| Slimebeast said: 44,000 generations and not even a doubling of growth rate. Impressive. |
You can't create energy out of thin air. There is a limited amount of energy content within glucose. You can't magically make it have more energy than it does. You can only consume it more efficiently, and bacteria are already pretty damn efficient.
People seem to think that progression should just be a constant thing. They seem incapable of understanding there are physical limits on what can be accomplished. The CAFE standards for cars are getting to be that way as well. It takes x amount of energy to move a car of weight y a distance z. There's no getting around that. All the improvements in the last few years are due to increases in engine efficiency (which has a limit, as well) and aerodynamics (which have limits too) and in spit of of the hundreds of pounds that have been added because of safety standards (which are really just becoming poor substitutes for correct driver training). Not trying to go off track, here, but it illustrates the issues with thinking bacteria should be able to turn glucose into holy water given a long enough period of time in a manner that's much easier to relate to. The concept of diminishing returns is something that most people sadly do not understand.
