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All matter forms patterns, many rather periodic. View in LinkedIn

EMERGENT PHENOMENA. “It has been observed that a large population of fireflies often display synchronized flashing. Each firefly tries to match its flashing with neighboring fireflies. As each firefly tries to synchronize with the others, the whole population of fireflies begins to flash together. This collective motion is only a result of interactions between members...and there is no leader who dictates the individual’s behavior. “ https://lnkd.in/dZaukdg View in LinkedIn

“PHYSICS is full of opposites. For every action, there’s a reaction; every positive charge has a negative; every magnetic north pole has a south pole. Matter’s opposite number is antimatter. And for black holes, meet white holes. Black holes are notorious objects that suck in everything around them. Famously, not even light can escape their awesome gravity. White holes, in contrast, blow out a constant stream of matter and light – so much so that nothing can enter them.” https://lnkd.in/djSRsBX View in LinkedIn

These seemingly fragile gems withstand storms, dirt, predators and pollution, and are tough enough to migrate long distances. View in LinkedIn

LIKE GENETICS VS EMBRYOLOGY. “Synthetic biology presents a challenge to traditional accounts of biology: Whereas traditional biology emphasizes the evolvability, variability, and heterogeneity of living organisms, synthetic biology envisions a future of homogeneous, humanly engineered biological systems that may be combined in modular fashion.” https://lnkd.in/dhkrmJx View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first of two weekends on the cunning strategy of the bacteria Wolbachia which has enabled it to colonize half of the insect species in the world. The ability of symbionts and parasites to enact sophisticated strategies on their hosts makes one suspect that more than chance is at play, but when nature gambles at such high rates over geological time, even slim probabilities can become realities. It is a game of sheer numbers against the odds of chance. View in LinkedIn

FINE PRINT. “Furthermore, even if the symbiont retained the ability to rescue the cross, for example, if genes are swapped among paralogous pairs within the genome, the pair of genes might be eliminated in the long term if it generated self-incompatibility when transferred to a new genome.” https://lnkd.in/dXjWp9f View in LinkedIn

MOLECULAR EVOLUTION. “A possible molecular cause of this phenomenon comes from the observation that cifA and cifB bind each other, and so binding affinities may be greatest between coevolved genes. If this is the case, then there would be strong selection against recombination between the genes as this could generate symbionts that are unable to rescue crosses with infected females.” https://lnkd.in/dXjWp9f View in LinkedIn

EARLY OBSERVATIONS. “It has long been observed that crosses between insects carrying different Wolbachia strains are frequently incompatible, suggesting that modification and rescue factors must be matched to produce viable offspring.” https://lnkd.in/dXjWp9f View in LinkedIn

The structure of flowering plant sexual organs has us in perpetual rapture. View in LinkedIn