tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33709747230913834412024-02-08T09:25:12.530-08:00InfluxNews updates on the history of information.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-10150695485761713162009-03-03T02:55:00.000-08:002009-03-03T03:37:45.769-08:00March 09 updateTrying to stick to the theme with these. First a couple of articles on Luca, the Last Universal Common Ancestor. I think this a great concept, after all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">evol</span> theory predicts such an ancestor so why not try to characterise it via modern genetics?<div><a href="http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=1087366">http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=1087366</a></div><div><a href="http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2976&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">sid</span>=2976&mode=thread&order=0&<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">thold</span>=0</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Annilas</span> are attempting to <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news148050302.html">explain the origin of life within the context of thermodynamics</a>. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Living</span> organisms are extremely complex examples of the tendency for chemical reactions to occur which redistribute energy to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">achieve</span> maximum entropy. I think this is right although I am inclined to think that the laws governing the flow of information start playing a part very early on, and influence the outcome. What are these laws? Well natural selection and related principles obviously. Genetic drift. I'm sure there are others though I have difficulty pinning them down. You need a finite set of symbols that can be combined in infinite ways. Agents that can exchange these symbols within a framework of common intelligibility. Can this really all develop from chemical <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">reactions</span> that redistribute energy? Well yes, but the network needs to be there from the start. This is why <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">I've</span> thought perhaps a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">spongelike</span> substrate being the habitat of LUCA. And that LUCA may have been a sort of super organism, like the fungi today that cover vast areas. Anyway, next item:</div><div><br /></div><div>Turns out RNA can combine to <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081218213634.htm">form long chains </a>under certain conditions. </div><div><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7871099.stm">Evidence</a> found of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">multicellular</span> organisms that predate the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Ediacaran</span> fauna?</div><div>Well perhaps more like around the same time, but dating the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ediacarans</span> has been problematical.</div><div><a href="http://www.livescience.com/animals/090204-nhm-dna-hopscotch.html">Horizontal transfer of genes between mammal species</a>. DNA just keeps finding new ways of getting around.</div><div><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/02/20/ribosome.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Ribosomal</span> structure based on simple structural rules</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And finally a completely irrelevant one, <a href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090107-aas-loud-cosmic-noise.html">the roar from outer space</a>.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; ">"The universe really threw us a curve," <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Kogut</span> said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."</span></div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-24098141245820754012008-11-22T15:25:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:28:31.831-08:00Giant cell leaves tracksAmazing <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/20/gromia-cambrian.html">discovery</a> throws light on ancient fossils.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-76702290580885757262008-11-22T15:22:00.001-08:002008-11-22T15:25:51.107-08:00Life and thermodynamicsI still haven't read <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-nature-breaks-the-second-law">this article</a> myself but a scan indicates it may be a good wrap up of the facsinating intersection between biology and thermodynamics from Scientific American.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-46400597917139466242008-11-22T15:13:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:21:31.043-08:00Entropy and evolution<a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008AmJPh..76.1031S">This</a> paper by Dan Styer attempts to calculate the entropy of evolution. An interesting discussion <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/entropy_and_evolution.php">ensues</a> at Pharyngula. I comment at #275, without significant impact on the discussion unfortunately, which by that time had gotten a bit sidetracked anyway.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-28033437511824982512008-11-22T14:57:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:29:19.690-08:00Update overdueNearly 2 months since last update, its almost a relief to get my traffic reports which confirm that absolutely nobody ever reads this blog. Anyway, heres my latest grab bag:<div><br /><div><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/09/19/1221331206960.html">Aboriginal cave paintings documenting history of outside contact discovered.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080928-virus-viruses.html">Viruses that infect viruses found</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/08/15/2336611.htm?site=science&topic=ancient">Extremophile breathes arsenic</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081001181306.htm">Highly conserved yet apparently useless DNA sequences puzzle researchers</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.phenomenica.com/2008/10/laptops-may-become-as-hot-as-sun.html">Electrical engineers attepting to invoke Maxwells Demon</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081105-dark-flow.html">Beyond the universe, unknown structures exert influence</a></div><div><br /></div></div>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-38794595785150062262008-09-10T03:13:00.001-07:002008-09-10T03:33:51.550-07:00LHC booted upOnly one sunset so far tonight so it seems the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7604293.stm">LHC start up</a> hasn't brought about the end of the world yet.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/908/2?rss=1">Water bears: not big, not pretty, but pretty tough</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Another <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902095106.htm">IT approach to solving biological enigmas</a>. We're starting to untangle the deep informational structure of the global genome. I can't help thinking again that these tools will also lead to AI breakthoroughs, the potential is breathtaking. <br /><div><div><br /></div></div></div>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-40298449562054377022008-09-10T03:01:00.000-07:002008-09-10T03:12:56.433-07:00August news<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080722192341.htm">Modularity and abstraction in a computer language? Its about time! Deep Thought not far away.</a><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.livescience.com/technology/080814-robot-brain.html">A robot controlled by artificial brain built from rat neurons</a>. I wonder who got to say "its aliivve!"</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.livescience.com/culture/080819-ap-kids-count.html">Walpiri people here in Australia also fascinatingly have no words for numbers, yet they can count.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12001839">Dung beetles evolving</a></div><div><br /></div>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-73443558857500744962008-07-22T05:36:00.000-07:002008-07-22T05:48:42.857-07:00New stuff<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708200645.htm">They may play chess like the grand masters, but not music</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19926644.300-four-artificial-new-letters-for-the-dna-alphabet.html?DCMP=ILC-tabViewArt&nsref=mg19926644.300">Novel bases created for artificial DNA</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11703152">Fish swap genes</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33300/title/Numbers_beyond_words">Piraha people have no words for numbers</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news135522723.html">Riboswitches trace of "ancient RNA city"</a>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-63041358307826168752008-07-11T18:05:00.000-07:002008-07-11T18:54:02.944-07:00OOL and evolution part 2<a href="http://clashingculture.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/evolution-and-the-origin-of-life/">Here’s </a>another blogger who is arguing that our current understanding of the mechanisms behind biological evolution encompass the origin of life. To be fair, like Myers and Natzke, Mike’s main point is not to concede the OOL ground to those expounding a religious explanation.<br />My view, and one of the reasons that I created this blog, is that there is nothing more to be gained by arguing scientific questions with those whose intent is to bring religious ideas into scientific discussions. The existence of God is simply not a question that can be debated scientifically. To put it bluntly, no rational argument can support the pro God viewpoint. I believe it is better to discuss areas of scientific enquiry without accommodating religious viewpoints. I do not mean that non-rational ideas shouldn’t be publicly debated, and I enjoy and am a regular poster on such admirable websites as Pharyngula and Dawkins.net. However I think that by involving religious viewpoints on scientific subjects where no strong scientific consensus exists leads to distortion of the dialogue. So, to put it simply, no religion in scientific discussion, no science in church, and anything goes in the public arena.<br /><br />With regard to the OOL, there are numerous alternative scientific hypotheses in play which so far appear fairly equally plausible given the current evidence, so this is clearly not a situation where science knows the answer. That’s not a bad thing! All my personal favourite areas of scientific research are these questions at the boundary of our scientific understanding. I hasten to add I’m very confident that we will one day have a convincing and widely accepted scientific explanation of OOL.<br /><br />Mike makes much of the difficulty in defining life, however this is not a good argument for claiming that the OOL is unamenable to a more definite scientific explanation; after all, perhaps a strong explanation of the OOL will lead to a better definition of life.<br /><br />I think that a better approach may be to see the OOL as the origin of information. Admittedly, information itself is extremely difficult to define. However so is electricity, but we still know a lot about it.<br />The one single quality which seems to be unarguably a property only applicable to living systems, is information (I exclude the sense in which it is used by physicists).<br /><br />It is clear that information can arise from randomness, given life – this is the basis of natural selection. The question is how did the process begin? Or, what was the first message, the garbling of which gave NS something to act on? This is the question various research groups are trying to answer, there is an answer, and we will find it.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-60267046773556878062008-07-11T01:26:00.000-07:002008-07-11T01:31:56.520-07:00cell signalling breakthroughs in the ancient worldI favour the viewpoint that life is best thought of as a phenomenon that incorporates the flow of energy and the flow of information. I suspect that significant key breakthroughs in biological evolution are tied to the appearance of new mechanisms that markedly increase the flow of information (whether genomic or other), thanks to the bootstrapping of natural selection. One of these breakthroughs is undeniably the appearance of multicellular life forms, so it is interesting to note that <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701165050.htm">genomic sequencing of choanoflagellates</a>, the organisms suspected by many to be a link between proto and metazoans shows they have more and better cell signalling proteins than other micro-organisms.<br />In fact they seem to have a <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707171748.htm">wider repertoire of signalling proteins </a>than anything else, the question is: why? “we don’t have a clue” stated one of the researchers, with refreshing honesty.<br />Sounds like the start of some great research.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-68736047087682326432008-07-11T01:25:00.000-07:002008-07-11T01:26:33.737-07:00Hadean lifePinpointing when in earths history life began has been a big challenge for science. Naturally the further back you go, the scarcer the evidence becomes. At the moment the general agreement is that microfossils found in ancient rocks, together with other clues, like the banded iron formations, are proof of that life was established here on earth by around 3.5 billion years ago, but more equivocal evidence has suggested that the beginning may be yet earlier. However it is usually thought that the late heavy bombardment that tails off around 3.8 billion years ago imposes a limit on the antiquity of life’s origin. Interesting then, that <a href="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14245-did-newborn-earth-harbour-life.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news3_head_dn14245">recent research </a>on to isotopic carbon ratios in ancient Australian rocks indicates that some kind of biological process may have been at work up to 4.25 billion tears ago. Living organisms concentrate the lighter isotope of carbon, and we aren’t aware of any other natural processes that do this to any significant extent, so the presence of high levels of C12 in the carbon inclusions found in these ancient zircon deposits is curious to say the least.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-1474062890109978482008-07-07T05:42:00.000-07:002008-07-07T05:58:31.075-07:00Origin debate on PharyngulaDiscussion currently at <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/origin_of_life.php">Pharyngula</a> where PZ Myers complains about those who "get out of trying to answer the question of where life came from by simply saying that that isn't evolution."<br />His view? It is. I disagree: we have agood understanding now of how the mechanisms whereby biological evolution works. I don't think the same can be aid of abiogenesis/OOL. Thats what makes it so fun to conjecture about.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-82880317030431842322008-07-02T06:38:00.000-07:002008-07-02T06:40:38.496-07:00Book Reviews: Margulis + DawkinsCouple of quick book reviews. I read recently that Lyn Margulis, whose influential work on the origin of cell organelles won her the Nobel prize, currently enjoys a reputation as something of a maverick in evolutionary biology circles. Well I like mavericks so I grabbed one of her recent books, Dazzle gradually, hoping for some paradigm toppling insights. I’m sorry to say I was disappointed. In fact I’m astonished that such a well respected scientist could be associated with such tosh. I’ll be honest and say I was unable to read a single page to completion. It is undeniable that Margulis has a Nobel prize whereas I don’t even have a PhD, mind you, so does Kary Mullis and he’s bananas, although he writes more entertainingly than Margulis. That’s not saying much; Vogon poetry is probably more entertaining than the pile of tripe that is Dazzle gradually. And if you aren’t familiar with the Vogons and their poetry, I suggest you read The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams. Now that’s a book.<br />On a brighter note, at the same time I picked up Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins. I was enthralled many years ago by Dawkins first book, The Selfish Gene but found The Blind Watchmaker a bit heavy going so hadn’t read much else since. UTR however is a gem; peppered with insightful quotes, entertaining anecdotes and snatches of poetry it is an shining example of how good scientific writing can be. I recall someone saying that reading Dawkins made them feel more intelligent. UTR certainly has this effect and I think that’s a testament to the quality of the writing.<br />Some years ago I tried to write a book myself because no one else seemed to be writing about the things that interested me. Well Dawkins is, and it looks like there’s a whole lot of other people that are interested as well.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-38435059652019037332008-07-02T05:43:00.000-07:002008-07-02T05:53:33.468-07:00Lunar time capsuleIts possible perfectly preserved <a href="http://www.livescience.com/space/080626-am-earth-moon.html">remnants of the early earth </a>may be waiting for us to discover on the moon. What evolutionary biologist wouldn’t give their eye teeth for such a sample, perhaps containing traces of ancestral life forms. Admittedly it seems unlikely much would remain after the solar wind, cosmic rays and meteorite bombardments but if a large enough piece was driven deep beneath the lunar surface, who knows?jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-23080989438643971482008-07-02T05:42:00.000-07:002008-07-02T05:43:10.606-07:00Fractal universe?I’m ambivalent about fractality; much is made of fractal patterns in nature without any suggestion as to why this might be significant. Now new evidence indicating that the <a href="http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14200-galaxy-map-hints-at-fractal-universe.html?feedId=online-news_rss20">universe itself may be fractal </a>will undoubtedly lead to yet more vague speculation as to why these patterns are so ubiquitous. My own view is sometimes there isn’t a deeper reason. Fractality may be like chirality (left/right handedness), a property observed in all sorts of 3D objects from molecules and galaxies. No one suggests that chirality is a hint of some deep principle. Or perhaps they do, it wouldn’t surprise me.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-81721643149273670112008-07-02T04:57:00.000-07:002008-07-02T05:42:11.197-07:00Neanderthal nerdsRecently discovered artefacts show <a href="http://www.livescience.com/history/080623-modern-neanderthals.html">English Neanderthals were high tech </a>for their time.<br />The Neanderthals generally get a pretty raw deal in the media and public discourse - Heavy browed retards that were out competed or even exterminated by our more nimble-minded ancestors. However a more nuanced picture has been emerging and the time may come when we will admit that, once again, we have allowed our innate urge to trumpet our superiority over others to cloud our judgement. Neanderthals were extremely well adapted to their environment and had developed the beginnings of material culture before the young upstart H Sapiens; it may be sheer fluke that we survived while our Neanderthal brothers and sisters did not.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-47387961844765546082008-06-24T05:31:00.000-07:002008-06-24T06:03:22.864-07:00Google and the brainGood article <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google">here</a> on how the Internet is changing the way humans absorb information. I've no doubt that as a medium of communication it will in many ways surpass the other already impressive tools of this type we possess, and that we humans are so good at developing.<br />I am not convinced myself however that the art of absorbing the printed word is necessarily at any immediate risk. To truly understand a subject in depth a certain amount of "deep" reading is required, and perhaps always will be. It has been pointed out before that new communication technologies don't kill old ones, for instance television didn't kill radio. I admit that many people in modern society don't read frequently, however worldwide literacy rates are still rising and I must say it gives me heart to think that every day new minds are discovering the rich world of the imagination that can still be found only in books.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-60262491078625427922008-06-24T05:00:00.000-07:002008-06-24T05:30:05.734-07:00Kepler missionI like Kepler, he discovered the laws of planetary motion and his name is nearly the same as Pepler. And his mother was tried as a witch (bloody Wikipedia!).<br />In February 2009 the <a href="http://kepler.nasa.gov/">Kepler spacecraft </a>is due to be lauched into an earth trailing heliocentric orbit in order to discover other earth-like worlds in our galaxy. My hunch is they’ll find plenty.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-42176458660522038572008-06-24T04:37:00.000-07:002008-06-24T04:58:19.269-07:00Wasp voodooIndividuals of one species use those of another to incubate their larvae. The larvae turn it into a zombie that protects from predators the very organisms that devour it. Yes it’s the <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14053-zombie-caterpillars-controlled-by-voodoo-wasps.html?DCMP=ILC-tabView&nsref=dn14053%20">world of parasitic wasps</a>.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-47612864579713462612008-06-23T05:40:00.000-07:002008-06-23T06:16:01.990-07:00bee stingThe sterility of worker bee females was regarded as an evolutionary conundrum until sociobiologists suggested that natural selection may favour worker behaviour that assists their queenly sisters who share most of their DNA. Now it seems that some researchers have <a href="http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/discovery_proves_">identified a region of the honeybees genome that affects fertility</a>.<br />That’s great and we all look forward to the published study. But this doesnt seem to have much more to do with the selfish gene concept than any of the other hundred other genetics papers published every week and the serially reprinted press release just seems to be an attempt to cash in on Richard Dawkins' current fame/notoriety.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-55299573060043612782008-06-17T04:44:00.000-07:002008-06-17T06:28:10.263-07:00Murchison nucleobasesA great <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=were-meteorites-the-origi&sc=rss">article today in SciAm </a>on the Murchison molecule work by Zita Martins group. Some interesting comments, this from Robert Shapiro:"They're a subunit of a subunit of DNA," he says. "My opinion is that their amounts were utterly unimportant and insignificant" Strong words indeed. A bit of googling on Prof Shapiro indicates he has his own barrows to push. <a href="http://www.edge.org/documents/life/shapiro_index.html">Heres</a> an interesting article where he discusses various ideas including non carbon based life. He seems to have a track record of being dsimissive of more conventional origin research.<br />(I also think he misses the significance of information flow as a property of life in the linked article but then, I would).<br />The SciAm article finishes thus: <span style="color:#33cc00;">Conel Alexander, a geochemist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington who specializes in meteorites, says that without more data, claims about the amounts and sources of molecules on early Earth should be taken with a grain of salt. "It really comes down to quantitative arguments about how much was made on Earth [and] how much was brought in from space," he says. "Any honest person would keep an open mind about the whole issue."</span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="color:#000000;">Well who could disagree with such a reasonable, if cautious, statement. Still the discovery of types of molecules associated with living organisms in samples representative of the early solar sytem is significant in my view. Carbonaceous chondrites like the Murchison meteorite give us an idea of the stuff that is around in early solar system formation, and while its true that there may have been only miniscule quantities present on the early earth, there may have been truckloads, nobody knows for sure yet. So any discovery of new and biologically useful (to carbon based life) molecules in such samples are important. In the Shapiro article linked above he is quoted as saying "</span><span style="color:#3366ff;">But suppose you took Scrabble sets, or any word game sets, blocks with letters, containing every language on Earth, and you heap them together and you then took a scoop and you scooped into that heap, and you flung it out on the lawn there, and the letters fell into a line which contained the words “To be or not to be, that is the question,” that is roughly the odds of an RNA molecule, given no feedback — and there would be no feedback, because it wouldn't be functional until it attained a certain length and could copy itself — appearing on the Earth."</span></span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="color:#000000;">I don't like this, I think its a poor comparison - but you could say it would depend on number of trials, wind direction, block shape, etc. At least we might be getting an idea of which letters were available.</span></span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><br /></span><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span>jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-20215435343700556372008-06-16T06:14:00.000-07:002008-06-16T06:18:28.576-07:00Evolution in a test tubeThe most interesting story of last week for my money is the latest from the Lenski files. One criticism of modern evolutionary theory is that it cant be tested in the lab. Prof Lenski, who back in 1989 started breeding escherichia coli from a single individual under artificial conditions has arguably <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary">done just that,</a> as recently evolved populations now have the ability to consume citrate. Given that the inability to eat citrate is one of the defining characteristics of e coli, this is no ordinary mutation. What’s more, the team was able to replay the “speciation event” by thawing out earlier generations and breeding them once more. I recommend the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/26/science/26lab.html?_r=1&ex=1184299200&en=72de3b507cf9d4c6&ei=5070&oref=slogin">NY times article </a>by Carl Zimmer for the full story. Once again it has been demonstrated that new and adaptive genomic information has been generated by selective pressure acting on the random variation of replicating organisms.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-66943666135676597732008-06-16T04:12:00.000-07:002008-06-16T05:32:17.090-07:00Influx June linksIn 1969 a hefty lump of carbonaceous solar system detritus exploded over Murchison, Victoria (Aust). The collected fragments are now known as the Murchison meteorite and the study of its rich organic content has given scientists and cosmic philosophers plenty to ponder. The meteorite was found to contain amino acids, including some very unusual types not usually found here on earth. The chirality of the amino acids has also led to discussions about the origin of the left handedness in amino acids common to life on earth. Some researchers have also claimed that structures seen under the electron microscope may be nanobacteria (similar claims have been made for the Martian meteorite ALH84001). <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news131712233.html">Now</a> uracil and xanthine, important precursor molecules to nucleic acids (DNA + RNA) have been found in the Murchison meteorite, and analysis indicates that the nucleobases contain a heavy form of carbon which could only have been formed in space.<br /><br />It appears that <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080608131209.htm">brain synapses vary in complexity </a>with humans presumably possessing the dual core Pentium equivalent.<br />Its also good to see that the most complex information processing structure in the known universe is capable of running smoothly for at least <a href="http://www.livescience.com/health/080609-oldest-brain.html">115 years</a>.<br />To another information network, the hive. Bee language is a well characterised form of communication. It appears more consistent than human language however: despite regional differences, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/dance-a-universal-language-for-bees-20080604-2lw8.html">bees from across the globe have been shown to communicate with each other</a>.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-29443437198084133282008-06-02T15:33:00.000-07:002008-06-02T15:50:49.337-07:00Bo Diddley 1928 - 2008Brilliantly original guitarist and singer/songwriter Bo <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Diddley</span> died on Monday. Will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">always</span> be remembered as one of the true kings of Rock and Roll.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370974723091383441.post-55689212785002365212008-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:002008-06-02T06:23:48.638-07:00Little creaturesAnother organism justly famous for DNA repair, the bdelloid rotifer, has now been shown to be even more versatile than thought, apparently having the capability to incorporate <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529141401.htm">genes from other life forms into its own genome</a>.<br />And in equally astonishing news, an <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356883,00.html">elegant experiment </a>has revealed the adult form of a fairly complex larval crustacean to be a far simpler worm like creature, sort of like a butterfly changing into a caterpillar. A reminder that neither evolution or biological development always follow the path of greater complexity. Check out the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=080519-CrustyMystery">video</a>.jo5efhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660349932982045783noreply@blogger.com0