Besides, in my opinion, science has no decent explanation for the universe.
That's your opinion. My opinion is that science's explanations are pretty decent and make sense, but religion's explanations is just about magic and god-did-it-somehow. I'm personally not satisfied by that as long as there's a better explanation.
I know how (supposedly) the Big Bang was the entire universe in a small particle. But where did that come from? And what about other dimensions? What about those? How did they come about? I'd like to know, and all I can find are things that say that alternate dimensions are just there, but they'd still be empty, unless an multidimensional wormhole opened up (somehow) and spat out an entire universe for no apparent reason. I just don't get it. SOMETHING had to come from SOMEWHERE. But every time I find out where it came from, I need to find out where that came from, and so on. Where does it end
The fact that you don't get it doesn't mean it isn't true. Also, who says we are ready yet to explain everything? This is just about what science is, finding out the next step and the other and the other etc. But you have to start somewhere.
I have another question. How does a part fish, part land creature switch from scales to skin?
It didn't just go *poof*. It never does. The first animals with four limbs where fully aquatic animals living in shallow water, using the legs to better move on the ground
in the water. Only after a long time did some get strong enough to painfully crawl on land, and it needed some other time until they got strong enough to walk a bit. Also, early tetrapod had no scales, not even the fully aquatic ones.
And how does a scale switch to the feathers that allow birds to fly?
Well, they could have first gone longer, and then stand out a bit etc. Also, it isn't said that proto-feathers were used for flying; they probably were there for isolation, and maybe after that, also for attracting females. Then, some climbing reptiles with feather-like scales used them to either glide down from, or better run up trees (look up for example
microraptor). And it developed further on and further on, until today.
And what sort of environment might prompt a creature to leave the ocean? Could it escape predators, all of whom also moved to land?
New ecologic niches are always taken over as soon as possible, yes, to escape predators, or simply to reach unused ressources and not having to share with others anymore.
And why haven't people evolved another arm, or an exoskeleton? Those would be nice. Or wings?
Because we don't need them, and never did? Also we have no three-armed ancestor, and a mutation with three arms, if it could survive, would not necessarily have an advantage.
How does one "try" to evolve? Is that possible?
Er.. no. Remember, it's not a conscious process, and one individuum can't evolve; it's changes between generations, and is a result of mutation, selection, genetic drift and migration. That takes some time, depending on reproduction and mutational rates, until changes assert themselves (for example, bacterias have very high reproduction and mutational rates, allowing them to quickly adapt to new environments)
And how did the first animal form its skin/scales?
Maybe, something like added layers of, say, epidermis? I don't really know though.
I don't want to answer the rest because I'm a bit tired and it's late, but I get the impression that you put something like a will on evolution, which is absolutely not the case. And it doesn't happen like *poof*. I'm sure Mage and others will also answer some questions, surely better than me, but if not I'm getting back to this tomorrow.
