Everyone goes a bit nuts at Hallowe’en and I (O’Leary for News) just couldn’t resist this one, before I go back to serious work. From ScienceDaily: Biologists sequencing the genome of the WO virus, which infects the bacterial parasite Wolbachia, have discovered that the phage carries DNA that produces black widow spider toxin: the first time an animal-like DNA has been found in such a virus. Wow, black widow toxin on the move in a virus. Call central casting, we got ourselves a horror flick half written already. “Discovering DNA related to the black widow spider toxin gene came as a total surprise because it is the first time that a phage — a virus that infects bacteria — has Read More ›

Iconic culture commentator Tom Wolfe, author of The Kingdom of Speech told Spanish paper, El Mundo (second after El Pais” ): I started reading a bit and I had more and more the feeling that it was a myth. A myth like Thor and Wotan. The theory of evolution does not meet any of the standards of a new theory because, first, it is not testable. Evolution means you can not see what will happen unless you are going to live for seven million years. It can not be explained, it is completely impossible. If you tried to find facts that are true, evolution would vanish. No new investigations have been opened and it is not a testable theory. I think that if Read More ›

From University of Sydney: We invite you to the 2016 Fine-tuning, the Multiverse and Life Workshop, hosted at the University of Sydney. Issues of fine-tuning and naturalness are central to evaluating such physical and cosmological theories as inflation and extension to the Standard model of particle physics, including supersymmetry. In addition, our values of the fundamental constants of nature have the seemingly rare ability to support the complexity required by life. This has become an important way to test multiverse theories: the predicted observed value of fundamental “constants” depends on the values that permit the existence of observers. In light of these challenges, this workshop will bring together physicists, cosmologists, astronomers and philosophers of science for two days of invited Read More ›

It is about understanding the role of information in nature. He  writes: If “conservation of energy” was a really big thing in the 19th century, it was because it made a non-material, yet indestructible thing, explicitly existent. Equally significant was Einstein’s claim in the 20th century that matter could be converted into energy. At this point, Democritus’ atomism that formed the basis of the Enlightenment philosophy of materialism, was finished. In the 21st century, we are now learning that another immaterial thing, which the 19th century disco vered and named “entropy”, had become the 20th century “information.” Now, in the 21st century, ID or “functional information” (or the much older word “purpose”), is even more fundamental than previously thought. It caused Read More ›

At NDPI Life: The Cosmic Zoo: The (Near) Inevitability of the Evolution of Complex, Macroscopic Life William Bains and Dirk Schulze-Makuch Abstract: Life on Earth provides a unique biological record from single-cell microbes to technologically intelligent life forms. Our evolution is marked by several major steps or innovations along a path of increasing complexity from microbes to space-faring humans. Here we identify various major key innovations, and use an analytical toolset consisting of a set of models to analyse how likely each key innovation is to occur. Our conclusion is that once the origin of life is accomplished, most of the key innovations can occur rather readily. The conclusion for other worlds is that if the origin of life can Read More ›

From Veronique Greenwood at Quanta: In a monumental set of experiments, spread out over nearly two decades, biologists removed genes two at a time to uncover the secret workings of the cell. And what did they find?: In all, they found 550,000 pairs that, when removed, result in sickness or death. This network of genetic connections reveals a previously hidden scaffolding that underlies the operation of the cell. “The complete picture,” Boone said, “clearly shows a beautiful hierarchical structure.” Over here are the genes involved in taking out the cell’s garbage, and over there are the genes responsible for its metabolism. Zoom out from one cluster of genes, and you’ll find the ones involved in the larger process the cluster Read More ›

From Clara Moskowitz at Scientific American: Hundreds of researchers in a collaborative project called “It from Qubit” say space and time may spring up from the quantum entanglement of tiny bits of information … Some skeptics have questioned how productive IfQ can ever be if it is based on an unrealistic foundation. “That certainly is one very valid criticism: Why are we focusing on this toy model?” Engelhardt says. “All of this depends on the validity of the toy model, and the idea that in the end the toy model is representative of our universe. I would like to make sure that if we understand the toy model, we understand the real deal.” Why does it sound like an effort Read More ›

From New Scientist on our universe’s five most startling coincidences: 1. Dark matter and energy balance 2. Universe lines up along “axis of evil” 3. Universe flat as a pancake 4. Space is all the same temperature 5. Higgs boson keeps the universe stable Having decided that these cirumstances are not coincidences, the New Scientist staff happily burble, One idea explains all the weird coincidences in the universe Don’t believe in coincidences but stuck for an explanation? Time to call up the anthropic principle and the multiverse … Why believe in the multiverse? Because a process such as inflation (see “The universe is flat as a pancake. Coincidence?“), if left unchecked, could produce a multitude of causally disconnected universes. String Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: Sneaky parasitic weeds may be able to steal genes from the plants they are attacking and then use those genes against the host plant, according to a team of scientists. In a study, researchers detected 52 incidents of the nonsexual transfer of DNA — known as horizontal gene transfer, or HGT — from a host plant that later became functional into members of a parasitic plant family known as the broomrapes, said Claude dePamphilis, professor of biology, Penn State. The transferred genes then became functional in the parasitic species. Although considered rare in more plants and other complex species, like plants, HGT may thus occur in some parasitic plants, an insight that could lead to better methods of Read More ›

We are not making this up. (It’s the time of year, see?) From Cheyenne MacDonald at Daily Mail: It’s now known that the living conditions in space can wreak havoc on the human body – but how might the human body leave its mark on the cosmos? Plans for more rigorous missions have increased the likelihood for the eventual death of an astronaut in space, and scientists now say it’s possible that a rogue corpse could provide the spark for life on another planet. While the conditions would have to be ‘ideal,’ a human body that manages to avoid incineration in the atmosphere and lands on a distant world could transport microbes or even act as the ‘starter-pack’ for the Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: For the first time, scientists have revealed ancient gene mixing between chimpanzees and bonobos, humankind’s closest relatives, showing parallels with Neanderthal mixing in human ancestry. The study showed that one percent of chimpanzee genomes are derived from bonobos. Only one percent? Keep the file open. Paper. (public access) – Marc de Manuel et al. Chimpanzee genomic diversity reveals ancient admixture with bonobos. Science, 2016; 354 (6311): 477-481 DOI: 10.1126/science.aag2602 … Chimpanzees and bonobos are the closest living relatives of human beings. They diverged from a common ancestor between 1.5 and 2 million years ago and live in different areas of tropical Africa. Until now, it was thought that gene flow between the species would have been impossible, as Read More ›

A friend suggests we notice a 2007 paper at Nous: Conclusion My argument has been that the following combination of attitudes is misguided: (i) Even if we do yet have an adequate explanation of life’s emergence, knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological conditions that life requires makes it extremely implausible that life simply arose by chance. Rather, we have reason to think that there is something about the relevant physical properties, forces, laws, and other conditions (having nothing to do with the purposes of any agent) which make it rather likely that life should come into being. This leaves open atleastthe following options, among which I haven’t attempted to adjudicate. (ii) There is a non-intentional explanation for life’s existence, Read More ›

From a paper at Perspectives in Science (October 15, 2016): Science Standards: The foundation of evolution education in the UnitedStates Abstract: Science standards and textbooks have a huge impact on the manner in which evolution is taught in American classrooms. Standards dictate how much time and what points have to be dedicated to the subject in order to prepare students for state-wide assessments, while the textbooks will largely determine how the subject is presented in the classroom. In the United States both standards and textbooks are determined at the state-level through a political process. Currently there is a tremendous amount of pressure arising from anti-evolutionists in the United States to weaken or omit the teaching of evolution despite recommendations from Read More ›

A friend sends this list of freakouts by Darwin’s followers some years ago, about the dangers the ID community poses: — Evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci (“The Varieties of Denialism,” 2002): ID is “bent on literally destroying science as we know it.” Anthropologist Pat Shipman (2005): I have been “prompted to take ID seriously, and this movement scares me. Now I feel like a jogger in the park at night who realizes that she is far too isolated and that the shadows are far too deep. At first I ignored that faint rustling behind me, convincing myself it was just wind in the leaves. Louder noises made me jump and turn around, but I saw nothing. Now I know that I Read More ›

No, but seriously, from Phys.org: Years of research on the evolution of ancient life including the dinosaurs have been questioned after a fatal flaw in the way fossil data is analysed was exposed. Studies based on the apparently flawed method have suggested Earth’s biodiversity remained relatively stable – close to maximum carrying capacity – and hinted many signs of species becoming rapidly extinct are merely reflections on the poor quality of the fossil record at that time. However, new research by scientists at the University of Reading suggests the history of the planet’s biodiversity may have been more dynamic than recently suggested, with bursts of new species appearing, along with crashes and more stable periods. … The researchers ran thousands Read More ›