Daily Archives: February 11, 2017

February 10, 2017 Different species of fish, called cichlids, swim in East Africa's Lake Victoria. More than 700 cichlid species have evolved in the Lake Victoria region over the past 150,000 years. Credit: Florian Moser

A University of Wyoming researcher is part of an international team that has discovered how more than 700 species of fish have evolved in East Africa's Lake Victoria region over the past 150,000 years.

Catherine Wagner, a UW assistant professor in the Department of Botany and the UW Biodiversity Institute, describes the phenomenonunparalleled in the animal and plant worldas "one of the most spectacular examples of the evolution of modern biodiversity."

She and fellow researchers from Switzerland's University of Bern and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology have demonstrated for the first time that the rapid evolution of Lake Victoria cichlidsbrightly colored, perch-like fishwas facilitated by earlier hybridization between two distantly related cichlid species from the Upper Nile and Congo drainage systems.

The research is published today (Friday) in the journal Nature Communications. The first author on the paper, Joana Meier, is a Ph.D. student Wagner co-supervised at the University of Bern. Wagner, along with Meier's other supervisorsLaurent Excoffier and Ole Seehausenare senior authors of the paper.

Wagner says the rapid evolution of the East African cichlids had puzzled researchers, who didn't understand how a single common ancestor could divide into 700 species so quickly. The discovery that the ancestor of these fish species was actually a mixture of two different ancestors from different parts of Africa makes it "much easier to understand how the immense variety of fishes in this region have evolved," she says.

"An analogy is: If you combined the pieces from two very different Lego setssay, a tractor and an airplaneyou could get a much wider variety of possible structures," Wagner says.

The species that evolved exhibit many combinations of colors and are adapted to different habitats, such as sandy bottoms, rocky shores or open watersranging from the clear shallows to the permanent darkness of the turbid depths, according to a media release from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Depending on the species, cichlids may scrape algae from rocks, feed on plankton, crack open snail shells, forage for insect larvae or prey on other fish, including their eggs or scales.

The hybridization event probably took place around 150,000 years ago, whenduring a wet perioda Congolese lineage colonized the Lake Victoria region and encountered representatives of the Upper Nile lineage. Across the large lakes of this region, the hybrid population then diversified in a process known as adaptive radiation, or evolution of multiple new species adapted to different ecological niches.

While the precise course of events in ancestral Lake Victoria has yet to be reconstructed, it is clear that, after a dry period, it filled up again about 15,000 years ago. Descendants of the genetically diverse hybrid population colonized the lake and, within the evolutionarily short period of several thousand years, diverged to form at least 500 new cichlid species, with a wide variety of ecological specializations. The particular genetic diversity and adaptive capacity of Lake Victoria's cichlids is demonstrated by the fact that more than 40 other fish specieswhich colonized the lake at the same timehave barely changed since then.

The study involved sequencing over 3 million sites in the genome of 100 cichlid speciesa task which, until recently, would not have been feasible.

Wagner's study of evolutionary adaptive radiation earned her the 2015 Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize as an outstanding young evolutionary biologist from the Society for the Study of Evolution.

Wagner has published a range of papers in top-tier journals, including Nature, Nature Reviews Genetics, Evolution and Molecular Ecology. At UW, she and her lab focus on using genetic and ecological data to study the evolution of biodiversity, primarily in freshwater fish. Her research uses population genetic, genomic, phylogenetic and comparative methods to study diversification, from speciation processes to macro-evolutionary patterns of biodiversity.

Wagner received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2011, and she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology before starting as an assistant professor at UW in 2015. She received her bachelor's degree in biology and geology from Whitman College.

Explore further: Study shows evolution does not always mean more diversification

More information: Joana I. Meier et al, Ancient hybridization fuels rapid cichlid fish adaptive radiations, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14363

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Firstly one should throw out the equivocation - speciation being mangled with the implied darwinian evolution. The cichlids are still exactly that. They haven't changed into sharks or squid or anything else.

Secondly, this phenomenon is rapid speciation, exactly as the creationists have long been telling people, given the limited supply of genome from Noah's ark. Now people discover this fact and lo and behold they want to create another senseless oxymoron - "Rapid Evolution", implying that the supposed darwinian stuff has happened.

So the bottom line is that the creationists have just been proven right once again and the evolutionists are grabbing the result which negates their religion and turning it into a support for the mythical darwinian nonsense.

I saw the 1 comment in the last commented list and just knew Fred was spouting his nonsense on this one...

No doubt others have observed that if you accept the reality of the effect of genetics (which you appear to do) and the logical outcome of that - you just stated a senseless oxymoron yourself?

Get help. Quickly.

FredJose post a total disaster. Sad. I give the best 1 star ratings ever.

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Scientists solve fish evolution mystery - Phys.Org

NEW DELHI: CDs are medieval and cassette players have become outrightly ancient the world over. Once considered a statement, music players on the move have evolved into miniscule devices with humungous storage. Little wonder then that in-car audio too has come a long way since bulky sets mounted onto dashboards. And even the current technology may soon become obsolete.

Automotive giants around the globe are increasingly looking to give drivers and passengers not just a comfortable and luxurious ride but one that is entertaining. In an age of wireless streaming and cloud storage, new-age vehicles are also increasingly becoming 'stay connected' machines.

USB and Aux ports now come as a standard in cars, with only a handful offering CD player options.

Sale of aftermarket audio equipment, therefore, has seen a sharp decline as well. "We have seen a steady fall in people coming in for music players. So, we have reduced stocking these and instead focus on audio enhancers like bass tubes, amplifiers and woofers," says Ajit Tokas, owner of a car equipment shop in Delhi's Karol Bagh. "But even audio enhancers are seeing a fall in demand because not many want to take a chance with a car's electrical which usually come with a warranty," adds the 35-year-old.

Although sale of a plethora of accessories - alloys, sunshades, customised decals etc - have seen a rise, the rapidly-changing in-car audio technology means the onus of entertainment is now increasingly dependent on manufacturers in factories - Apple CarPlay, Android Auto et all.

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Evolution of in-car audio tech moving at 'speed of sound' - Times of India

Submitted by Aurora1 on Thu, 02/09/2017 - 8:58am

A letter to the editor published in the paper a few weeks back caught my attention and made me feel a need to respond to some misinformation. The letter focused on the upcoming solar eclipse and the writers belief that there is a higher power involved with such a perfect event. I have never had an issue with an individuals beliefs involved with religion or any other out-of-this-world assumptions. Instead, the driving force for my response is based clearly on the facts that were tossed to the side as if they were never true to begin with. Here is the statement word for word, which falls into a logical fallacy known as begging the question: How can evolution explain how everything in our universe simply evolved from nothing and then set itself in such order we can now time events to the second? It cant. Lets start at the beginning of this statement with evolution and evolving from nothing. This is where I first noticed the incorrect portions of the writers comment. To begin, evolution is not the belief that the universe evolved from nothing. This is a common misconception that comes from those who think evolution is a myth. A simple definition I found for evolution is that its the gradual development of something, especially from a simple form to a more complex form. The basic definition itself points out that evolution literally has to start with something and not nothing as the writer wanted to argue. Also, the basic denying of evolution has never really sat well with me when this gets brought up as the thousands of peer-reviewed articles and research papers have proved this is a fact and cannot be denied. Those who want to argue that it is a theory need to take on a clearer view of definitions as our everyday use of the word gets mixed in with the scientific term. For something in science to become an actual theory it takes many, many years of research and peer-reviews to confirm empirical evidence of such claims. Its not just a guess like some of us may use the word in everyday life. What the writer might be looking for instead of evolution is the term abiogenesis, which is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter. Although its not literally coming from nothing, sometimes these ideas get mixed up when trying to shortcut the information laid out. By the way, abiogenesis has been proven and is a basic understanding to the origin of life on Earth. The second part of the original statement focusing on how the universe set itself up in a way that allows timed events to the second is just as easily explained. The answer is math. Thats really it. The idea of tracking the sun and stars has been around for the majority of human civilization. In all honesty, people hundreds of years ago could have calculated the solar eclipse almost as accurately as we can, the only real difference is that little help from our trusty computer friends. I wouldnt be doing the statement justice if I didnt also focus on how things are in such order as well. Since there are too many examples Ill just be as honest as I can, we have order because there has to be. If the laws of physics werent the same every time we tested them, in the same environment, then we wouldnt be here today. In addition to that they wouldnt be called laws if there wasnt some type of permanency attached. Without order, the universe wouldnt be the way it is and it would honestly never become anything at all. You can start with something small like water and if two hydrogen molecules didnt always become water with one oxygen molecule then life just couldnt exist which includes humans. The reason people see this order as creation and not a natural process is because we are living in the results of life and not the precursor of it. When we look back at evolution its easy to see that the journey to where we are now had a lot of specific stopping points that all fell into place, which put us where we are today. If we look at it on the other end of the spectrum, at the beginning of life, the possibilities are endless and where we are is just many of those little possibilities coming together to create an intelligent life form ready to learn about the ways of its own existence. TRAVIS BLASE can be reached at features@hamilton.net

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Evolution gives rhyme its reason - Aurora News Register

She was famous for being the first person to be famous for being famous Tara Palmer-Tomkinson at her birthday party in 1998. Photograph: Brendan Beirne/REX/Shutterstock

Just over 20 years ago, the society magazine Tatler put Tara Palmer-Tomkinson on its cover, along with fellow socialite Normandie Keith, and proclaimed them the It girls. What does it say about us that we care so much about them? asked the coverline. Their rise, and the rise of Palmer-Tomkinson in particular, always seemed to be about something bigger than the enduring fascination with beautiful young women in paparazzi-friendly dresses. They came at the end of the grunge years, and their privileged lifestyles reflected the start of Londons economic boom, but at the same time their rise seemed to mark the end of the old order.

It was the beginning of the end of the Sloanes, as international bankers and Russian oligarchs started buying up swaths of west London and pricing out the younger generation of English old-money families. It was probably the beginning of the end of going out. Palmer-Tomkinson was famous for her party-going, an idea that seems almost as old-fashioned as if shed been a 20s flapper; now people stay in with Netflix. More than half the UKs nightclubs have closed since 2005, and people have swapped alcohol and cigarettes for Fitbits.

And it came at the tail end of deference to the upper classes. Newspapers were impressed by the raft of society girls connections to the royals, but nobody I knew was. Palmer-Tomkinson was compelling because she seemed like enormous fun, but if you grew up in the 90s, you never thought she or the others (Tamara Beckwith, Keith and later Lady Victoria Hervey) were cool. Even while they were having their moment, the society It girls already seemed old-fashioned. They were naughtier than many of the debutantes of earlier decades, but definitely of the same type. They went out with ridiculous posh men and rarely seemed to leave west London, unless it was for a skiing holiday or a cruise on someones yacht. (Compare that with current aristo It girl Cara Delevingne, whose quirky edge and global Instagram reach means her poshness isnt quite so defining.)

But Palmer-Tomkinson was also the beginning of a huge cultural shift that not many of us could have imagined at the time. She wasnt the first society It girl the 30s and 50s especially had witnessed the rise and fall of extravagant, glittering socialites. But she was, says Wendy Holden, the journalist and novelist who ghostwrote her column in the Sunday Times, famous for being the first person to be famous for being famous. In the 90s, that was considered an insult.

Being called talentless, that is the worst, Palmer-Tomkinson said in a 2012 interview. I can recite every line of Shakespeare. Ive got a really good brain. Of course, I havent earned [fame] and I didnt feel I was worth it, and going to all those endless parties, it made me feel worth a pile of shit. Had Palmer-Tomkinson emerged now, she would never have had to justify herself. Instead, she paved the way for reality TV, Paris Hilton, any number of YouTube and Instagram stars and, of course, the reigning champions of self-promotion, the Kardashians. Criticising them is pointless. These are all cultural fixtures now.

Ellis Cashmore, visiting professor of sociology at Aston University and author of Celebrity Culture, recently discussed Kim Kardashian with a group of sixth-formers. I said: Is she talented? And there was no criticism at all that she was just famous for being famous. They listed what they believed were her talents, such as what she does to attract publicity and the art of the selfie. She cant sing or dance or act, which we, over the 20th century, have decided to call talents, he says. But now we are in a transitional phase where people do different things, which are not talents that are immediately recognisable to older generations.

Palmer-Tomkinson, he says, prefigured this. The development has been so accelerated over the past 15 years. Now, he says, we dont even query why theyre there in the first place. We dont even think about the fact they are present on Instagram or Twitter, which makes them occupy space in our lives. And it has been professionalised social media accounts are carefully crafted, agents and publicists work to extend the longevity of even the most fleeting reality TV stars. There is a clear end goal: to monetise their fame.

Palmer-Tomkinson, by contrast, never seemed calculating. She seemed big-hearted and genuine, fragile and someone who had stumbled into fame and its trappings because it seemed fun, not because of how much money she could make from it. She had this amazing life anyway, she had all these friends, she was having lots of fun, says Holden. Also the persona we created for her was not entirely serious, otherwise no reader was going to sympathise with her. It had to be funny. We made her almost into a comic figure, but I think she could see the point of that, and had lots of funny things to contribute to it.

It does feel like a different time now, where to be a celebrity is to be a brand. This also means, especially for young women in the public eye, fame is largely on their terms with an Instagram account, they dont, like Palmer-Tomkinson did, have to rely on being interesting to newspaper and gossip magazine editors (and she was never more interesting to the tabloids than when she was self-destructing). Many of the people who become famous now are those who engineer it, via TV or social media, and carefully craft it. The element of randomness, the sudden elevation of a funny, spirited posh girl who never particularly asked for it, says Cashmore, has largely disappeared.

While theres no doubt she enjoyed it, Tara definitely took being famous less seriously than people do now, says Holden. I cant imagine her operating 10 social media accounts at once, for instance. I dont think she could have been bothered, and who could blame her?

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From Tara Palmer-Tomkinson to Cara Delevingne: the evolution of the It girl - The Guardian