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NEW SPECIES IDENTIFICATIONS. “Among the most notable ones is the identification of the class of chimeric single-stranded (ss) DNA viruses that combine genes from known families of positive-strand RNA viruses and ssDNA viruses.” https://lnkd.in/dyavu7e View in LinkedIn

NOT SO SPECIAL. Biologists have been stumped to adequately explain the origin of life, nor agree on a definition, and many have gone as far as to say that it is a unique event in the universe, nurtured by an extraordinary confluence of physical conditions unique to planet Earth. But there is a growing concern that mere assemblies of metal wires could grow to be an evolving, sentient, reproducing threat to mankind. There is abundant evidence that life can spring up and evolve quickly from innate sources. View in LinkedIn

MECHANO-PROGENY. "Human beings create machines to do things more quickly and more efficiently, but some are beginning to believe that our own inventions may one day become our own children. Are machines capable of being recognized as living beings?" https://lnkd.in/etiQ6T7 View in LinkedIn

A GROWING VOICE. "We should be more afraid of computers than we are." https://lnkd.in/dUuTG9Y View in LinkedIn

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE has become a hot topic. Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Elon Musc warns of its dangers. "Mr. Hawking recently joined Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and hundreds of others in issuing a letter unveiled at the International Joint Conference last month in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The letter warns that artificial intelligence can potentially be more dangerous than nuclear weapons." (2015). http://observer.com/2015/08/stephen-hawking-elon-musk-and-bill-gates-warn-about-artificial-intelligence/ View in LinkedIn

THE ALARM has been called about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Serious-minded people are seriously concerned. The most interesting aspect of this is the belief, by those qualified to give such an opinion, that a bucket of bolts could possibly think, learn, evolve, reproduce, and even compete with humans. This is the Grey Zone on steroids, a fascinating possibility. And a comment on our very biology. View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this brief summary of the discovery of Polintons. These are very unusual creatures that are thought to transition between naked DNA transposons and viroids. It is worth remembering that we have so far only discovered less than 1% of the estimated number of virus species that exist. And these we both very numerous and very large. Also worth remembering is that only a small fraction of (known) viruses cause disease, and many have played key roles in the evolution of life on this planet. And, finally, there is an ongoing farcical discussion of whether viruses are even alive. View in LinkedIn

RECONSTRUCTED HISTORY. “Extensive comparative analysis of the genomes of dsDNA viruses infecting eukaryotes as well as dsDNA plasmids and transposons has led to an evolutionary scenario in which polintoviruses evolved directly from bacteriophages of the family Tectiviridae and played a central role in the origin and evolution of diverse selfish elements in eukaryotes including giant viruses of the proposed order “Megavirales”.” https://lnkd.in/dyavu7e View in LinkedIn

UNIQUE HYPOTHESIS. “Thus, we have hypothesized that Polintons lead a dual life style and, in addition to behaving like typical transposons, are capable of forming virions, hence the proposed name polintoviruses.” https://lnkd.in/dyavu7e View in LinkedIn