Macroevolution
* (n) [FAQ] 1. Evolution at or above the species level. [den., science] The boundary between macro- and micro- is fuzzy, as some researchers prefer to include speciation in micro- and others reson that the only macro- process that gives distinctive events is speciation. Speciation events are thus, to many scientists, examples of macroevolution. 2. Evolution too imperceptible to be observed within the lifetime of one researcher [conn., Goldschmidt, 1940]. While SciCre-ists are fond of quoting Goldschmidt when discussing his hopeful monster conjecture, they show no inclination to accept Goldschmidt's connotation of the term macroevolution. 3. Evolution at a level which is not currently observed. [conn., TAE] This is a common connotation among SciCre-ists and TAEs, since it is open ended and easy to adjust with announcements of new observations. Depending upon the astuteness of SciCre-ists and TAEs in your local community, this may be asserted to be at levels ranging from species to family, with a marked preference for the word kind. Given the manner in which kind is defined, this becomes a tautology.
Macrogravity
(n) 1. The hypothetical force that is a major factor in describing the motions of the planets and the stars. [den., Tom Scharle] Cf. microgravity(3). Macrogravity can only be inferred from these motions (the bodies involved being by definition not subject to experimentation). The identification with microgravity(3) under the single concept of gravity is said to be parallel to the identification of macroevolution and microevolution under the concept of evolution.
Meiosis
(n) 1. In diploid eukaryotes, a process of cell division in which the chromosomes do not first duplicate. Half of the original cell's chromosomes go to each of the resulting cells, producing haploid cells.
Misquotation
(n) 1. Text which resembles a quotation, but which is actually a fabrication or a misrepresentation of the original. The criterion for deciding if quoted text is a misquotation is that the meaning of the quoted text is not the same as that of the original text. Some misquotations are accidental, but many require so much effort to construct that they are almost certainly deliberate falsifications.
Misquotation by fabrication
(np) 1. A "quotation" which has no original.
Misquotation by omission
(np) 1. Leaving out text from a quotation, thereby altering its meaning.
Misquotation by omission of context
(np) 1. Omitting the context of a quotation, thereby altering its meaning.
Misquotation by patchwork
(np) 1. A particularly outrageous form of misquotation by omission, in which widely separated phrases or sentences are patched together.
Misquotation by selection of strawmen
(np) 1. Quoting a hypothetical or rhetorical position presented by an author during exposition as if it was the actual position of the author; a form of misquotati on by omission of context.
Mitosis
(n) 1. A process of cell division in which the chromosomes first duplicate. One copy of each chromosome goes to each of the resulting cells, producing cells of the same ploidy.
Microevolution
(n) [FAQ] 1. Evolution within the species level. [den., science] 2. Change in allele frequency in a population over time. [conn., SciCre] Note that this connotation is equivalent to evolution(1). All SciCre-ists so far admit that microevolution(2) is observed. Some TAEs may not. 3. Adaptation or variation. [conn., those TAEs who balk at microevolution(2)]
Microgravity
(n) 1. The state of very little gravitational acceleration such as experienced in free fall, as in an artificial satellite. [den.] 2. Small deviations in standard gravitational attraction due to local masses (such as the Himalayas). [den.] 3. The force which causes the observed weight and acceleration of bodies in the laboratory. [conn., Tom Scharle] Microgravity is by definition the force which can be measured experimentally. Newton's theory(1) of Universal Gravitation identified microgravity(3) and macrogravity.
Morlanization
(n) 1. The process of taking a correspondent's argument, taking it to the nearest available extreme position, pigeonholing it there, and then claiming that the pigeonholed argument is actually the correspondent's position. 2. The process of deleting qualifying comments from a paragraph of a correspondent's post, then claiming that the statements sans qualifications are the complete representation of the correspondent's position. Both one and two due to Joe Morlan; see Strawman Argument. Often difficult to detect as a strawman, since morlanized posts often contain what appear to be legitimate quotations that are actually misquotati ons by omission of context.
Mutation
* (n) 1. An error in duplication of genetic material which results in a different sequence of and/or a different number of base pairs in the copy than were in the original. [den., science] 2. An error in duplication of genetic material which results in a different sequence of and/or a different number of base pairs in the copy than were in the original, which is always bad for the organism getting the copy. [conn., TAE] 3. An error in duplication of genetic material which results in a different sequence of and/or a different number of base pairs in the copy than were in the original, which is always bad for the organism getting the copy, except after The Flood. [conn., SciCre]