Year: 2022

RAPID EVOLUTION IN VITRO. "Here we report on the de novo evolution of a two-stage life cycle in the unicellular alga C. reinhardtii. In our experiments, we find that simple multicellularity can evolve rapidly in C. reinhardtii. Like most extant multicellular organisms, we find that multicellular C. reinhardtii possesses a life history that alternates between uni- and multicellular stages." https://lnkd.in/dU8HRX5 View in LinkedIn

China says it will phase out ivory trade in 2017 View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the snowflake. It is emblematic of the truth that nothing in nature is too small to be deeply fascinating. I post this after visiting the beautiful city of Prague for Christmas week, historical home to mathematics, astronomy and music. In the nearby ancient town of Cesky Krumlov, a snowflake landed in my black coat, after viewing Miroslav Páral's extraordinary statue, The Guardian of Intestines, in the city beneath the city. Eclectic mixture. View in LinkedIn

KEPLER, father of modern astronomy was born 1752, December 27th. "A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy." https://lnkd.in/dvhwdZY View in LinkedIn

MANTRA OF FIXED ANGLES. "Why do freezing water molecules arrange themselves so easily and consistently at the 120 degree angle that forms this hexagonal structure? Our science does not yet provide a good explanation for that. Ice forms in lots of other configurations too. And the angles involved in those await explanation as well." https://lnkd.in/dmgcCBk View in LinkedIn

THE TYPICAL EXPLANATION. "Water (or water vapour) molecules attach to a dust particle and form the beginnings of a snowflake. These molecules crystallize to a hexagonal plate form, every snowflake is formed around this shape. Every one will have repeated hexagon design but each snowflake will be slightly different. A hexagon is a 2D shape with six sides." https://lnkd.in/dRC3GWk View in LinkedIn

ON HIVES, POMEGRANATES, AND ICE. "Kepler wondered why a hexagon is the underlying form for a snowflake and not another shape, he proposed that it may be something to do with a hexagon being one of only three shapes that can fill a 2D surface without any gaps. The others being a triangle and a square." http://thesmarthappyproject.com/hexagon-geometry-snowflake/ View in LinkedIn

THE HEXAGON. "The molecule H2O (water) contains one oxygen and two hydrogen. These two hydrogen atoms sit at an angle in relation to the oxygen which is perfectly the same angle as the corners of a hexagon, so building the lattice structure." http://thesmarthappyproject.com/hexagon-geometry-snowflake/ View in LinkedIn

"A HEXAGONAL PLATE is the beginning of every snowflake, as it grows the water available becomes less able to fill all the space and so branches and tendrils appear always on a six fold pattern which are what we recognise as traditional looking snowflakes." http://thesmarthappyproject.com/hexagon-geometry-snowflake/ View in LinkedIn

ITERATIVE HEXAGONS. "Different temperatures create different patterns, but they are all based on hexagonal geometry. These many different forms have become named things like: fernlike, dendritic, stellar, plate, columnar." http://thesmarthappyproject.com/hexagon-geometry-snowflake/ View in LinkedIn