Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 109 Eastern Tree Frog and Evolution

Qin, Xianyang Palace.

Li Si was standing close by, and when he heard His Majesty's sneer, his heart began to beat wildly with fear.

Accompanying a monarch who is nearing the end of his life is a very dangerous thing. The danger lies in the unpredictable mind of the monarch, the negative example set by Sima Yi, the villain, and the undercurrent of the struggle for the throne.

Moreover, Your Majesty is obviously not a good person. Even Zhao Gao, who had served you for many years, was killed by flaying at will. It was flaying rather than ending his life with one knife. It can be seen that the life and death of his subjects all depend on your thoughts.

Li Si couldn't help but think of the rumors that the eldest son had encountered several ambushes and attacks while he was away, which might not have been done by the remnants of the six kingdoms.

Your Majesty, have you really given up on Prince Fusu?
Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin and others seemed to understand, but they knew from the example mentioned by Tianmu that a scientist had achieved rejuvenation in some cells of an experimental mouse and successfully restored its vision.

Li Shimin was envious. Everyone will get old one day. Getting old is not as easy as the literal meaning. It means that you will gradually lose your sight, gradually lose the ability to walk, and break bones at the touch. You will gradually get less sleep and start to have bowel and urination disorders.
If I could restore my eyesight, that would be a great improvement. At least I wouldn't have to endure threading for a long time only to find that the needle and thread were only three or four fingers away from each other.

However, we also understand that this is a series that can only be achieved in one's lifetime. The technology mentioned by Tianmu can only serve as a guide. If we want to reproduce these things now, it will probably take dozens to hundreds of years.

Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin and other generals had some understanding. From a realistic point of view, the soldiers who were often exposed to the sun and rain were indeed much older than the ordinary people in Chang'an City. Many of them were almost thirty years old, but looked about forty years old.

This is naturally because the sun is too scorching and the wind and sand are too strong on the northern border, which fundamentally explains why the soldiers guarding the border generally look older.

[When my eldest brother was driving past a cemetery at night, his car stalled four or five times for no reason. He was so angry that he got out of the car and held a meeting with the ghosts. He first asked loudly:]

[Everyone, get up. We're just going to a meeting. It's only two miles. My car has stalled four or five times. Is there any law? Is there anyone who can control this? ]

[Then he displayed his own strength to shock them:]

[I don't care who you are, and you don't ask around. In this small piece of land, who knows that I'm a famous and troublesome ghost? Usually, dogs have to avoid me when they see me.]

[Finally, he made a direct threat:]

[If my car stalls again, I will immediately dig out your bones and boil them into soup. There will be no bone residue left. Listen to me clearly. Meeting adjourned.]

[My goodness, big brother is such a ruthless person. Cao Pi probably has something in common with you. It turns out that the car ran out of gas, which caused the engine to stall.]

[This ghost has to curse every time he wakes up in the middle of the night. Is he sick?]

"I've seen workplaces being reorganized, but this is the first time I've seen a graveyard being reorganized"

"A car without a drop of oil ran 5 miles"

"It was Apia who pushed the car, and he was scolded, hahahaha"

"Ghost 1: His car is out of gas, what should we do? Ghost 2: Push it, we don't need the bones anymore"

"I don't understand why the evil map made me walk through a cemetery in the middle of the night [Cat Speechless]"

"Last time I went biking with my boyfriend, we used a crappy map navigation system, and it led me deep into the mountains and forests, and it took us an hour to get out [rolling eyes]"

In Jinling City, countless people did not laugh at first, but laughed after listening to the comments of the young masters. They knew that people in later generations did not respect ghosts and gods, and were indifferent to life and death, such as the very popular "Shaqima, do you want to eat it?"

But I didn't expect it to be so bold.

In the Hexing Tea House, everyone's brains spasmed and they were choked and coughing. This man was quite bold and even dared to threaten a ghost.

You say he doesn't believe in ghosts, but when his car stalled he blamed it on ghosts. You say he believes in it. He is obviously fearless and still dares to make threats.

Shopkeeper Wan laughed and laughed at himself. If he was walking two miles at night and the lantern went out 4-5 times, he would have been scared to death and would have wanted to cover his head and run away. How could he threaten a ghost so confidently? Isn't this just seeking death?
But on the other hand, since later generations believe that there are no ghosts in this world, whether it is Shaqi Ma, Chinese horror, or today's threatening ghosts, they have indirectly influenced the people's hearts and concepts in Jinling City through the sky curtain.

This is reflected very intuitively. It is obvious that there are not so many taboos in speech. When talking about these things, people are generally open and frank, instead of being so taboo as before, where people would whisper in someone's ear and then let the other person know.

Another point is that when people are seriously ill, they will go to the doctor instead of looking for someone to perform a shaman ritual.

In front of Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others were very happy. The mentality of not fearing ghosts and gods in later generations stems from their confidence in science. For example, there has been a very thought-provoking debate in the comment section: How many divisions can your God defeat?
I don't see many videos of this kind on Tianmu, but when one or two pop up occasionally, it is actually useful in changing the trend of superstition among the people. At least, it is a good thing to have a subtle influence on teenagers and children, as it does not mean they are stubborn and old-fashioned.

If the imperial court were to handle this matter, it would definitely not be as easy as it is now. Perhaps it would be much easier in the capital area, but in remote areas, the imperial court's control over the local areas is not as strong as imagined.

Moreover, due to the influence of local customs and habits, this concept has been passed down from generation to generation and is difficult to change in a short period of time. In addition, the place is too backward and closed, so doing these things is thankless. Therefore, unless necessary, the court generally would not do such useless work.

The sky curtain was equivalent to doing a lot of work to change customs and popularize science education for the court, and Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly happy about it.

[Let me tell you about a real-life evolutionary event, which is the evolution of the Chernobyl tree frog. In 1986, a very serious nuclear accident occurred in Chernobyl, and a large amount of radioactive elements were released into the environment.]

[After the accident, people evacuated the area quickly, but the animals did not. The animals had no idea what had happened, and they have been living in that area ignorantly until today.]

[After the shadow of nuclear radiation slowly dissipated, people turned back to see what kind of changes had taken place in the small animals that had been living there and had been affected by radiation for a long time.]

[People have focused their attention on a small animal called the Oriental tree frog, and found that the Oriental tree frogs living in the Chernobyl area are much darker in color than those outside.]

[Especially those groups closer to the center of nuclear radiation, their skin color is even pitch black. You should know that before 1986, Oriental tree frogs were basically green.]

[In nature, tree frogs are different. Some frogs are green, and some are darker. But why was green the dominant color before the radiation?]

[Before Chernobyl, the key factor affecting the survival of tree frogs was natural enemies. Green happens to be a protective color that works with the environment, which can reduce the probability of them being discovered by natural enemies. Therefore, under this condition, the proportion of dark-colored frogs in nature is very, very small.]

In front of the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang and others looked solemn. They knew that the Chernobyl incident happened 30 to 40 years ago. An accident caused the local people to move away, and the area became a restricted area for 30 to 40 years, which was probably the half-life of the radioactive elements.

This indirect behavior can also be seen as people in later generations being wary of this substance, which shows the harm of this invisible and intangible element.

Even humans know how to avoid it, but what about animals?
Hu Weiyong, Liu Ji and others stretched their necks, but unfortunately there were no relevant data or videos, only the color changes of the tree frog were mentioned.

Through comparison before and after, it was found that decades after Chernobyl, the local frogs actually turned black.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others knew that Tianmu's explanation of the green frog was in line with common sense. Common natural enemies of frogs include voles and snakes.

Green is very common in fields, ponds, grasslands, etc. Many frogs lie in the grass or on large leaves, and you can't see them at all unless you pay close attention. This is indeed a strategy to avoid being preyed upon.

Liu Ji's eyes lit up, this angle was something he had never thought of before. No one cared about the life and death of tree frogs, snakes, mice, and rabbits. The hunting and survival strategies of these animals had never been important.

Once you choose this perspective, looking at each animal's behavior, characteristics, skin color, and even behaviors such as being active at night and hiding during the day all contain certain profound meanings.

"According to this theory, after the Chernobyl leak, the color of the tree frog turned black. It is obvious that the radiation caused greater harm to it, so they had to give up the green color." Zhu Biao quickly sorted out his thoughts and said.

"Will it not be exposed? What about its natural enemies? Like snakes, rats, etc., what kind of changes will it encounter?"

"The first thing that the tree frog's natural enemies need to consider is surviving the radiation. If a large number of natural enemies die in the radiation, perhaps the pressure of survival will be reduced?"

"Not necessarily. A large number of tree frogs will also die due to the radiation. In addition, they are also facing the impact of radiation. The pressure of survival may be increased!"

"There is no standard to measure this matter. I am afraid that even if we argue for half a month, we will not get any results."

Everyone knew that this was true, so they stopped arguing.

[But after the Chernobyl leak, there was a very serious nuclear radiation outbreak in the area. Under this choice, if a frog's body color is very, very dark, then it is more likely to resist more radiation damage to it.]

[So under the strong selection effect of this environment, after dozens of generations, all we found in this area were dark-colored frogs]

[So these dark-colored frogs are not transformed from green frogs. Green frogs cannot withstand the ravages of radiation, so those who are destined to die die, and those who are destined to be disabled become disabled, and they have no offspring.]

[Only a very small proportion of dark-colored frogs experienced the baptism at the beginning. What we see now are almost all their descendants. Speaking of this, we have to mention some core ideas of evolution. There are three main points]

[The first point is also the premise of the theory of evolution: species can mutate, which is an objective fact. If species cannot mutate, then people all over the world should look exactly the same, without their own characteristics.]

[2: The core of evolution theory is natural selection and survival of the fittest]

[So if we look back, the black tree frogs in the Chernobyl area did not turn from green tree frogs to black. Black tree frogs already existed, and those were very small individuals. They just flourished under favorable conditions.]

[Three: The definition of evolution is called the directional change of gene frequency]

[A population has many individuals. If an individual changes, it is at best called a mutation. If after a period of time, all individuals in the population show a certain trend, this trend is called evolution.]

[For example, in tree frogs, the gene related to melanin formation initially accounted for a very small proportion in the gene pool, but after several decades and dozens of generations, the frequency of that gene suddenly rose from a very low state to a very high state.]

[This process of directional change of gene frequency from low to high can be said to be an evolutionary event in this population]

Although Zhu Yuanzhang and others were mentally prepared, they did not expect the reality to be even more cruel.

They originally thought that tree frogs could choose to turn their skin black, but the result was that all the green ones died, while the black ones survived the radiation and thrived.

Only by comparing the before and after can we understand that "the core is natural selection, not active evolution."

"What if the effects of radiation gradually dissipate? If the tree frog's skin turns green again, would that be considered evolution or degeneration?" Sun Chuanshi from the Science Department questioned.

Everyone knows that if the radiation dissipates by then, the primary threat the tree frog will face will definitely be its natural enemies. According to Tianmu, the green skin will definitely win out, and the proportion of black tree frogs will gradually decrease.

This question is really hard to answer. If black skin is considered evolution, is returning to green skin considered degeneration?
"The core of evolution has always been natural selection, which is related to the environment. It changes at different times. If it is beneficial to survival, then it should be counted, right?"

Everyone was silent, pondering the four words "natural selection", or if we change it to "seek benefits and avoid harm", everything would seem easier to understand.

From the previous pea experiment, we know that skin color is actually controlled by genes. The gene that controls black may be recessive. If the green tree frogs are screened out, the remaining pure recessive black skin color will become the mainstream, which is a disguised way of completing the directional change of gene frequency.

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin and others were confused, but the more they thought about it, the more they realized the power of these core ideas. They were interconnected and could be said to be extremely brilliant.

"Perhaps it would be more intuitive to call it the theory of survival of the fittest." Many people frowned and said. They also knew that it was mainly caused by the particularity of this environment. For example, in nature, there would definitely not be such a nuclear leak that would be extremely harmful. It would just be enough to select the corresponding black tree frogs, and then return to the natural environment soon after.

"The phrase 'natural selection, survival of the fittest' is both cruel and brilliant." If it weren't for the dramatic environmental changes caused by humans, it would be difficult to witness this astonishing evolution in just a few decades.

In the next few decades, if the tree frog changes its color back, or if black skin becomes no longer suitable for survival, then humans will be witnesses of this small ripple in the tree frog's evolutionary journey and will pass this story on.

Li Shimin couldn't describe how this felt and could only sigh: "Nuclear technology is really a double-edged sword."

No wonder later generations have been calling for environmental protection. They really have the ability to ruin the world beyond recognition.

The number of African elephants without tusks is increasing year by year

"The explanation of black's anti-radiation is not clear. Black absorbs more spectral radiation. How does it resist radiation?"

"The small number of black tree frogs absorbed more nuclear radiation than other tree frogs. So when the nuclear radiation increased, although they suffered damage to their bodies, it was not enough to cause extinction. So after dozens of generations of reproduction, their numbers gradually increased."

(End of this chapter)