Month: September 2022

FRUIT OF THE WOMB. “What becomes of the carpel after fertilisation. Indeed, the greater part of carpel-related biodiversity becomes apparent only at this later stage, as the gynoecium transforms into a fruit.” https://lnkd.in/dN-h-K2 View in LinkedIn

HOUSE OF THE EMBRYO. “To accomplish their role in seed dispersal, fruits undergo considerable post-fertilisation changes, though many of the mechanisms that bring these about are established at earlier developmental stages. Thus, the basis for fruit development is laid down during the formation of the carpel.” https://lnkd.in/dN-h-K2 View in LinkedIn

REPURPOSED GENES. “Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that: (1) orthologs of most floral genes existed long before their specific roles in flowering were established; (2) novel gene lineages first appeared with the origin of the angiosperms and probably contributed to the origin of the flower; and (3) after a functional flower evolved, genetic innovations continued as new genes originated and/or were recruited into floral genetic programs.” http://www.genetics.org/content/202/4/1255 View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this discussion of the female heart of flowering plants, the carpel. This is a case study of the evolutionary importance and impact of a tiny structure, not only on a lineage of living things, but also on the planet. For with flowering plants came an ecosystem of insects, and nested in the insects, came their symbionts, and so on. It shows that biological innovation can be easily overlooked. View in LinkedIn

4 UNIVERSAL DRIVERS. “Self-improvement causes systems to allocate their physical and computational resources according to a universal principle. It also causes systems to exhibit four natural drives: 1) efficiency, 2) self-preservation, 3) resource acquisition, and 4) creativity. Unbridled, these drives lead to both desirable and undesirable behaviors.” https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn

1ST DRIVE. “The efficiency drive leads to algorithm optimization, data compression, atomically precise physical structures, reversible computation, adiabatic physical action, and the virtualization of the physical. It also governs a system’s choice of memories, theorems, language, and logic.” https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn

2ND DRIVE. “The self-preservation drive leads to defensive strategies such as “energy encryption” for hiding resources and promotes replication and game theoretic modeling.” https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn

3RD DRIVE. “The resource acquisition drive leads to a variety of competitive behaviors and promotes rapid physical expansion and imperialism’ https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn

4TH DRIVE. “The creativity drive leads to the development of new concepts, algorithms, theorems, devices, and processes. https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn

THE GOOD AND THE BAD. “The best of these traits could usher in a new era of peace and prosperity; the worst are characteristic of human psychopaths and could bring widespread destruction.” https://lnkd.in/dAGQTQs View in LinkedIn