Evolution Books Reviews!

A couple nice reviews of new evolution science books over at Evolution Blog (a favorite source of chess news as well)!

The perplexing world of memories

So, this week I've been reading 'I am a strange loop' by Douglas Hofstadter. It's all about the self and consciousness - the 'I'. It is a fascinating read that I am enjoying in my favorite manner, reading piece by piece as opposed to cover to cover. I have enjoyed a week of contemplating time and perception and this book is complimenting it all quite well.

This all got me thinking, about memory. The storage of time within brain matter, available for reflection for ~all time. Interesting. So, if we think and then store that information to later use in further thinking, we are essentially combining times for use in our now.

Cytoskeleton, Cells Bones!!

Things are not always what they seem to be... sometimes, in our lives, the paths chosen are put into question. Sometimes, learning something new, clarifies our vision; makes us question things we thought of as fitting ~ cells are more interesting to me this week than atoms.

It's along this diversion of topic that I came across cellular structure; as another path calling my name had me reading publications on this topic, greatly to my dismay ~ as if, no matter what I know I should do, I can't do it- the other option is far to enticing.

A Cytoskeleton is like the structure of a cell, like 'bones'. These 'bones' are not solid and give the cell mobility and malleability among other things. A big difference from the basic idea of a cell being an encasing (I always imagine gelly like) with innards of floating components that do stuff (yes, that is exactly how I thought of it prior to reading these past two weeks) I never thought about the fact that cells move (thinking more in terms of a flow of liquid pushing the cells through the body - which is a childlike comprehension of both cells and cell mobility) But, now upon learning that cells actually have an internal formed structure allowing for malleability, I'm flabbergasted.

Tardinrades, the original E.T. ?

Water bears, known formally as tardigrades, are speck-sized things, less than 1.5 millimeters long. The invertebrate creatures endured 10 days in space, and upon return to Earth, scientists found that even some of those exposed to solar radiation had made it through.

Neanderthals ~ a life not unlike our own, explored

There has been a great deal of news about Neanderthals over the past few weeks. Firstly, I noticed a few articles on the Neanderthal diet and then it was the imagination inspiring National Geographic's special the Neanderthal Code that intrigued me. So, with interest and imagination bursting from the seams of my consciousness, I started dreaming. Dreaming of a day in which I could have said, Hi- to my fellow man... A day in which our people would not be able to boisterously exude superiority over all other life, as someone could have argued their case. I can feel the reality of a day when a fellow 'success of evolution' shared my path and was possibly so close an evolutionary cousin that we could have bred. It is so stimulating to read about Neanderthal's and their affiliation or integration with Homo sapiens. With each new discovery, more questions are raised. Thankfully, others are just as passionate and the information is beginning to flow. The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and 454 Life Sciences are the facilitators of the Neanderthal Gene sequencing project. ; Through the discovery of a rarely well preserved femur bone that was luckily full of wonderfully dense Neanderthal DNA, we may soon have more answers than we were looking for…

Alcohol & Perception ~ Computing Fractions Naturally ~ Known Protein Found in New Profession

Interesting article from Scientific American about the affects of moderate alcohol on ones perception and the psychological aspects of behavior in social situations under these conditions.

Thought provoking article on the natural capacity of the mind to compute fractions.

An intriguing role for a well known protein has recently been discovered to have a significant effect on cognitive function; could lead to treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

KAS

Intelligence Among Species, White Brain Matter, Glial Cells

What do you think about when pondering the intellectual capacity of brains in other species? An article in Scientific American discusses how the brain of a Sperm Whale is larger than the brain of a Human; it is nearly five times the size of ours. Does size reflect intellectual capacity? Or, is it the complexity of the brain's structure? If it's complexity, how might you go about making judgments; perhaps through tests that might reflect activity or firing of neurons? hmmm.

I have thought on this significantly prior to reading this article . and have independently come to the conclusion that different species have different types of intelligence. Whereas our intelligence has lead to advances in our social applications; like communication and expression and we have the biological ability of fine motor skills; I think that other species have abilities and strengths that we lack. I certainly witness intellectual capacity in my two cats that after some affiliation is obvious. It is apparent in other species as well; like Elephants, Big Cats, Bears and Monkeys. Dogs have a social intelligence factor as well, in my opinion, in their abilities to interact so successfully.

But, past the assumptions and on to the facts; there are different ratios to take into account in this thought process; absolute size (or weight) and brain size vs. body size ratios. "The lemming. (Kicrostonyx groenlandicus), for example, has a higher ratio than man." American Naturalist. And, "The brain of a sperm whale is about 60% larger in absolute mass than that of an elephant. Furthermore, the brains of toothed whales and dolphins are significantly larger than those of any nonhuman primates and are second only to human brains when measured with respect to body size." Plos one.

Mercury ~ Why the drama?

This weekend was wonderful. I enjoyed Saturday night in Boston at Improv Asylum on the North end, followed by unauthentic pizza that was deliciously greasy and ended at a nearby hookah bar with a glass of amaretto. It was fantastic. As I recently have been trying to legitimately heal an unstable relationship with the person I enjoyed this with, this was all particularly beneficial.


I know this has nothing to do with Mercury :)

Mercury; well, I know that a friend of mine, Eric, has a small jar of Mercury. He broke a bunch of thermometers as a teen and compiled the element into a rather impressively large blob of liquid metal. Very cool to look at and manipulate by rotating the jar.

Yes, I am aware now that I should not have been turning a jar of Mercury around in my palms, reveling is such a dangerously toxic element's beauty.

Mercury is interesting for numerous reasons. It is one of only six liquid metals and is the only one that remains a liquid at room temperature, which makes it uniquely variable in it's uses. Mercury was named after a planet, but it's chemical name is Hg which is derived from the Latin hydrargyrum (meaning watery & silver). It has one of the narrowest temperature ranges in it's liquid state and is worth discussing because it is a really beautiful element. cont...

Children's Science Books - other than 'everyone poops'

Over at Cocktail Party Physics is an incredible list of children's science books anyone one with little people would just love!!!

James Woodward, Religion and Suicide Bombs-

Jim Woodward video, on if religious belief actually does account for suicide bombings and the like, via the ever active blog evolving thoughts!! 

Utterly engaging, worth a watch.