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Category: evolution – Page 16

Protein problem: Researchers challenge fundamental assumption in evolutionary biochemistry

How did life originate? Ancient proteins may hold important clues. Every organism on Earth is made up of proteins. Although all organisms—even single-celled ones—have complex protein structures now, this wasn’t always the case.

For years, evolutionary biochemists assumed that most emerged from a simple signature, called a motif. However, new research suggests that this motif, without the surrounding protein, isn’t as consequential as it seemed. The study is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

The international team of researchers was led by Lynn Kamerlin, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Georgia Research Alliance Vasser Woolley Chair in Molecular Design, and Liam Longo, a specially appointed associate professor at the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Institute of Science Tokyo, in Japan.

Ferns may have the ability to “evolve backward” to a more primitive form

Everyone’s seen Rudolph Zallinger’s “The March of Progress” illustration showcasing the evolution of humans: from early primate ape ancestor, Dryopithecus, and progressing toward modern man, Homo sapiens. Evolution is a fascinating phenomenon, but it doesn’t necessarily always follow a straight path as portrayed by Zallinger.

The idea that evolution marches from simple to complex forms, building irreversibly on each prior form has been around for a long time. Paleontologist Louis Dollo’s law states that once an organism progresses with a specialized structure, it does not revert to the previous state.

But now, a new study published in the journal Evolution is challenging the prevailing belief that life progresses unidirectionally. The findings suggest some plants can evolve backward, i.e., specialized species can revert to their more primitive forms.

Post from Isaac Arthur

By popular request we’ve begun adding playlists of the show as Podcasts on Youtube Music, I’ll try to add a new one every 2–3 days till we have most of our inventory up there, but given today’s Episode is *Cities of the Future*, a collection of all of those seemed a good idea https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIIOUpOge0LuyCbYUhy-79RQKkOXonmx4 These are the (tentatively named) upcoming playlists/podcasts list I’ll be adding, in no particular order: Megastructures & Extreme Engineering The Fermi Paradox & Alien Civilizations Space Colonization & Habitats Post-Scarcity & Future Civilizations Transhumanism & Human Evolution Propulsion & Interstellar Travel Terraforming & Planetary Engineering Mind, Machines & Alien Intelligence Future Warfare & Defense Strange Worlds & Alien Life.

Mammal’s lifespans linked to brain size and immune system function, says new study

So size does matter?

Mammal’s lifespans linked to brain size and immune system function, says new study.

The researchers looked at the maximum lifespan potential of 46 species of mammals and mapped the genes shared across these species. The maximum lifespan potential (MLSP) is the longest ever recorded lifespan of a species, rather than the average lifespan, which is affected by factors such as predation and availability of food and other resources.

The researchers, publishing in the journal Scientific Reports, found that longer-lived species had a greater number of genes belonging to the gene families connected to the immune system, suggesting this as a major mechanism driving the evolution of longer lifespans across mammals.

For example, dolphins and whales, with relatively large brains have maximum lifespans of 39 and up to 100 years respectively, those with smaller brains like mice, may only live one or two years.

However, there were some species, such as mole rats, that bucked this trend, living up to 20 years despite their smaller brains. Bats also lived longer than would be expected given their small brains, but when their genomes were analysed, both these species had more genes associated with the immune system.

The results suggest that the immune system is central to sustaining longer life, probably by removing aging and damaged cells, controlling infections and preventing tumour formation.

Continue reading “Mammal’s lifespans linked to brain size and immune system function, says new study” | >

Rare silver decay offers scientists a new window into the antineutrino’s elusive mass

Neutrinos and antineutrinos are elementary particles with small but unknown mass. High-precision atomic mass measurements at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have revealed that beta decay of the silver-110 isomer has a strong potential to be used for the determination of electron antineutrino mass. The result is an important step in paving the way for future antineutrino experiments.

The mass of neutrinos and their antineutrinos is one of the big unanswered questions in physics. Neutrinos are in the Standard Model of particle physics and are very common in nature. They are produced, for example, by in the sun. Every second, trillions of solar neutrinos travel through us.

“Their mass determination would be of utmost importance,” says Professor Anu Kankainen from the University of Jyväskylä. “Understanding them can give us a better picture of the evolution of the universe.”

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