I previously mentioned an upcoming “Emergence of Life” course that folks here might be interested in. Details here.
The course has now been scheduled and starts this Monday, July 14, 2014, at Coursera. You can find the course here.
If you decide to take the course, I encourage professionalism and civility in any forum interactions with other students and staff, in what can potentially be a controversial subject.
As I stated before:
Will the course have some holes? No doubt. Will it answer some of the key issues that have been raised about the cause of the Cambrian Explosion, the infusion of information necessary for the emergence of different forms, how complex functional structures can arise via natural processes? Unlikely. Yet it should provide a good high level sense as to what the evolutionary story is, from abiogenesis to early life to current life forms, to life beyond Earth.
If any commenters at UD end up taking the course and want to post summaries of issues or thoughtful critiques here, I would be happy to help facilitate that.
Please, though, if any of you do sign up for the course, please do so in the spirit of learning, rather than to challenge or create controversy. Be respectful and recognize this for what it is: the chance to learn from an experienced professor at a major institution.