Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / October 2007

The way the "out of Africa" theory has been presented to me, the flow
of genes is supposed to have always been one-way:  Homo Erectus leaves
Africa and learns to survive in a variety of different places, but we're
descended from any of *those* Homo Erecti.  Later, archaic Homo ...

This post is about the term "Epigenetic".
``Waddington, originally defined the term epigenetics as 'the
  interactions of genes with their environment that bring the
  phenotype into being'. Today, the term is used to describe

This quote from 'Paradigms Lost', J. Casti.
"A common occurence in the origins business is for an investigator to
postulate some sequence of chemical reactions needed to lead to life.
He then sets up experiments that could plausibly lead to the production

this time she blew it (IMO):
Science, 2007.Jul.06, p. 27
 "Genome sequences have just jumped down to a lower branch on the
 tree of life" (sea anemone)

James Watson has been suspended - apparently for making truthful
and uncontroversial statements about intelligence and skin colour.
``Lab suspends DNA pioneer Watson
  His comments led event organisers to cancel his appearances

This is a nonsensical argument since it asserts the obvious... what's your
point?
By the way, life is a suite of reactions within a specific environment.
Cj

After choking on a Junior Mint today I have to ask, why is there any
cross-connection at all between our respiratory and food passages?

"Following James Watson's comments at the weekend, and the
 public concern that this has caused in Bristol, the event on
 24 October 2007 with James Watson has been cancelled. While
 we are a festival that encourages debate, it is clear that

Poster wrote
"Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian
evolution"....?
Tim replied, Gerald Joyce in 1994:

Beyond a 'speed limit' on mutations, species risk extinction
Harvard University scientists have identified a virtual "speed limit" on the
rate of molecular evolution in organisms, and the magic number appears to be
6 mutations per genome per generation -- a level beyond which ...

Artificial life likely in 3 to 10 years
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070820/ap_on_sc/artificial_life>
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Mon Aug 20, 1:49 AM ET

This is quite an inflammatory subject but there is really no
reason why it cannot be handled maturely. As such, I hope
our moderator will find the topic acceptable.
[moderator's note: I will certainly allow the discussion to

Science, 2007.Aug.24, pp. 1022-24
Burkholderia pseudomallei can transform itself into 7 different
morphotypes depending on environmental conditions. This sounds
similar to the way that animal cells differentiate into different

Why are elephants so large?  I ask this because many anthropologist
say that robustity in species such as the Neanderthal is caused by an
adaption to the ice-age condition of Eurasia.  So then I think it is
fair to ask why elephants are so robust.

I know that sharks, batoids, and some bony fish have spiracles,
which are holes leading to the pharynx. They are supposed to be
homologous to our ear openings. In batoids (rays and skates), they are
used as an alternate route to the mouth for inspiration of water.