commonly regarded as undesirable elements.

Population pressure

Selection pressure imposed on the cultural or physical gamodeme due to increase numbers or increased density of individuals.

Prenatal testing

Testing a fetus or embryo for disease and birth defects  before birth.

Primates

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Eutheria: Primates. They include the Lemurs, monkeys and apes.

Prokaryotes

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy a Domain of living systems in which the cells lack a cell nucleus.

Prosimian

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy all organisms that are within the Suborder Prosimii of the Order Primates.

Protein

A biomolecule made up of a linear chain of amino acids.

Protosociety

The form of cultural gamodeme that accompanied the development of agricultural societies.

Race

A group of individuals within a species that share similar physical traits. The definition of a race is based on the decision of a ‘competent’ taxonomist knowledgeable of the variation within the species.

Reductionism

The method of understanding a complex system by examining and understanding the interactions of the sum of its parts.

Religion

A belief system based upon one or more supernatural entities manifested as an interfering God or Gods.

Rhetoric

The spoken method of communication using reason, emotions and authority to persuade others to adopt one’s own views.

Rhipidisian

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Sarcopterygii: Crossopterygii: Rhipidistia. The lobe finned fish that were the ancestors of the tetrapoda.

Rhodophyta

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Eukaryota: Plantae: Rhodophyta. The Red Algae.

Right to die

An individual right that asserts that any individual can terminate his/her own life either directly by suicide or indirectly by using an external agent [individuals or the State].

RNA

Ribonucleic acid. A nucleic acid that contains ribose sugar contrasting with DNA which contains deoxyribose sugar. In cells it is usually single stranded

Robotico

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Robotico. A genus of Hominoids that has a
manufactured body and a manufactured consciousness. Argument will exist as to whether or not a biological machine [Homo sapiens] can manufacture a member of its phylogeny [as a mechanical machine] as opposed to biologically evolving it.

Robotico earthensis

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Robotico: earthensis. The type species of Robotico: the first humanoid descendent of  Homo sapiens.

Sahelanthropus

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Primates: Catarrhini: Hominidae: Sahelanthropus. A fossil ape that lived approximately 7 mybp [Miocene Epoch] that may be an ancestor of Homo.

Saurischians

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Sauropsida: Dinosauria: Saurischia. The lizard hipped dinosaurs.

SCID

Severe combined immunodeficiency is a genetic disorder in which the organism fails to develop an immune system.

Selection pressure

The effect of the environment [in its broadest sense] on the development of an individual.

Senescence

The old age stage of a biological system.

Seymouria

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Tetrapoda: Reptiliomorpha: Seymouriidae: Seymouria. A reptile like tetrapod that evolved in the Lower Permian.

Social condition

Those conditions that effect the cultural gamodeme.

Solar system

Within the astronomical system of taxonomy the stellar system that consists of the Sun and its surrounding planets.

Somatic cell

A body cell.

Sotho

A tribe of the Bantu speaking people of Africa.

Soul

A religious concept involving a none material entity that inhabits a living system, and can survive death.  Comparable with the inner Id which is the source of primeval urge and instinctive energy.

Soviet

The concept of subjugating  individual freedoms to the rights of the group by a ruling committee.

Space liner

A massive ‘mother ship’ containing  upwards of a thousand individuals that will allow Homo sapiens to explore the Solar System and Robotico earthensis to explore the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.

Spherical molecule

A hollow spherical molecule that forms the semi-permeable cell membrane which protects the chemical systems on the inside of the cell from those on the outside but allows certain needed chemicals to pass into the cell interior and waste products to pass out into the environment.

Stabilization

That phase of Cladogenesis when selection pressure is moderate and the ancestral species is confined to a constricted habitat, with a closely controlled population size.

Stasigenesis

This is the rate of evolution observed in a phylogeny in which little or no modification is observed with descent. The organisms that form the phylogeny remain fairly much the same over a long time period.

Stem-cell

Cells that can renew themselves by mitosis and can differentiate into a many different kinds of specialized cell types.

Synapsida

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Gnathostomata: Tetrapoda: Amniota: Synapsida. They have a single temporal fenestra opening in the skull behind each eye.

Systematics

The actual process of placing individual objects into a classification is called systematics i.e. the actual classification of individual things within a taxonomic framework.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the theoretical framework  used to establish a classification. Different theoretical frameworks may be used for different purposes; although, in the human mind there appears to be a singular underlying taxonomy for interpreting external and internal stimuli. The mind contains a holistic system operating within the brain, which utilizes both serial and parallel connections to group and retrieve objects following the law of combinatorial outcome.  Such a system divides things and events into different groups and assesses how they are arranged one to another.

Terraforming

The transformation of an astronomical body into an Earth like system.

Tetrapoda

Within the Linnaean system of taxonomy Animalia: Chordata: Vertebrata: Tetrapoda. The four limbed vertebrates.

Theory

According to the National Academy of Sciences,

Some scientific explanations are so well established that no new evidence is likely to alter them. The explanation becomes a scientific theory…….. In science, the word theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature that is supported by many facts gathered over time.

Thymine

A pyrimidine that is one of the 5 bases in the nuclei acid of DNA. In RNA it is usually replaced by Uracil.

Time-scale

A number scale that represents the passage of time measured either as relative units or absolute units.

Trends

A directed sequence of events in which the changes are conditional over time i.e. what happens now is totally or partially dependant, in some way, upon what happened previously. If conditional changes are fairly obvious they are termed trends or sometimes cycles (if they twist back on themselves). A more general term for conditional changes is a developmental sequence.

Triassic

A geological Period of the Mesozoic Era.  Extending from 251 mypb to 199.6 mybp.

Tswana

A tribe of the Bantu speaking people of Africa.

Typogenesis

This is the rate of evolution observed in a phylogeny in which there is a real jump in phylogenic lineage – a new form being introduced between one generation and the next.

Unified theory

The, as yet unrealized, theory in mathematical physics that will combine all the forces of our Universe in order to understand our Universe.

Upanishads

The ancient texts of Hinduism originating, mainly as dialog, between the 800 and 600 BC, and first written down around 1300 AD.

Virus

Ultramicroscopic infectious agents that today need a biological host within which to proliferate.

X-chromosome

The chromosome that is inherited through the maternal line, composed of about 150 million base pairs. Maleness is determined by the possession of an  X-Y pair and femaleness by an XX pair in the somatic cell.  A human female has one x-chromosome from her mother and one x-chromosome from her paternal grandmother.

Xenotransplantation

The transplantation of living cells from one species into another, especially pertaining to clinical implantation of organs and tissue, derived from other species, into human beings

Y-chromosome

The human sex-determining chromosome inherited through the paternal line, composed of about 60 million base pairs. Maleness is determined by the possession of an  XY pair and femaleness by an XX pair in the somatic cell. A trait inherited through the Y-chromosome is called an holandric trait.

Zygote

A zygote is formed when two gametes [sex cells] combine to form an offspring cell during sexual reproduction, the chromosomes from one parent combine with the same kind of chromosomes from the other parent. The zygote becomes the embryo and the embryo becomes the individual.

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