Category Archives: Evolution

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr laughs during press availability on practice day during NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, June 8, 2017.

Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr laughs during press availability on practice day during NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, June 8, 2017.

Warriors Steve Kerr marvels at how sports defy evolution

CLEVELAND The Warriors dominance this postseason has left many wondering: Could Golden State beat the greatest teams in NBA history in a best-of-seven series?

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, thickly laying on the sarcasm, told a large scrum of reporters after shoot-around Friday that the Warriors would have no shot.

Theyre all right, Kerr said of the pundits who reckon Golden State would get outplayed by elite teams from past generations. They would all kill us. The game gets worse as time goes on. Players are less talented than they used to be. The guys in the 50s wouldve destroyed everybody. Its weird how human evolution goes in reverse in sports. Players get weaker, smaller, less skilled. I dont know. I cant explain it.

Though much of the chatter has centered on whether the 1995-96 Bulls could beat Golden State in a seven-game series, Magic Johnson made sure his Showtime Lakers joined the discussion. Johnson said Monday night that those Lakers teams would sweep the Warriors, and his reasoning was simple: Theyre too small. Im sorry. Too little.

Asked Tuesday about Johnsons comments, Golden State power forward Draymond Green chuckled before saying: Thats my thoughts.

In becoming the first team in NBA history to open the playoffs 15-0, the Warriors had won by an average of 16.2 points. It prompted ESPN to ask some Las Vegas bookmakers to set the odds in a game and series between the 2016-17 Warriors and Jordans 95-96 Bulls team that went 72-10 en route to an NBA title. Five of the six bookmakers had Golden State favored.

As for Warriors guard Stephen Curry? He doesnt see much need to compare Golden State against past teams.

Its kind of comedy to me, Curry said. The hypothetical game is never one Ive played. I dont want to be in that situation where youre having to argue that.

Kerr on return: When Kerr announced April 21 that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from the bench, his goal was clear: find an answer to the chronic pain that has plagued him for almost two years.

Though he still deals with intense head and neck pain, the Warriors head coach was well enough to return to the sideline before Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Kerr, intent on focusing on winning a championship, has been relatively mum on what specifically went into his decision to come back. Roughly 90 minutes before tip-off of Game 4 on Friday night, he offered a bit more insight.

Its just fun, Kerr said of why he returned to the bench. Its fun, and I felt better. That was my barometer. If I felt better, I was going to do it.

Acting head coach Mike Brown went 11-0 during Kerrs hiatus from the sideline. Now, with Golden State nearing the end of another long season, Kerr still faces plenty of doubts. The hope is that a solution to his chronic pain will come this summer.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

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Warriors' Steve Kerr marvels at how sports defy evolution - SFGate

Quartz

A new fossil discovery in Morocco will rewrite the history of human evolution Quartz Homo sapiens were hanging around and hunting gazelle in North Africa 100,000 years earlier than was previously believeda new discovery that will dramatically change the story of the origin of the human species. Until now, scientists believed that the ... Skeleton find 'rewrites human history'The Australian New Moroccan fossils suggest humans lived and evolved across Africa 100000 years earlier than we thoughtThe Conversation AU Our species may be 150000 years older than we thoughtNew Scientist The Atlantic -Nature all 121 news articles »

Originally posted here:

A new fossil discovery in Morocco will rewrite the history of human evolution - Quartz

Photos by

Agnes Grelinger

Published June 10, 2017

In late 2016, Icelands dance scene got a fresh addition when a group of LH students decided to form the REAL Collective. Having been fascinated and inspired by an improv workshop from Israeli dancers Emma Rozgoni and Noam Carmeli, the aim of the group is to investigate and express the possibilities of group improvisation, through research, workshops and performances.

Selma Reynisdttir, Yelena Arakelow and Erna Gunnarsdttir are three of the founding members. Weve been dancing a lot together, at school, smiles Selma. Its like a funny, disrupted family. Yelena smiles, adding: You spent 12-14 hours together in a small studio, body on body, going in and out of the shower.

Aware and connected

This level of intimacy was perhaps a factor in forming their aesthetic. Along with the spontaneity and freedom of improvisation, they share an interest in developing a mindful style of silent communication.

We train a lot around awareness, says Yelena. How much awareness you have of yourself, your body, your movement, and what the group is doing. We found some kind of magic in it its like flocking, when a huge amount of birds move together. Sometimes you have a moment thats mesmerising, like you start to develop a collective body. You take decisions together that are suitable for everyone. And thats a certain artistic message, for lifeto be present.

Theyre plugged-in moments, adds Erna, when everyone is totally on board.

Trust exercises

This weekend, the group will invite the public to join them in a workshop at the Breiholt Festival, where participants can experience their spontaneous, mindful and mutually supportive technique first hand. Its different every time, says Yelena. We judge what we do on the crowd, how used to moving they are and their age. We work on some trust exercises, and loosen up the bodies. Then we have an open session, where everything is allowed.

The audience is responsible for the space, says Erna. We give them some tools on how to approach it. Weve been doing sessions like this at our Real Monday workshops, and its been going well. Its blossoming.

Jumping ahead

The collective recently ran a successful campaign to raise money for a trip to Israel to further their studies, exceeding their 14000 goal on the Karolina Fund crowdfunding platform. While there isnt a huge amount of money around to fund dance projects, Selma explains that with that comes a certain sense of freedom.

People often say art is on the bottom of the budgetand dance is at the bottom of the arts, she says. So it doesnt belong to a capitalistic wheel so it can do whatever the fuck it wants. Its a young scene here in Iceland, with a lot of independence. And its growing fast.

Dance doesnt belong to a capitalistic wheel so it can do whatever the fuck it wants.

The audience for dance is Iceland is also on the rise. Dance is often linked to high culture, and people dont feel like they understand it, says Selma. But there are so many things happening, in Central Europe, and Sweden. Theyre choreographing books, and asking What is choreography? And choreography is just organising things in time and space.

People are getting more used to it and starting to understand it a bit more, finishes Yelena. Today, people are starting to understand that movement and dance arent connected to a specific genre like ballet. Its jumping ahead, as an art form.

Follow the REAL Collective on Facebook here. Sign up for the session at Breiholt Festival, which will be at 12:30 on Sunday June 11th at Seljakirkja, by emailing info.realcollective@gmail.com.

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Dance Dance Evolution: The REAL Collective Gets Moving - Reykjavk Grapevine

I

often think about the long and winding road from organic compounds floating in the so-called primordial soup to humans. Lately Ive been wondering if microbes helped drive the bus.

Even just a few years ago, that would have been a truly ludicrous idea. But thanks to our growing understanding of the human microbiome, it could represent a thrilling example of evolutionary symbiosis that has mutually benefitted humans and their microbial passengers.

Our bodies are made up of many more microbial cells than human cells. Thousands of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes live almost everywhere in and on our bodies, including the digestive system, nose, and skin, to name just a few. Some of the earliest research showed that the microbes that live in our digestive systems help us digest food, make some of the vitamins we need, and balance the immune system.

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Since then, weve learned that these microbes, collectively called the microbiome, can affect body weight, susceptibility to cancer, and even behavior. The gut microbiome interacts with its host using signaling networks that employ the immune system, hormones, and the nervous system. In short, it has a profound effect on our overall health.

Another kind of superbug: Seeking an edge in the elite athletes microbiome

Ive been studying the microbiome for more than 20years. My research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology explores how microbes help keep us healthy. Weve learned that our daily diet and habits dramatically influence our microbiomes. Weve specifically studied aspects of wellness in mice (which often make good stand-ins for humans) that are influenced by diet and microbes, including healthy skin, a slender physique, and breeding success across generations. Several findings from our work make me think that microbes helping steer the evolution of humans isnt such a far-fetched idea.

For starters, in our glow of health study, we fed to mice bacteria extracted from human breast milk. This dietary addition gave them thicker skin, more lustrous fur, and, in females, more acidic vaginal mucus. That change in mucus is correlated with increased fertility in mice and in humans.

Or take the case of oxytocin, sometimes called the love hormone. In humans, oxytocin not only stimulates reproductive behaviors, but also induces childbirth, releases breast milk, bonds babies with their moms, and joins couples in monogamy to share child rearing. Oxytocin promotes nerve growth, fosters creativity in the brain, and serves as glue for complex mammalian social networks that have been integral in evolving social organizations. When fed to mice, certain kinds of bacteria found in human breast milk elicit production of oxytocin in the brain and bloodstream.

Likewise, testosterone levels in mice soar after eating these bacteria. Such microbe-treated mice display larger testicles with higher sperm counts and also build extra muscle. The resulting mouse swagger would give these mice a competitive edge in combat and romance, letting them spread their genes and microbes more widely and for a longer time. During bad times, these microbiome-related changes could provide a huge survival advantage for both the host and its microbial allies.

Even thyroid hormone, sometimes called the gas pedal that controls the bodys metabolism and thus body temperature, is influenced by our resident bacteria. It makes sense that heat-loving (thermophilic) bacteria originally dwelling in decaying swamp plants would try to set the body temperature of their new hosts so they could live year-round in total comfort with a competitive edge over other microbial interlopers. This stabilized host environment could then have chaperoned the evolution from external egg laying to internal placental pregnancy. As a bonus for microbes, by increasing mother-infant intimacy, internal pregnancy abets the transfer of microbes from mother to child, and thus the creation of future suitable dwellings for the mothers microbial descendants.

It turns out that our minuscule microbial manipulators also boost levels of a transcription factor (a protein that helps turn the instructions of DNA into body-building proteins) called Forkhead Box N1. It helps build tissue in the thymus gland that produces specialized immune cells that sustain pregnancy in mammals. Thanks to the exquisitely synchronized immune interactions choreographed by this tissue, the immune system doesnt swarm and kill sperm cells or the developing fetus. Instead, it opens the door to internal fertilization and lengthy pregnancy while still combating invading bacteria and other pathogens.

Microbe-stimulated Forkhead Box N1 is also involved in the growth of body hair which, along with the production of thyroid hormone, supports the stable body temperature (called endothermy) needed for an extended pregnancy. Forkhead Box N1 is also implicated in the development of mammary glands. Its just a small stretch to imagine that microbes helped modify sweat glands into lactating breasts in order to create a yummy and nutritious food for human infants and at the same time spread their own microbial sprouts to future generations.

Interestingly, mouse moms consuming probiotic bacteria from human breast milk actually take better care of their infants and are less likely to eat them compared with untreated mice or those eating other types of diets. Following this line of reasoning, the bacteria help make more mice and thus more future microbe hosts.

The idea that humans are a kind of deluxe love bus for microbes sounds preposterous, even diabolical. But maybe its actually a winner for everyone.

Susan E. Erdman, DVM, is a principal research scientist and assistant director of MITs Division of Comparative Medicine.

Susan E. Erdman can be reached at serdman@mit.edu

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June 9, 2017 by Ricki Lewis, Phd, Plos Blogs A coyote (Canis latrans)

Are the red and eastern wolves separate species, or hybrids with coyotes? And what has that got to do with climate change? Actually a lot, in illustrating what scientific inquiry is and what it isn't.

Comparing canid genomes

A report in this week's Science Advances questions conclusions of a 2016 comparison of genome sequences from 28 canids. The distinction between "species" and "hybrid" is of practical importance, because the Endangered Species Act circa 1973 doesn't recognize hybrids. But DNA information can refine species designationsor muddy the waters.

At first, genetic marker (SNP) studies hinted at a mixing and matching of genome segments among coyotes, wolves, and dogs. Then came full-fledged genome sequencing.

Last year Bridgett M. vonHoldt, head of Evolutionary Genomics and Ecological Epigenomics at Princeton and colleagues, scrutinized the 28 full genome sequences for signs of "lack of unique ancestry." They compared the genomes of 3 domestic dog breeds (boxer, German shepherd, and Basenji), 6 coyotes, a golden jackal from Kenya, and various wolves to 7 "reference" genomes from 4 Eurasian gray wolves (to minimize recent mutations) and 3 coyotes. The conclusion: lots of genes have flowed from coyotes and gray wolves into the genomes of the animals that became what we call red and eastern wolves, in different proportions.

A bit of background.

Classifying these animals based on geography and visible traits gets confusing, with all the overlaps and shared DNA sequences. Apparently various pairings can successfully mate but probably don't do so very much in the wild when populations are large. Tracking genomes reveals a classic cline, in the parlance of population genetics, with coyote gene introgression into wolf genomes rising from Alaska and Yellowstone (8-8.5%), to the Great Lakes (21.7-23.9%), to Ontario (32.5%-35.5%), and to Quebec (>50%). (BTW the Basenji, the barkless dog, is 61% gray wolf.)

Paul A. Hohenlohe of the University of Idaho and colleagues maintain that the 2016 findings actually support 2 hypotheses: recent admixture (hybridization) or that red and eastern wolves are distinct species. Actually it's 3: hybridization might have happened a long time ago, something that following genes with known mutation rates might reveal.

The new paper challenges the 28-genome comparison:

Dr. vonHoldt's team responded to Dr. Hohenlohe's team's comments, reiterating that the results show red wolf and eastern wolves are "genetically very similar to coyotes or gray wolves," reflecting recent hybridization.

Discussion of wolf classification goes back a quarter century, and this trio of papers is only a recent glimpse of the debate. But I love the respectful back-and-forth of the efforts to extract a compelling narrative from the data that might be what actually happened. Multiple interpretations of the same data and amending interpretations as new data accumulate is the very essence of the scientific process.

Anti-science rhetoric

Let's reframe the wolf papers using the language of the popular climate change discussion.

Are Hohenlohe and his co-workers "coyote deniers?"

Do vonHoldt and her colleagues "believe in" wolf-coyote couplings and Hohenlohe et al don't?

The science of wolf origins is clearly not "settled" for science is NEVER settled. Facts aren't proven, but instead evidence demonstrated and assessed, from both experimentation and observation. The information from tested hypotheses may be so consistent and compelling that it eventually builds to gestate a theory, or even a law, that then explains further observations. But to get there, science is all about asking questions. As I've written in all 35 or so editions of my various textbooks, science is a cycle of inquiry.

In fact the history of genetics is a chronicle of once-entrenched dogma changing with new experiments and observations. I was in grad school when Walter Gilbert's famed "Why Genes in Pieces?" was published. The classic paper introduced introns, the parts of genes that aren't represented in the encoded protein. It was an astonishing idea circa 1978, but with compelling evidence. Yet even Mendel's pea crosses sought an alternate explanation for the prevailing notion that traits simply disappear between generations.

Before I'm hurled insults, let me assert that although my expertise isn't in climate science, I think that the evidence very strongly supports the hypothesis that the planet is warming at an accelerated rate compared to some other times. And fossil fuel use is likely a partial cause, not just a correlation or association, because the relationship is linear and a mechanism plausible. But I don't "believe" in global warming as if it is the tooth fairy or a deity.

I cringe when politicians and celebrities appoint and anoint themselves experts on climate change, then use language that illustrates profound unfamiliarity with the ways of science.

Why did Eddie Vedder begin his speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Pearl Jam with "climate change is real?" He's a musician, not a meteorologist. Why not, "semi-conservative DNA replication is real?" Or "hydrogen bonds are real?" "Noble gases are real?"

I've long had a problem with the term "climate change," because of course climate changes! Why would it ever be static, given weather ups and downs?

Climate dynamics are a little like the composition of blood, or any other manifestation of biological homeostasis. Have a complete blood count at various times and, if you're healthy, results are likely to be within a narrow normal range. Ditto blood sugar, liver enzymes, serum cholesterol level. But steady blood counts don't mean that the same blood cells hang out forever. Bone marrow stem cells continually pump out blood cell progenitors as the older specialized cells die off. Natural systems change over time, with fluctuations large and small.

Climate always has and always will change.

We can learn about normal blood circulation by studying off-kilter situationsleukemia, infection, anemiawithout fear of being labeled a "denier." It's not only a scientifically inappropriate term, but one that is offensive to some, with its echoes of the Holocaust.

I'm interested in other times deep, geologic time, not the president's simplistic reference to the next century when the climate warmed at the rate that it is doing so now. How long did the warming escalate and persist? What forces or events might have precipitated warming? What factors accompanied its ultimate reversal as ice ages neared? By asking questions we can learn what we can expect from nature, so that perhaps we can better understand what we can do to counter the warming trend.

And so those who claim to believe in climate change and vilify those who ask questions might learn a lesson in what science actually is from the elegant discussion of wolf origins.

Explore further: Study doesn't support theory red and eastern wolves are recent hybrids, researchers argue

This story is republished courtesy of PLOS Blogs: blogs.plos.org.

A team led by University of Idaho researchers is calling into question a widely publicized 2016 study that concluded eastern and red wolves are not distinct species, but rather recent hybrids of gray wolves and coyotes. In ...

Research by UCLA biologists published today in the journal Science Advances presents strong evidence that the scientific reason advanced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the gray wolf from protection under ...

Scientists have successfully produced hybrid pups between a male western gray wolf and a female western coyote in captivity.

Today's Great Lakes gray wolf, de-listed by U.S. officials as an endangered species, probably is a hybrid and no longer the historic animal, biologists said.

Wolves and other top predators need large ranges to be able to control smaller predators whose populations have expanded to the detriment of a balanced ecosystem.

Wolves in the eastern United States are hybrids of gray wolves and coyotes, while the region's coyotes actually are wolf-coyote-dog hybrids, according to a new genetic study that is adding fuel to a longstanding debate over ...

Flatworms that spent five weeks aboard the International Space Station are helping researchers led by Tufts University scientists to study how an absence of normal gravity and geomagnetic fields can have anatomical, behavioral, ...

The diverse 'coats' which protect a deadly microbe from our immune cells are generated by a 'hotspot' of rapidly evolving genes, a study has found.

(Phys.org)A group of scientists from several institutions in Germany has suggested that extinct animals that are resurrected through scientific means be given a tag on their name to indicate their origins. In a Policy ...

It's well known that young babies are more interested in faces than other objects. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on June 8 have the first evidence that this preference for faces develops in the womb. By projecting ...

(Phys.org)A small team of researchers from Austria and Sweden has found that ravens are able to remember people who trick them for at least two months. In their paper published in the journal Animal Behavior, the group ...

Sex-changing fish exhibit differences in androgen receptor (AR) expression in muscles that are highly sensitive to androgens (male sex hormones) and essential for male courtship behavior, according to a Georgia State University ...

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How did a review of wolf studies turn into a "climate dynamics" rant?

Really tired of these spoiled whelps that think the world hangs on their every thought. And don't expect a moment's gratitude for the fact that the author was trying to be even handed on the subject. That's the thing with the alt-right and evangelicals where they will always have an advantage. No one else is that rude.

"Climate change "deniers" aren't as dangerous to our children as is science illiteracy." Odd statement. Like there's a difference. All 'deniers' are either science illiterate, or act that way in a conscious scam to appeal to those...that are scientifically illiterate. It's like saying gravity isn't nearly as life threatening as falling out of a window.

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Wolf evolution and 'settled science' - Phys.Org

Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster, DUP deputy leader and leader

Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

By Frank Swain

Having failed to win an overall majority in the UKs general election, Theresa Mays Conservative party is hoping to foster an informal coalition with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Members of the party have taken controversial stances on everything from climate change to evolution, with one assembly member being unaware that heterosexual people can contract HIV. Here are five things you need to know when it comes to science and the DUP

The party has a history of speaking out against climate change. Senior member Sammy Wilson has called climate change a con, and described the Paris Agreement as window dressing for climate chancers. During his time as Northern Irelands environment minister, he said that people would eventually look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on Earth we were ever conned into spending billions of pounds on the issue.

It isnt just Wilson though in 2014, DUP ministers tried to oppose proposals to introduce local measures against climate change in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where women cannot access abortion unless their life is endangered by pregnancy a legal situation that is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, according to a Belfast High Court ruling in 2015.

But on taking leadership of the party in 2016, Arlene Foster promised to block any attempt to change these laws, telling reporters I would not want abortion to be as freely available here as it is in England.

Foster did, however, say she might consider an amendment in cases of rape. But the DUPs Jim Wells formerly the health minister for Northern Ireland opposes abortion even in these circumstances.

DUP assembly member Thomas Buchanan has previously called for creationism to be taught in schools. In 2016, he voiced support for an evangelical Christian programme that offers helpful practical advice on how to counter evolutionary teaching. He has expressed a desire to see every school in Northern Ireland teaching creationism, describing evolution as a peddled lie.

Buchanan told the Irish News Im someone who believes in creationism and that the world was spoken into existence in six days by His power, adding that children had been corrupted by the teaching of evolution.

The DUPs leader narrowly survived a no-confidence motion following a disastrous attempt to bolster green energy in Northern Ireland by providing subsidies for wood burners. Arlene Foster introduced the scheme in 2012 when she was head of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. The original budget was 25 million, but a lack of price controls meant that, over five years, almost 500 million went up in smoke.

Last year, DUP assembly member Trevor Clarke admitted that he had thought only gay people could be infected with HIV, until a charity explained otherwise. He made the comments during a parliamentary debate around a campaign to promote awareness and prevention of HIV in Northern Ireland and to increase support for those living with HIV.

Read more: How YouGovs experimental poll correctly called the UK election

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Five things you need to know about DUP politicians and science - New Scientist

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Its time to add to the summer release calendar as Shattered Sun are on their way back with new music. The band just announced that their sophomore set will be titled The Evolution of Anger and theyve also unleashed a new video for the song Burn It Down.

The rising rockers settled into the studio with producer Mark Lewis earlier this year. Lewis, who has previously worked with DevilDriver and Fallujah, definitely had an impact on the band. Mark brought a sound to the band that we didnt think we were capable of, says guitarist Jessie Santos. You can check out the track listing for the album below and look for the disc arriving via Victory Records on July 21. Pre-orders are being taken here.

As for the song, theres some serious low end pummeling going on. People are fed up and I am certainly fed up, says singer Marcos Leal, reacting to the worldwide state of affairs. The singer continues, We almost burned this band into the ground internally. Guitarist Daniel Trejo decided to leave the band in late 2015, and internal issues began to surface before the band worked them out and Trejo returned. Between all the things we have done over the years, things finally came to the surface. Once Daniel came back into the fold, the first song he showed me was Burn it Down, and it is a perfect reflection of what occurred within Shattered Sun. You can watch the Dustin Smith-directed video for Burn It Down above.

Meanwhile, you can look for Shattered Sun playing select shows on the Vans Warped Tour this summer. See the dates below, and stay tuned for a fall tour announcement coming soon.

Shattered Sun, The Evolution of Anger Track Listing

1. Keep Your Eyes Shut 2. Blame 3. Declassified 4. Hollow Chains 5. Out for Justice 6. Die for Nothing 7. Burn It Down 8. Like Gasoline 9. Terminal 10. Hope Dies

Shattered Sun on Vans Warped Tour 2017

7/26 Maryland Heights, Mo. @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre 7/27 Bonner Springs, Kan. @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheatre 7/28 Dallas, Texas @ Starplex Pavilion 7/29 San Antonio, Texas @ AT&T Center 7/30 Houston, Texas @ NRG Park 8/1 Las Cruces, N.M. @ NMSU Intramural Field 8/4 Mountain View, Calif. @ Shoreline Amphitheatre 8/5 San Diego, Calif. @ Qualcomm Stadium 8/6 Pomona, Calif. @ Pomona Fairplex

Most Anticipated Upcoming Hard Rock + Metal Releases of 2017

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Shattered Sun Detail 'The Evolution of Anger' Album, Unleash 'Burn It Down' Video - Loudwire

A University of Washington professor recently suggested that the stress caused by Donald Trumps election to the presidency could bring about an evolutionary consequence.

Professor Peter Ward, who teaches in the schools Department of Biology, was interviewed by Gizmodo for a piece on the possibility of superhuman mutants, such as the kind found in films like X-Men, where the characters have developed powers of night vision or mind control.

"There is going to be an evolutionary consequence."

[RELATED: Yale prof: Trumps mental impairment a state of emergency]

In response to the question, though, Ward elected to discuss the stress that Americans are going through as a result of Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton.

Were finding more and more that, for instance, people who have gone through combat, or women who have been abusedwhen you have these horrendous episodes in life, it causes permanent change, which is then passed on to your kid, Ward began, then suggesting that Trumps election could have similar effects.

[RELATED: Prof: To save American democracy, Trump must hang]

On a larger scale, the amount of stress that Americans are going through now, because of Trumpthere is going to be an evolutionary consequence, he remarked.

Campus Reform reached out to Ward for elaboration on his claims, and is currently awaiting a response.

(H:T/Heat Street)

Follow the author of this article on Twitter:@MrDanJackson

Link:

Prof: 'stress' of Trump election will change human evolution - Campus Reform

Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me.

I thought it would be interesting to look to see how Wonder Womans Invisible Jet had evolved over the years.

We first saw the plane in Wonder Womans first full story (after her preview debut in All-Star Comics #8) in Sensation Comics #1 (by William Marston and H.G. Peter).

Awesomely, there is no explanation given for why Wonder Woman has an invisible plane.

We see in Wonder Woman #20 (by Joye Hummell and H.G. Peter) that the plane responds to her thoughts

And in Wonder Woman #26 (by Hummell and Peter), we see that it can go into the stratosphere!!

As Robert Kanigher took over the series, in Wonder Woman #45 he revealed that the plane no longer had propellers, so it was basically a jet

But when Ross Andru and Mike Esposito took over from H.G. Peter with Wonder Woman #98, the very next issue they revealed the new design of the invisible jet (making it look like the jets that they had been drawing for years in DCs war comics) and this was the look that would last pretty much from this point forward

A few different versions of the invisible jet were used on the Wonder Woman TV series

In Wonder Woman #261 (by Gerry Conway, Jose Delbo and Vince Colletta), the plane can now travel faster than the speed of light!!

And in Wonder Woman #312 (by Dan Mishkin and Don Heck), it is now sentient!!!

Then Crisis on Infinite Earths happened and George Perez just gave Wonder Woman the ability to fly, so she didnt need the jet, so it was not part of Wonder Womans Post-Crisis history until John Byrne introduced some characters who had an invisible jet in Wonder Woman #115

And then two issues later, they gave the special crystal to Wonder Woman, which would respond to her thoughts to create whatever she wanted

It eventually gained sentience and became a wonderful Dome for Wonder Woman, but in Wonder Woman #201 (early in Greg Ruckas first run), the Dome sacrificed its life to save Paradise Island.

Initially, the invisible jet really wasnt part of the New 52, but in Rebirth, Greg Rucka has made it so that when Steve Trevor crashed on Paradise Island, the Amazons fixed his ship and made it invisible, so now it is Steve Trevor who has an invisible plane.

I think you can make an argument that having Wonder Woman not have the ability to fly is a bit of a slight to her (thats surely what Perez was thinking when he gave her the power), but damn, man, the invisible jet is so cool!

If anyone else has a cool piece of comic book history that theyd like to see featured, feel free to drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!

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The Evolution of Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet! - CBR (blog)

Are the red and eastern wolves separate species, or hybrids with coyotes? And what has that got to do with climate change? Actually a lot, in illustrating what scientific inquiry is and what it isnt.

COMPARING CANID GENOMES

A report in this weeks Science Advancesquestions conclusions of a 2016 comparison of genome sequencesfrom 28 canids. The distinction between species and hybrid is of practical importance, because the Endangered Species Act circa 1973 doesnt recognize hybrids. But DNA information canrefine species designations or muddy the waters.

At first, genetic marker (SNP) studies hinted at a mixing and matching of genome segments among coyotes, wolves, and dogs. Then came full-fledged genome sequencing.

Last yearBridgett M. vonHoldt, head of Evolutionary Genomics and Ecological Epigenomics at Princeton and colleagues, scrutinized the 28 full genome sequences for signs of lack of unique ancestry. They compared the genomes of 3 domestic dog breeds (boxer, German shepherd, and Basenji), 6 coyotes, a golden jackal from Kenya, and various wolves to 7 reference genomes from 4 Eurasian gray wolves (to minimize recent mutations) and 3 coyotes. The conclusion: lots of genes have flowed from coyotes and gray wolves into the genomes of the animals that became what we call red and eastern wolves, in different proportions.

A bit of background. Red wolves were declared endangered in 1973. A dozen animals, selected by appearance and absence of coyote traits in their young, were captively bred to establish a population in North Carolina that is now several hundred strong. The 3 red wolf genomes evaluated in the 2016 study came from NC. Historically the animals are from the southeastern US. Gray wolves and coyotes, according to the 2016 study, are very close relatives with a recent common ancestry, although theres about as much genetic variability between the two species as within each. Eastern wolves are from the Great Lakes and the Algonquin Park region of Ontario, moving eastward.

Classifying these animals based on geography and visible traits gets confusing, with all the overlaps and shared DNA sequences. Apparently various pairings can successfully mate but probably dont do so very much in the wild when populations are large. Tracking genomes reveals a classic cline, in the parlance of population genetics, with coyote gene introgression into wolf genomes rising from Alaska and Yellowstone (8-8.5%), to the Great Lakes (21.7-23.9%), to Ontario (32.5%-35.5%), and to Quebec (>50%). (BTW the Basenji, the barkless dog, is 61% gray wolf.)

Paul A. Hohenloheof the University of Idaho and colleagues maintain that the 2016 findings actually support 2 hypotheses: recent admixture (hybridization) or that red and eastern wolves are distinct species. Actually its 3: hybridization might have happened a long time ago, something that following genes with known mutation rates might reveal.

The new paper challenges the 28-genome comparison:

The 7 reference genomes were chosen based on the animals physical characteristics and home turf not on some standard coyote or gray wolf genome. So the genomes to which the 28 were compared might not have been pure anything. Two reference coyote genomes were pooled from animals from Alabama and Quebec which might have had some gray wolf genes. Gene flow when animals mate is, after all, a two-way street, sending wolf genes back into coyotes as well as the other way around. The 2016 paper hypothesizes that red wolves are distinct due to genetic drift chance sampling from an ancestral genome but unique ancestry is an alternate explanation. The lack of unique ancestry from the 2016 study doesnt mean it isnt there.

Dr. vonHoldts team respondedto Dr. Hohenlohes teams comments, reiterating that the results show red wolf and eastern wolves are genetically very similar to coyotes or gray wolves, reflecting recent hybridization.

Discussion of wolf classification goes back a quarter century, and this trio of papers is only a recent glimpse of the debate. But I love the respectful back-and-forth of the efforts to extract a compelling narrative from the data that might be what actually happened. Multiple interpretations of the same data and amending interpretations as new data accumulate is the very essence of the scientific process.

ANTI-SCIENCE RHETORIC

Lets reframe the wolf papers using the language of the popular climate change discussion.

Are Hohenlohe and his co-workers coyote deniers?

Do vonHoldt and her colleagues believe in wolf-coyote couplings and Hohenlohe et al dont?

The science of wolf origins is clearly not settled for science is NEVER settled. Facts arent proven, but instead evidence demonstrated and assessed, from both experimentation and observation. The information from tested hypotheses may be so consistent and compelling that it eventually builds to gestate a theory, or even a law, that then explains further observations. But to get there, science is all about asking questions. As Ive written in all 35 or so editions of my various textbooks, science is a cycle of inquiry.

In fact the history of genetics is a chronicle of once-entrenched dogma changing with new experiments and observations. I was in grad school when Walter Gilberts famed Why Genes in Pieces? was published. The classic paper introduced introns, the parts of genes that arent represented in the encoded protein. It was an astonishing idea circa 1978, but with compellingevidence. Yet even Mendels pea crosses sought an alternate explanation for the prevailing notion that traits simply disappear between generations.

Before Im hurled insults, let me assert that although my expertise isnt in climate science, I think that the evidence very strongly supports the hypothesis that the planet is warming at an accelerated rate compared to some other times. And fossil fuel use is likely a partial cause, not just a correlation or association, because the relationship is linear and a mechanism plausible. But I dont believe in global warming as if it is the tooth fairy or a deity.

I cringe when politicians and celebrities appoint and anoint themselves experts on climate change, then use language that illustrates profound unfamiliarity with the ways of science.

Why did Eddie Vedderbegin his speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Pearl Jam with climate change is real? Hes a musician, not a meteorologist. Why not, semi-conservative DNA replication is real? Or hydrogen bonds are real? Noble gases are real?

Ive long had a problem with the term climate change, because of course climate changes! Why would it ever be static, given weather ups and downs?

Climate dynamics are a little like the composition of blood, or any other manifestation of biological homeostasis. Have a complete blood countat various times and, if youre healthy, results are likely to be within a narrow normal range. Ditto blood sugar, liver enzymes, serum cholesterol level. But steady blood counts dont mean that the same blood cells hang out forever. Bone marrow stem cells continually pump out blood cell progenitors as the older specialized cells die off. Natural systems change over time, with fluctuations large and small.

Climate always has and always will change.

We can learn about normal blood circulationby studying off-kilter situations leukemia, infection, anemia without fear of being labeled a denier. Its not only a scientifically inappropriate term, but one that is offensive to some, with its echoes of the Holocaust.

Im interested in other times deep, geologic time, not the presidents simplistic reference to the next century when the climate warmed at the rate that it is doing so now. How long did the warming escalate and persist? What forces or events might have precipitated warming? What factors accompanied its ultimate reversal as ice ages neared? By asking questions we can learn what we can expect from nature, so that perhaps we can better understand what we can do to counter the warming trend.

And so those who claim to believe in climate change and vilify those who ask questions might learn a lesson in what science actually is from the elegant discussion of wolf origins.

(Mini book review: for a compelling look at a fictional U.S. embroiled in a second civil war circa 2074-2095 that erupts over fossil fuel use, when Florida is a sea and much of humanity has fled underwater coastal cities for the former midwest, read American War, by Omar El Akkad. I am a voracious reader of dystopian fiction, and this book is hauntingly terrific.)

Read the original:

Wolf Evolution and Settled Science - PLoS Blogs (blog)