Tag: Biology

A Theory of Justice (and the Dog Park.)

“That traditional view of morality is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. The fact that human morality is different from animal morality — and perhaps more highly developed in some respects — simply does not support the broader claim that animals lack morality; it merely supports the rather banal claim that human beings are different from other animals…Unique human adaptations might be understood as the outer skins of an onion; the inner layers represent a much broader, deeper, and evolutionarily more ancient set of moral capacities shared by many social mammals, and perhaps by other animals and birds as well.“

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, bioethicist Jessica Pierce and biologist Marc Bekoff suggest what apparently agreed-upon rules of canid play teach us about animal morality. (via FmH.) “Although play is fun, it’s also serious business. When animals play, they are constantly working to understand and follow the rules and to communicate their intentions to play fairly.“

Kent Brockman was Right.

“The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.” By way of FmH, scientists discover that Argentine ants seems to have developed a multi-continental mega-colony. “[W]henever ants from the main European and Californian super-colonies and those from the largest colony in Japan came into contact, they acted as if they were old friends…In short, they acted as if they all belonged to the same colony, despite living on different continents separated by vast oceans.” Well, one thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

Operating, Generating, New Life.

“‘This raises a range of big questions about what nature is and what it could be…Evolutionary processes are no longer seen as sacred or inviolable. People in labs are figuring them out so they can improve upon them for different purposes.’” A front-page story in today’s WP announces we’re on the threshold of completely synthetic life — as in 2008 — made from enhanced or even artificial DNA. “Some experts are worried that a few maverick companies are already gaining monopoly control over the core ‘operating system’ for artificial life and are poised to become the Microsofts of synthetic biology…In the past year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been flooded with aggressive synthetic-biology claims.“

The Andromeda Strains.

“Human beings evolved in gravity, and it makes perfect sense that some systems — especially the immune and skeletal systems — might not do well without it.” A new NASA study finds microbes and viruses may be particularly lethal on long space flights. “Even though astronauts are not now getting sick on their missions, we see very clearly statistically significant and reproducible change in immune functioning after two weeks in space.“

Dance Dance Evolution.

“‘People are born to dance,’ Ebstein told Discovery News. ‘They have (other) genes that partially contribute to musical talent, such as coordination, sense of rhythm. However, the genes we studied are more related to the emotional side of dancing — the need and ability to communicate with other people and a spiritual side to their natures that not only enable them to feel the music, but to communicate that feeling to others via dance.” Looks like the Red Shoes are just a placebo — According to recent research at Hebrew University’s Scheinfeld Center for Genetic Studies, some people are just hardwired to dance. Now if only they could figure out why some people start conga lines or insist on breaking into the Electric Slide. (Via Dangerous Meta.)

Release the Kraken.

And, would you believe it? Boss DeLay wasn’t the only nefarious and nightmarish tentacled creature to be captured in the past twenty-four hours. For the first time ever, Japanese scientists have succeeded in photographing a giant squid in its natural habitat. (I read about this late last night and had some very disturbing dreams about it. After all, there are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.) [Last link inspired by MysVamp.]

Philanderers of the Pleistocene.

“‘It is a pattern that has built up over time,’ said Dr Jason Wilder, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA. ‘The norm through human evolution is for more women to have…children than men. There are men around who aren’t able to have children, because they are being out-competed by more successful males.’” One of my high school roommates — now a biologist at Arizona — unearths genetic evidence that prehistoric Lotharios really got around, while Beta Cavemales have always had it bad. I dunno, I always thought Barney Rubble did pretty well for himself…