No? So maybe you will place a pregnant woman 5 hrs a day under a radiation machine and see what kind of evolution happens when she has the child? eek
Radiation may sound dangerous and deadly and it is, but it's also what can cause mutations. Mutations are part of evolution, whether beneficial, deadly or neither doesn't really matter that much. A hazardous mutation might clean a population of a certain species from a previous genetic problem. Whether a mutation ultimately is positive or negative is often quite difficult to tell because of the gradual nature of evolution itself.
The scientists in this article are trying very hard to find out what happened in the 20000th generation. Right now it is still experimental. Saying this is 'evolution before our very eyes' is a bait and switch tactic from the media.
True and I agree with you, but don't forget the media always has a strong tendency to exaggerate things like this. It works both ways and is why you can find articles or even headlines in newspapers saying the 'biblical flood' in the vicinity of Israel has been proven and similarly stretched and far fetched conclusions.
Also according to the article, they_dont_know what happened. The citrate-processing ability may be due to the activation of a latent function. Thats why I posed so many alternatives. You should always look at alternative solutions and possibilities when you dont know something specifically.
Again I do agree with you, but science works a lot with best-guesses and interpretations of results when such 'accidents' happen. It makes sense not to rule out other less probably events for sure though,
Cheers
