Life in an ant colony is a symphony of subtle interactions between insects acting in concert, more like cells in tissue than independent organisms bunking in a colony. Now, researchers have discovered a previously unknown social interaction that unites the colony, linking ants across developmental stages: adults, larvae, and pupae (an immobile stage, not unlike Read More…
Tag: Phys.org
At Phys.org: Genes and languages aren’t always found together, says new study
If a specific language evolved along with a specific people group, it isn’t clear that this would result in an innate ability to become fluent in any human language, as children raised in cross-cultural settings have demonstrated.
At Phys.org: Earth can regulate its own temperature over millennia, new study finds
over the 3.7-3.8 billion year timescale that life has been present on Earth are rather strongly consistent with intelligent design.
At Phys.org: Chemists create an ‘artificial photosynthesis’ system ten times more efficient than existing systems
“In nature, photosynthesis is performed by several very complex assemblies of proteins and pigments.”
Researchers have not been able to approach the efficiency of the natural process with artificial photosynthesis.
At Phys.org: New study finds our ancient relatives were not so simple after all
Lacking a naturalistic mechanism for the generation of the new information of novel features, the idea of the “loss of features” is put forward as a driving factor for supposed evolutionary advance.
At Phys.org: Can cosmic inflation be ruled out?
“If the Cosmic Gravitational Background were detected, clearly this would rule out the entire cosmic inflation paradigm, which does not allow for its existence.”
At Phys.org: Learning to better understand the language of algae
Communication implies the purposeful interchange of information. How does intentionality arise from natural interactions between atoms?
At Phys.org: Aluminous silica: A major water carrier in the lower mantle
“Water is transported by oceanic plates into the Earth’s deep interior and changes the properties of minerals and rocks, affecting the Earth’s internal material cycle and environmental evolution since the formation of the Earth.”
At Phys.org: Astronomers find cosmic rays driving galaxy’s winds
“Their new study of the neighboring galaxy M33 indicates that fast-moving cosmic ray electrons can drive winds that blow away the gas needed to form new stars.”
At Phys.org: NASA announces 16 people who will study UFOs to see what’s natural—and what isn’t
What would the UFO team decide if they were fed the genetic code from human DNA, perhaps disguised in a format that didn’t reveal it as such?
At Phys.org: How fluctuating oxygen levels may have accelerated animal evolution
“Oxygen levels in the Earth’s atmosphere are likely to have “fluctuated wildly” 1 billion years ago, creating conditions that could have accelerated the development of early animal life, according to new research. ”
At Phys.org: The thinking undead: How dormant bacteria calculate their return to life
This fascinating research presents yet another remarkable example of biochemical complexity with a functionality dependent upon environmental sensing, signal evaluation, operational feedback, managing stored resources, and survivability–all within a supposedly inert “spore.” I’ll call that evidence of intelligent design.
At Phys.org: Discovery of new microscopic species expands the tree of life
Researchers explain that the “greedy appetites” of microorganisms “were one of the leading factors of the evolution of more complex life in the early ages of Earth.”
At Phys.org: Glaciers flowed on ancient Mars, but slowly
Whether one maintains a belief in ID or not, the stark contrast between the vibrancy of life on Earth and the desolation of our nearest planetary neighbors is worth a moment of reflection and gratitude.
At Phys.org: New breakthrough pushes perovskite cell to greater stability, efficiency
“NREL-led breakthrough pushes perovskite cell to greater stability, efficiency.”