As a sidelight to the seemingly endless topic of evolution, the other side
of the coin might be considered to be Extinction.  (I presume, perhaps
wrongly, that we all are in agreement about Extinction? Though I do seem to
remember something about people once refusing to believe fossils ever were
living creatures, that they were accidents in the rock. !)  This notice of
an ABC News broadcast on extinction, part of a Nightline series,  just came
to my attention. It is airing this Thursday night.  One can hope that it is
not dedicated to the usual  media ambition of scaring the public silly, and
that it offers some interesting information and insight.  Check out the
website, someone...I'm swamped just now.

Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY
[log in to unmask]

>
>The program is part of a series on ABC News called "Nightline in Prime Time:
>Brave New World." Ted Koppel anchors the series, and Robert Krulwich is the
>correspondent.  Airing each Thursday night at 10 p.m. EST. The program this
>week, Aug. 26, is described below:
>
>THURSDAY, AUGUST 26 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET on ABC)
>               The sixth extinction? Creatures, big and small, are
>disappearing at an alarming rate. Yes, that has happened five times before,
>when the earth was hit by an incoming rock or a sudden climate change. But
>this time, since humans are doing the damage, and humans -- unlike meteors
>-- can think, maybe this time humans can live through a mass extinction,
>maybe even prosper? Robert Krulwich talks with paleontologist David
>Jablonski of the University of Chicago and The Field Museum. The program
>also features:
>*      The story of a bird long believed to be extinct: The Cahow, which
>disappeared 350 years ago, and a little boy who had a hunch the bird was
>still out there, somewhere. . .;
>*      Jazz musician and roach exterminator Jason "Jewel" Noon;
>*      David Quammen, author, adventurer and extinction buff;
>*      They Might Be Giants celebrate the greatest weed on earth: Us;
>*      Video artists Josh and Adam show what happens when there are too
>many of us: An essay on population growth.
>
>For more information, please visit our website:
>
>http://abcnews.go.com/onair/Nightline/nlpt990729_promo.html
>