~ interesting, informative, international
It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years there have been only 230 years of peace throughout the civilised world.
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It has been found that there is a 99.9% genetic similarity between all humans. That 0.1% difference is all there is, and is why we all look different, but it is just one-thousandth of a difference. Under the skin we are all very similar.
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Languages as far apart as native American, Australian Aboriginal and Indo-European show similar patterns of vowel and consonant distribution. There are striking similarities between unrelated languages, for example favouring silent p, t or k at the end of words.
Why are such sounds common, rather than, say, a series of clicks? The question of whether this is due to innate mechanisms that we are born with, or as a result of evolutionary changes is a subject of debate, but it is another area in which there is great similarity between all peoples.
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It seems that many people remain unconvinced about evolution as it is taught in schools. Surveys done in different countries show that in both Turkey and the USA over one third of people interviewed do not accept the concept of evolution at all. This figure is smaller throughout Europe at around a fifth of the population.
A poll recently held in the UK showed that just under half of the people interviewed thought that evolution as taught explained the origin and development of life. An almost equal number thought that there may be alternative explanations and that both creationism and intelligent design should also be taught in schools.