Moores Law dates the Origin of Life before Origin of Earth
Interessantes Modell von zwei Genetikern, die Moores Law – die Komplexität integrierter Schaltkreise verdoppelt sich alle 1-2 Jahre – auf die Evolution angewandt haben. Rechnet man in diesem Modell rückwärts datieren sie den Ursprung des Lebens aus rund 10 Millarden Jahre vor unserer Zeit, während die Erde grade halb so alt ist.
Erscheint logisch, auch wenn die Jungs Kritiker, die auf Evolutionssprünge (Stichwort Punktialismus und Kambrische Explosion) hinweisen, mit Religionskritik kontern („Sharov and Gorden reject this argument saying that it is suspiciously similar to arguments that squeeze the origin of life into the timespan outlined in the biblical Book of Genesis“), die hier meiner Meinung nicht hingehört – Religion hat im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs nichts verloren, ausgenommen sind Kulturgeschichte und (Neuro-)Psychologie. Sei’s drum, ziemlich interessanter Ansatz bleibt das hier dennoch.
These guys argue that it’s possible to measure the complexity of life and the rate at which it has increased from prokaryotes to eukaryotes to more complex creatures such as worms, fish and finally mammals. That produces a clear exponential increase identical to that behind Moore’s Law although in this case the doubling time is 376 million years rather than two years.
That raises an interesting question. What happens if you extrapolate backwards to the point of no complexity–the origin of life?
Sharov and Gordon say that the evidence by this measure is clear. “Linear regression of genetic complexity (on a log scale) extrapolated back to just one base pair suggests the time of the origin of life = 9.7 ± 2.5 billion years ago,” they say. And since the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old, that raises a whole series of other questions. Not least of these is how and where did life begin.
Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque and his Daughter
Darf ich vorstellen? Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque und Cthylla Microfasciculumque. Die beiden sind ein paar Mikrometer große Parasiten, die in Termiten leben und weil sie wie Octopusse aussehen, hat man die beiden nach Cthulhu und seiner Tochter Cthylla benannt. Iä! Iä! Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them.
The researchers decided to name them after monstrous cosmic entities featured in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos as an ode to the sometimes strange and fascinating world of the microbe. “When we first saw them under the microscope they had this unique motion, it looked almost like an octopus swimming,” says UBC researcher Erick James, lead author of the paper describing the new protists, published in the online journal PLoS ONE.
The octopus-like movements and appearance of both protists reminded James of the horrid Cthulhu and Cthylla, and the little protists were baptized after the two monsters. Cthulhu is often depicted as a giant, octopus-like entity with wings. Cthylla is his daughter, and has a similar appearance.
UBC: Tiny octopus-like microorganisms named after science fiction monsters (via The Lovecraftsman)
Paper: Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque n. g., n. sp. and Cthylla Microfasciculumque n. g., n. sp., a Newly Identified Lineage of Parabasalian Termite Symbionts
Slowmotion Duck Penis, GIF’d
Impressive, most impressive: Einmal Enten-Zeitlupen-Penis als GIF. Wer mehr über Genitalien von Federvieh wissen will, there you go:
Male ducks have elaborate corkscrew-shaped penises, the length of which correlates with the degree of forced copulation males impose on female ducks. Females are often unable to escape male coercion, but they have evolved vaginal morphology that makes it difficult for males to inseminate females close to the sites of fertilization and sperm storage. Males have counterclockwise spiraling penises, while females have clockwise spiraling vaginas and blind pockets that prevent full eversion of the male penis.
Kill Bill Parasite Wasp named Beatrix Kiddo
In Thailand hat man eine neue Art einer parasitären Wespenfamilie gefunden und hat sie nach Beatrix Kiddo aus Quentin Tarantinos „Kill Bill“ benannt. Originalzitat aus dem Film: „You’re not a worker bee. You’re a renegade killer bee.“ Passt nicht so ganz, aber fast.
Parasitoid wasps of the family Braconidae are known for their deadly reproductive habits. Most of the representatives of this group have their eggs developing in other insects and their larvae, eventually killing the respective host, or in some cases immobilizing it or causing its sterility. Three new species of the parasitoid wasp genus Cystomastacoides, recently described in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, reflect this fatal behavior.
Two of the new species were discovered in Papua New Guinea, while the third one comes from Thailand. The Thai species, Cystomastacoides kiddo, was named after the character Beatrix Kiddo in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ films. The deadly biology of the wasp inspired this reference to the protagonist played by Uma Thurman, where she embodies a deadly assassin and a master of the Tiger/Crane style of kung fu. She is a master of the “Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique”, a method of killing a person by quickly striking five pressure points around the heart with the fingertips. After the victim takes five steps, the heart explodes and the person falls dead.
Kill Bill character inspires the name of a new parasitoid wasp species (via Geekosystem)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Horse Fly named after Beyoncés golden Butt
Klari Reis’ Petri Dish Paintings 2013
Klari Reis macht wieder Bakterien-Malerei in Petrischalen. 2009 hat sie das schonmal über ein ganzes Jahr lang durchgezogen, hier die 2013er Version.
Artist Klari Reis uses reflective epoxy polymer to depict microscopic images. The effect is hopeful, almost playful, belying the serious nature of the subject matter.
Supported by steel rods, the paintings sit at varying degrees of distance from the wall, evoking depth and motion. Working with biotech companies in San Francisco, Klari uses organic cellular imagery and natural reactionship with today’s biotechnological industry.
THE DAILY DISH 2013: A PETRI DISH PAINTING BY KLARI REIS TO BE POSTED EVERY DAY OF 2013.
CMYK Plaque
Aus einem Interview mit Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, deren Arbeiten ihr kennen dürftet: Die Dame hat Käse aus Achselschweiß und Farbpigmente aus genetisch manipulierter Kacke gemacht. Hier hat sie CMYK-Raster auf Plaque wachsen lassen: „Extracted from a 34-year-old man with poor dental hygiene, food colourant biofilm builds up on tooth surface. Photo by Carole Suety.“
An In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit
Wissenschaftler haben zur Optimierung der Diagnose von Wurmbefall die Untersuchung von Scheiße genauestens analysiert und dabei festgestellt, dass die Homogenisierung der Kacke (auf deutsch: umgerührte Scheiße als Brei-artige Substanz) vor allem bei der Diagnose der Pärchenengel-Saugwürmer von Vorteil ist, während Hakenwürmer am besten mit intakten, gekühlten und feucht gehaltenen Kacke-Proben nachgewiesen werden können. Wisst’er Bescheid, jetz’.
Whole-stool samples were collected from 222 individuals in a rural part of south Côte d’Ivoire. Samples were cut into four pieces and helminth egg locations from the front to the back and from the center to the surface were analyzed. Some samples were homogenized and fecal egg counts (FECs) compared before and after homogenization. The effect of stool storing methods on FECs was investigated over time, comparing stool storage on ice, covering stool samples with a water-soaked tissue, or keeping stool samples in the shade.
An In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit: Distribution of Schistosoma mansoni and Hookworm Eggs in Human Stool (via JWZ)
Brain Cells made from Pee:
Wissenschaftler am Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health in China haben funktionierende Gehirnzellen aus Urin gezüchtet. Neurobiotech: Läuft.
Unique Bacteria-Aliens in your Belly Button
Es gibt neues vom Bauchnabel-Bakterien-Experiment namens „Belly Button Biodiversity“: Die Wissenschaftler haben herausgefunden, dass die Fauna im Bauchnabel jedes Menschen quasi einzigartig ist. Insgesamt haben sie 2368 Bakterienarten gefunden und von denen kommen die allermeisten (2188 bzw. 92,4%) Arten in nur 10% aller Bauchnabelproben vor oder anders gesagt: Unsere Bauchnabel haben einen nicht ganz, aber fast individuell einzigartigen Bakterienabdruck.
Und: Zusammen mit der Meldung vom letzten Jahr, laut der sie 662 bisher unbekannte Bakterienarten in unseren Bauchnabeln entdeckt hatten, haben wir in unserem Bauchnabel sogar einen nicht ganz, aber fast individuell einzigartigen Alien-Bakterienabdruck. Whooohoo, I love my unique Aliens in my belly!
BBB want to strike down the “bad bacteria” stereotype and teach the world that many bacteria are harmless, helpful and a lot of times just hanging around, mooching off your body. The navel is an ideal place for bacteria to thrive because it’s isolated and most people don’t bother to wash it. But what BBB wondered was, do the bacteria change from person to person?
BBB grew the bacteria from hundreds of swab samples and found that most people’s belly button ecosystems are pretty unique. They found a total of 2368 types of bacteria, with 2188 present on fewer than 10 per cent of the samples.
New Scientist: Belly button samples reveal wonderland of fluffy fauna
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Bauchnabelflusen-Collection
662 new Bacteria found in your Bellybutton
Ernst Haeckel on Bikinis
Motive aus Ernst Haeckels 1898er „Kunstformen der Natur“ auf Bikinis (und Schals und Kissen und Wallsticker), würde ich direkt so anziehen, sähe aber sicher etwas komisch aus. Cool Hunting hat ein paar Details:
Erlanson and her international team took the project a step further and began the work of designing patterns to print onto textiles. Decorative pillows and oversized scarves followed, and Haeckel Haus Co. eventually expanded beyond Haeckel himself: current designs incorporate vintage backgrounds and other scientific drawings from the era. Individual lithographs are collaged, resized and patterned to outfit beachwear, furniture and wallpaper in addition to the roll charts and textiles. The patterns are like a wearable curiosity shop, full of strange and vibrant images of birds and marine life.
Haeckel Haus Co. – Nineteenth-century lithographic curiosities reborn for home and fashion
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Ernst Haeckels Jellyfish Christmas-Cards
Ernst Haeckels „Kunst-Formen der Natur“ (1898) komplett in HighRes auf Flickr
Ernst Haeckels „Kunstformen der Natur“ im Fraktalfilter
Extroverts linked to Brain Parasites
Lustig: Der Gehirn-Parasit Toxoplasma Gondii verursacht Extrovertiertheit. Der Lebenszyklus des Vieh läuft normalerweise über Ratten und Mäuse, verringert über eine Hormonausschüttung deren Angst vor Katzen, die die parasitären Mäuse fressen und in den Katzen vermehrt sich dann der Parasit über die Exkremente. Und da der Parasit auch Menschen befällt, führt die Hormonausschüttung dort zu Extrovertiertheit, die geschätzte Zahl der von Parasiten befallenen Menschen liegt bei 22,5% aller Amerikaner über 12. Man kann also nun wissenschaftlich korrekt folgendes behaupten: Ein sehr großer Teil erfolgreicher Karrieremenschen und Businesskasper sind tatsächlich einfach nur kranke Arschgeigen. Interessant!
Ich schätze mal (sogar halbwegs ernsthaft), man kann eine ganze Menge der Probleme auf der Welt (Kriege, die FDP, Businesskasper, Fußballer, Politiker im Allgemeinen, der konservative Teil davon speziell und nicht zuletzt auch A-Blogger) ganz einfach mit einer Ausrottung dieses einen Parasiten lösen. Die werden dann alle vernünftig und wir haben mehr Weltfrieden, Hippies, Künstler und Kreative, Wissenschaftler im Allgemeinen, Space- und Biotech im Speziellen und nicht zuletzt… A-Blogger.
Feeling sociable or reckless? You might have toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which the CDC estimates has infected about 22.5 percent of Americans older than 12 years old. Researchers tested participants for T. gondii infection and had them complete a personality questionnaire. They found that both men and women infected with T. gondii were more extroverted and less conscientious than the infection-free participants. These changes are thought to result from the parasite’s influence on brain chemicals, the scientists write in the May/June issue of the European Journal of Personality.
“Toxoplasma manipulates the behavior of its animal host by increasing the concentration of dopamine and by changing levels of certain hormones,” says study author Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Although humans can carry the parasite, its life cycle must play out in cats and rodents. Infected mice and rats lose their fear of cats, increasing the chance they will be eaten, so that the parasite can then reproduce in a cat’s body and spread through its feces.
In humans, T. gondii’s effects are more subtle; the infected population has a slightly higher rate of traffic accidents, studies have shown, and people with schizophrenia have higher rates of infection—but until recent years, the parasite was not thought to affect most people’s daily lives. In the new study, a pattern appeared in infected men: the longer they had been infected, the less conscientious they were.
Common Parasite Linked to Personality Changes – Eating a raw steak or owning a cat can make you more outgoing (via 3 Quarks Daily)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
The Brain-Parasites of World Cup-Winners
Bonustrack und überaus passend: Der deutsche Trailer zu David Cronenbergs „Parasitenmörder“ (Shivers):
Photographing with Bacteria
Zachary Copfer fotografiert mit Bakterien, auf Petapixel steht, wie’s geht:
Here’s how Copfer’s method works: he first takes a supply of bacteria like E. coli, turns it into a fluorescent protein, and covers a plate with it (does this remind you something?). Next, he creates a “negative” of the photo he wants to print by covering the prepared plate with the photo and then exposing it to radiation. He then “develops” the image by having the bacterial grow, and finally “fixes” the image by coating the image with a layer of acrylic and resin.
How To make a bioluminescent Lightbulb from dead Squid
Tolles Tutorial auf Instructables für die Zucht von Bakterien, die auf Oktopussen wachsen und mit denen man biolumineszierende Glühbirnen bauen kann. Mein Traumhaus ist durchzogen von einem Aquarium-Röhrensystem (das man niemals saubermachen muss) und wird beleuchtet von Bakterien und lebenden Energiesparlampen. Es gab vor ‘nem halben Jahr eine Designstudie eines Elektronikherstellers nach demselben Prinzip und das kann man sich jetzt nachbasteln.
This instructable will show you how to grow and culture your own glowing bacteria […] from fresh sea fish (squid work well) and culture it onto special agar gel that you can make at home or simply buy ready-to-pour. The gel can be formed inside all kinds of things that you want to make glow a cool greenish/blue color!
The glowing vibrio bacteria are marine life forms that live alone or in a symbiotic relationships with fish and squid inside their light organs or as parastites. Alone the bacteria don’t really glow but in groups of large enough number something amazing happens called quorum sensing. The bacteria upon realizing they have enough of each other around turn on genes that allow them to GLOW! The light that is emitted is super efficient around 98 % meaning that only 2 % is lost through heat, thus the light is cool and that’s very COOL.
Drew Berry @ TED: Animations of unseeable Biology
Youtube DirektDNA, danke Kansas!
Schöner TED-Talk von Drew Berry, der Gene visualisiert und von der NYTimes als der Steven Spielberg molekularer Animation bezeichnet wurde.
We have no ways to directly observe molecules and what they do — Drew Berry wants to change that. At TEDxSydney he shows his scientifically accurate (and entertaining!) animations that help researchers see unseeable processes within our own cells.
Antarctic Lost World featuring Ghost-Octopus and Yeti-Crabs
Wissenschaftler der Uni Oxford haben an hydrothermalen Quellen nahe der Arktis eine „Lost World“ entdeckt, in der sie neue Spezies von Yeti-Krabben, fleischfressende, siebenarmige Seesterne und eine neue Octopus-Art gefunden haben. Die Yeti-Krabben sind schon länger bekannt und haben behaarte Arme, auf denen sie Bakterien züchten, was ungefähr genauso wäre, als würden wir auf unseren Armhaaren Kopfsalat anpflanzen. Der Ghost Octopus hat hier jedenfalls schonmal ‘nen Riesenfan.
Snip von Oxford:
‘The first survey of these particular vents, in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, has revealed a hot, dark, ‘lost world’ in which whole communities of previously unknown marine organisms thrive.’
Highlights from the ROV dives include images showing huge colonies of the new species of yeti crab, thought to dominate the Antarctic vent ecosystem, clustered around vent chimneys. Elsewhere the ROV spotted numbers of an undescribed predatory seastar with seven arms crawling across fields of stalked barnacles and found an unidentified pale octopus nearly 2,400 metres down on the seafloor.
‘Lost world’ discovered around Antarctic vents, Guardian: Pale octopus, hairy-chested yeti crab and other new species found (via Reddit)
