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FRAGMENT FROM NATURE for the next two weekends concerns my annual autumnal observation that trees of the same species drop (and later sprout) leaves at precisely the same time, even though that time differs from year to year, based on rainfall and other conditions. Somehow, they all have done the same calculation and arrived at the same conclusion. Or, they all tuned into the same (spooky) channel. Quite remarkable. View in LinkedIn

SONG OF DARWIN. "The more I study nature, the more I become impressed […] that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations [acquired through natural selection] transcend in an incomparable degree [those] which the most fertile imagination of the most imaginative man could suggest with unlimited time at his disposal." https://lnkd.in/eykUy37 View in LinkedIn

THE QUESTION. "The evolution of life, from simple organic compounds in a primordial soup to the amazing diversity of contemporary organisms, has taken roughly 3.5 billion years. How can we explain the evolution of increasingly complex organisms over this period?" http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10112.full View in LinkedIn

COMPLEXITY IS NOT ENOUGH. "For example, archaea and eubacteria formed eukaryotic cells, and cells formed multicellular organisms. However, not all cooperative groups are en route to major transitions." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10112.full View in LinkedIn

SMALL STEPS TO COMPLEXITY. "The evolution of life on earth has been driven by a small number of major evolutionary transitions. These transitions have been characterized by individuals that could previously replicate independently, cooperating to form a new, more complex life form." https://lnkd.in/eia5GWQ View in LinkedIn

ANALOGOUS SYSTEMS. "With the rise of synthetic biology, evolutionary robotics, artificial life and advanced simulations, novel perspectives to these problems have led to a rather interesting scenario, where not only the major transitions can be studied or even reproduced, but even new ones might be potentially identified. In both cases, transitions can be understood in terms of phase transitions, as defined in physics." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

NEW THINKING. "Synthetic transitions: towards a new synthesis. We can create a new multi-cellular system by engineering new cell–cell signals on single cells. Similarly, a proto-grammar can emerge in a group of interacting, evolvable robots. These are synthetic transitions that are not necessarily related to standard evolutionary paths, but they do involve ways to generate major innovations starting from simpler systems." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

BIOLOGICAL EMERGENCE. "The emergence of life, the genetic code, complex cells, multicellular organisms and language are some of the best-known examples. They all involve a novel class of organization with high-order properties not reducible to the properties of the lower-scale units." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

TRANSITION POINT. "The bifunctionality of Rubisco as both a photosynthetic enzyme and a reserve of mobilizable N is reflected in the dual role of foliage: leaves are organs of storage as well as assimilation, and the initiation of senescence may be considered to be the point of transition from C to N source." https://lnkd.in/dPac2Jv View in LinkedIn

UPDATING DARWINISM. "The world's top biologists have met to discuss whether we should update evolution" "Bringing Darwin's theory into the 21st century." http://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-top-biologists-have-met-to-discuss-whether-we-should-update-evolution View in LinkedIn