27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
Norman Borlaug, Giga-Lifesaver
In the 1950s and ’60s, another giga-lifesaver, Norman Borlaug, outsmarted evolution to foment the Green Revolution in the developing world.21 Plants in nature invest a lot of energy and nutrients in woody stalks that raise their leaves and blossoms above the shade of neighboring weeds and of each other. Like fans at a rock concert, everyone stands up, but no one gets a better view. That’s the way evolution works: it myopically selects for individual advantage, not the greater good of the ...19 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Antibiotics Evolve Bacteria in the Gut
New antibiotics have been coming out at frequent intervals since
then, and bacteria have evolved resistance to just about every one of them. Nowadays, the most
ominous example is MRSA (methycillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which has succeeded in
making many hospitals positively dangerous places to visit. Another menace is ' C. diff.' (
Clostridium difficile). Here again, we have natural selection favouring strains that are resistant to
antibiotics; but the effect is overlain by anothe...As the bacteria adapt to the hostile environment.
03 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Reproduction is the Most Important Evolutionary Trait
Those strains that reproduce persist; those that do not reproduce die out. The ability to reproduce is what makes living things different from rocks. Besides, there is nothing inconsistent with free will or even chastity in this view of life. Human beings, I believe, thrive according to their ability to take initiatives and exercise individual talent. But free will was not created for fun; there was a reason that evolution handed our ancestors the ability to take initiatives, and the reason w..."Everything can be inherited except sterility."