Another Must-Read Weblog. Another must-read weblog, if you have not found it already. This one if by the original Warblogger. C. Julius Caesar, Governor of Gaul and Illyricum, updates his site regularly from the front lines: A Weblog by Julius Caesar... [Semi-Daily Journal]

A very nice introduction to very important history, told as only a blogger could.  11:15:17 PM    

Penguin Madness!. With the addition of six penguins from Ohio, the San Francisco Zoo's penguin flock has gone insane: Zoo penguins intent on futile 'migration' / S.F. flock swims round and round in pool: Brainwashed by six newcomers from Ohio, 46 penguins at the San Francisco Zoo have abandoned their burrows and embarked on a great migration -- except their pool is not exactly the coast of South America and there's really nowhere for them to go. "We've lost complete control," said... [Semi-Daily Journal]

This is a really cute story, particularly the thoughts of the humans watching 'their penquins' completely changing their behavior. Living organisms are so complex and novel emergent behaviors can erupt simply by placing 6 new penquins into a colony. I just hope the birds can stop swimming long enough to mate.  10:43:58 PM    

Bananas to be extinct in 10 yrs'. Indian Express - London, January 16: BAD news for banana lovers. Scientists have warned that the world s favourite fruit was at a crisis point and could be extinct within 10 years. The reason being that the fruit is unable to fight off a rampaging plague of ...
End may be near for banana Straits Times
Bananas' Days May Be Numbered Reuters
Slashdot - CBC News - BBC - Megastar News - and 19 related » [Google Technology News]

While this may be true, we must also be careful when believing such predictions. Where do they get the figure of 10 years? Is this a problem for domesticated forms or for wild forms also? Domesticated forms of bananas are very ancient and require quite a bit of work. If they are overly susceptible to a particular disease, then novel approachs to solving the problem may have to be used. This is more a 'call to arms' type report, strengthening the case that a lot of work must be done to save a very important food stuff. Keep an ear out for further developments.  10:37:35 PM    

Bug Study May Give Wings to Evolution Critics. Salt Lake Tribune - Brigham Young University researchers have uncovered genetic evidence in stick insects -- a group of bugs that resemble tree twigs with legs -- that could force scientists to rethink long-held beliefs involving a part of the ...
Some insects lose, regain flying ability CNN
Insects re-evolve wings after 50 million years Times of India
The Age - New Scientist - Washington Post - ABC Online - and 16 related » [Google Technology News]

I really get ticked off when reporters have no idea of what they are talking about. And sometimes the same applies to scientists. The reason that many believed that it was not possible to regain phenotypes that had been lost (i.e. blind fish regaining their eyesight) was that if selelctive pressure was removed from a set of genes because, for example, they were no longer making a functional protein, random mutations could accumulate in the unused genes. Then to regain function, it would have to reverse exactly a wide range of mutatiions. The chances of this happening is slight, so came thought that eveolution was irreversible.

But, this all assumes that selective pressure is removed from the genes in question. While we can not know for sure, there are quite a lot of possibilities, based our still embryonic understanding of such emergent systems as genetic networks. I can think of a couple of possibilities. Perhaps the appearance of wings in one of these insects depends on the ability of a nuclear factor to bind strongly to a DNA sequence that controls a set of genes. If it binds strongly, you get wings. If it binds weakly, you do not. In a primordial population, the wingless form predominates, but there are a few winged forms. They get lost becuase they are not selected for but since random mutations can occur, there is a certain lowlevel presence of the winged gene. You would not find it in the fossil record, since it might not be very prevalent and would be selected against. There are a lot of these types of recurring mutations seen in a lot of human genetic diseases.

Now, what happenes if the envirinment changes so that being winged IS a selective advantage. The winged form will come to predominate and the wingless will 'disappear' at least from the fossil record. This is evolution in action. We know this can happen in the short term because of the melanic changes in moths in England. Moths were white until the Industriual Revolution. When soot-covered trees predominated, the black form existed and you saw few white moths. No more soot, and the black moth disappears with the white form predominating. No one talks about the loss of coloration being irreverible. It is simply different variations being selected for. Perhaps the same with wings.

This should provide NO comfort for any critics of evolution. It does not indicate that life was created. Evolution by natural selection easily provides possible explanations.  10:22:29 PM    

Sebastien Paquet on Personal Publishing.

A great weblogs article from Sebastien Paquet:

In this two-part document, I analyze an emerging form of knowledge sharing that I call personal knowledge publishing. Personal knowledge publishing has its roots in a practice known as "weblogging" that has been rapidly spreading on the World Wide Web over the last three years. It is a new form of communication that many expect will change the way people work and collaborate, especially in areas where knowledge and innovation play an important role.

If you are a researcher or knowledge worker who is not very familiar with weblogging and personal knowledge publishing, reading this document should help you grasp the significance of this practice and better understand how you might benefit from getting involved in personal knowledge publishing. Although the emphasis is on research work, most of the ideas generalize to other kinds of creative knowledge work where knowledge sharing plays a role.  -- [Knowledge Board - The European KM Community]

Nothing really new, but a good summary for those needing background and filling in as to what this is all about.

[Verity .info Sites]

Very nice discussion of the relevance of personal publishing and research. I will use these a lot in my discussions.  10:01:19 PM