Urban Evolution

>but is it worth polluting our oceans with plastic in an attempt to get mother nature to solve our problem for us?
There's an "island of plastic the size of Texas" in the pacific ocean (more of a concentration, really), but I don't think anyone put it there deliberately.

>but I don't think anyone put it there deliberately.
Exactly, and people are actually working to clean up the plastic. Which is why I want to know if having plastic in the ocean could actually be a good thing in the long run.

>There's even fungi that'll eat aluminum.
Since they are fungi, I'm assuming they also use the sun as an energy source. If these guys are using photosynthesis, where is the aluminum coming into play? They obviously aren't breaking it down on the molecular level so they must be using metallic aluminum or aluminum oxide as a key component in their body. Very interesting and exactly the kind of specimen I'm interested in. Do you know where this species was found?

To answer your question OP, the answer is no

Evolution is multivariable, evolutionary constraints are random and ecological restraints are random

If there were no possible ecological variable changes (no change in an areas temperatures, climate, soil properties, etc) and there was no change in predation from other species, and completely absent potentials for mutations among us- our genes always stay the same, then yes. This assumes the stereotypical high school "hardy weinberg principle." But since these issues will occur, variation will always continue to favor the rabbit that can run away from the fox faster than his fat slow friends and rabbits become faster as a population overtime.

So no, it will never occur and would even likely still occur given the above scenario

fungi arent using photosynthesis

Really? I have two questions then. How do fungi normally get energy? And how does this specific fungi use aluminum to get energy? I was under the impression that unless you're an animal, you need to use sunlight to survive (or in rare cases heated sulfuric vents at the bottom of the ocean).

>exploiting any possible niches that may become available
Like birds using cars at trafficlights to crack nuts?

>unless you're an animal, you need to use sunlight to survive
Most fungi get nutrients by releasing enzymes that break other products down or extract building materials from them, including polymers, releasing carbohydrates and nitrogen from these sources (making them one of the few creatures that can grow, not only completely independent of sunlight, but sometimes without air, or even water - though the lack of the latter will stop most and slow others, and tends to be required at some point of the cycle). The sunlight thing, however, isn't technically universally true, even for some plants, even if it's certainly the norm for them (and generally a defining factor). Many fungi, on the other hand, actually tend to fully abhor sunlight, as it will kill them or at least inhibit their growth. Generally, warm, moist, and dark is the preferred habitat.

If you look into fungi too deeply, you'll find they truly terrifying creations, staggering in variation, all but completely alien in their biological functions to any other lifeforms on the planet, and in many ways, the core mechanism of the cycle of death.

>Which is why I want to know if having plastic in the ocean could actually be a good thing in the long run.
Well, I suppose, as Goldbloom says, "Life will find a way.", but it kills a lot of the existing life forms, risking a collapse of the ecosystem, and anything that lives on stuff that eats plastic, is probably going to be pretty toxic to us.

>To answer your question OP, the answer is no
>Evolution is...

I am not sure that OP's question really pertained to evolution. Multiple species have adapted to urban environments without noticeably evolving. To the list already posting, I'd add a prominent one -- Homo sapiens seems to do quite well.

Or using skyscrapers as perching.nesting sites.

The American opossum is just one species that has adapted behaviorally to take advantage of the rich food source represented by back-alley dumpsters and trash cans. The geographical range of ol' Mr. 'Possum has increased in the wake of urbanization.