I just had two Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) scream by the apartment building at eye (fifth floor eye) level. One pulled up and did a little “wing over” before peeling off in another direction.
This is the second time that I’ve seen Peregrines in the last week or so. I know that they live over on the CIBC building at Yonge & Bloor, but I hadn’t seen them outside my window.
Dunno what we’re supposed to make of this news release:
“What? We’re similar to a sea urchin? That can’t be possible.”
Um, well, not really. Some part of our genomes are the same. And there might be clues in there to help humans live longer (which, I ask: do we really need?). That’s about it. We don’t live in the ocean and we’re not harvested and turned into bite-sized dinner.
I see this as a case that emphasizes the problem with the reductionism inherent in studies of genomes (so what does it really mean if echinoderms and humans have similar genomes?) and the recent emphasis on genes (and genomes by extension) as the gold standard in explaining life’s mysteries. Perhaps there is some anthro-genetic-gold locked away in a sea urchin’s genome, but what else is new? We’ve been looking for and mining genetic gold for a while now…
So yes, it is interesting that sea urchins are closer to us on the phylogenetic tree then say, other genetic poster boys (like Drosophila sp., for example). But, there are lots of other organisms that are closer. It’s just that a echinoderm’s radial symmetry (versus our lateral symmetry) and their morphological dis-similarity to us gives us the immediate impression that sea urchins must be genetically distant. But knowing that chimpanzees, given their genetic code, should be in the same genus as us (or that we should be seen as the third chimpanzee, thanks Jared Diamond) I’m really not that surprised that there’s some overlap with distant relative.
Link: Sea Urchin Genome Surprisingly Similar To Man And May Hold Key To Cures
Unrelated post-script: I love the photo of UCF Professor Cristina Calestani: I think it should be called “Sea urchin, microscope & professor.”
I am not a mathematician by any stretch of any imagination, so I don’t know if this an example of pop mathematics or not but I find this interesting even so.
Now, I’m not sure what those deeply entrenched in the various mathematical disciplines think about this (but they seem to be a bit off anyway) but I’ve just read about a computer science professor in the UK that has solved the equation 0/0 by proposing a new number: nullity. Nullity lies off the linear number line (-∞…-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3… ∞). Just the idea of a number off the linear line strikes me as brilliant.
The STS portion of my brain starts firing at the idea of a new number. It’s a little mind-boggling, but did this number always exist? Was it just “created”? These kinds of ideas are precisely why I love academia: it takes creativity and thinking beyond the established rules to think of something like this.
“Overall, the forest is pretty full, there is the odd leaf falling off the tree, but basically everything is still in tacked.”
&
Heather
I think it’s because I’m not into beastieality the same way Heather is…
And here are his puppy photos featured on the same site. I’m proud to say that Ollie has received 10.4 biscuits out of 11 with over a thousand votes!
I also noticed David Foster at the edge of the falls while looking for a Black-legged Kittiwake. See? Not only can I identify birds, but I can identify celebrities (a stretch, I know) as well.
I went looking for gulls along the Niagara River today. I decided to go for an ill-advised swim…
Kidding!
In one of my other lives, I edit the book reviews for Canada’s pre-eminent academic journal on all things related to education for, by, in and about the environment (don’t worry, thankfully this is a description of the journal that I just made up and is in no way the official, well-worded one).
Anywhoo. Assuming that people actually read this thing and I’m not just talking electronically to myself, you can find the call and further instructions here.
Here’s a neat-o shot on Flickr from last week for us Torontonians who live lower than the 346m of the CN tower’s observation deck.
