02 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Hawking Considers Computer Viruses Life
A living being like you or me usually has two elements: a set of instructions that tell the system how to keep going and how to reproduce itself, and a mechanism to carry out the instructions. In biology, these two parts are called genes and metabolism. But it is worth emphasising that there need be nothing biological about them. For example, a computer virus is a program that will make copies of itself in the memory of a computer, and will transfer itself to other computers. Thus it fits the...Folksonomies: life
Folksonomies: life
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notes12 JAN 2018 by ideonexus
Neurons Use Viruses to Share Information and Learn
When genes are activated, the instructions encoded within their DNA are first transcribed into a related molecule called RNA. Shepherd’s colleague Elissa Pastuzyn showed that the Arc shells can enclose RNA and move it from one neuron to another. And that’s basically what retroviruses do—they use protein shells to protect their own RNA as it moves between cells in a host.
So our neurons use a repurposed viral gene to transmit genetic information between each other in an oddly virus-like... 1 notes
notes21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
Red Queen Hypothesis of Computer Viruses
We know, historically, that the "walled garden" approach can have benefits during the early adopter phase. AOL's walled garden provided parental controls, security and organization of online content that was useful to introduce the Internet to mass adoption. But, as we know from IBM, AOL, Microsoft, Apple, etc., keeping the walls too high or for too long can hurt the relationship with consumers, distribution partners and other market participants.
The day will come when viruses and other mal...Folksonomies: evolution information systems
Folksonomies: evolution information systems
1 notes
notesComputer viruses force or IS to evolve.
29 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
We are Machines that Carry Genes
We are survival machines, but 'we' does not mean just people. It
embraces all animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses. The total number of
survival machines on earth is very difficult to count and even the total
number of species is unknown. Taking just insects alone, the number of
living species has been estimated at around three million, and the
number of individual insects may be a million million million.
Different sorts of survival machine appear very varied on the outside and
in their i... 1 notes
notesThe Gene's-eye view of evolution is very useful.
20 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Relative Sizes of Structures in the Brain
Linear measure- ments and dimensions generally are given in microns or micrometers (µm) (1 µm equals one- millionth of a meter) or nanometers (nm) (1 nm or millimicron equals one-billionth of a meter). About 240,000 µm equal one inch.
As a reference, the following are the dimen-
sions of some non-neural structures: human ovum, 100 µm; cross-section of a skeletal muscle fiber, 10-100 µm; erythrocytes, 8–10 µm; bacteria, 0.1–8 µm; and viruses, 0.15–0.5 µm.
Cell bodies of neurons... 1 notes
notesInteresting to see how they compare to the sizes of other small objects.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Parasites are Always Out There, Waiting
But however secure and well-regulated civilized life may become, bacteria, Protozoa, viruses, infected fleas, lice, ticks, mosquitoes, and bedbugs will always lurk in the shadows ready to pounce when neglect, poverty, famine, or war lets down the defenses. 1 notes
notesWe must be ever-vigilant.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
One Half of DNA is Parasitic
Parasites are not only incredibly diverse; they are also incredibly successful. There are parasitic stretches of DNA in your own genes, some of which are called retrotransposons. Many of the parasitic stretches were originally viruses that entered our DNA. Most of them don't do us any harm. They just copy and insert themselves in other parts of our DNA, basically replicating themselves. Sometimes they hop into other species and replicate themselves in a new host. According to one estimate, ro... 1 notes
notesThis doesn't sound right to me, but the claim is that Viruses have inserted so much DNA into our genomes.
04 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Organic Chemists Merely Increase the Probability of Results
It is, I believe, justifiable to make the generalization that anything an organic chemist can synthesize can be made without him. All he does is increase the probability that given reactions will 'go.' So it is quite reasonable to assume that given sufficient time and proper conditions, nucleotides, amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids will arise by reactions that, though less probable, are as inevitable as those by which the organic chemist fulfills his predictions. So why not self-dupli... 1 notes
notesIn nature, with enough time and proper conditions, the results would happen eventually without him, including self-duplicating molecular systems like viruses.
04 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
More Exciting Than the Supernatural
And yet there's so much in real science that's equally exciting, more mysterious, a greater intellectual challenge - as well as being a lot closer to the truth. Did he know about the molecular building blocks of life sitting out there in the cold, tenuous gas between the stars? Had he heard of the footprints of our ancestors found in 4-million-year-old volcanic ash? What about the raising of the Himalayas when India went crashing into Asia? Or how viruses, built like hypodermic syringes, slip... 1 notes
notesThere are wonders in science far more amazing than the ideas presented in superstition.
05 APR 2011 by ideonexus
The Many Ways the Universe Observes Itself
On this planet, and probably countless more, inanimate atoms became molecules which formed cells and over billions of years those cells evolved into complex organisms which finally became viruses, plants, animals, salamanders, banyan trees and human beings. Without giving it any thought, with no way to think it, the universe brought into existence a way of making itself seen.
There is more than one way to see. A leaf turns to the light. A chimpanzee selects a piece of fruit. A fish sees a sm...
1 The Universe, without consciousness, evolved living things with consciousness and the ability to experience the Universe in a multitude of ways.
