Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / May 2008

I googled "inductive intelligence" & hit on John W Edser' post of the
last year. I share his frustration with IQ measures & came up with an
explanation of why real-time tests can't capture a high-level
generalization ability, caused by a longer-range induction. Basically,

Researchers document rapid, dramatic 'reverse evolution' in the threespine
stickleback fish
[moderator's note: There's a pretty good comparison pair of photos
in one of our daily papers if you want to look; here's the link:

Help me make sense of this popular press article:
l
"The jellyfish, of the family Coeloplana, has its mouth on its underside
and its anus wrapped around its brain."

I was thinking about memes and evolution. What do you think of the
following idea?
Darwinism is nearly always thought of as related to genetics. However,
I think the concept could be also alive and well in the idea of memes.

More and more I think that there are certain 'windows
of opportunity' in human infant development that set
the pattern for the rest of that person's life.
There is a short window to learn our native language.

Animal Interaction Behind Cambrian Explosion? 'Missing' Ancestors Of Today's
Animals May Not Be Missing After All
ScienceDaily (May 8, 2008) - An event as simple as the world's first bite
may have sparked an ancient "explosion" of life 500 million years ago that

I cant find any explanation of how an inverted piece of dna is able to
reintegrate.
My problem is that if you turn the piece 180 degrees 5' becomes 3' and
vice versa. does the information bearing strand switch strand when

I have been reviewing some of the processes of gastrulation and
embryogenesis recently and became interested in what is generally
considered to be the common ancestor of the protostomes and the
deuterostomes.  I couldn't really find much on the subject.  Is it

Humanity is a species developing from one niche to another, causing
all kinds of problems.
The niche of the species currently called humanity was some millions
of years ago that of an omnivorous group animal under threat from