Evolution - it works!

One of my friends was kind enough to send me a link to the following article, thinking it would be of interest to me. He was quite right.

Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab

A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.

And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.

Simply put, 20 years ago, a scientist started an experiment, where he created 12 populations of Escherichia coli, all cultivated from a single bacterium. After more than 30 thousand generations, they have evolved some new and interesting traits.

I could write more about it, but instead I would suggest that you go read PZ's post about it.