Temporal coding in transcription factor levels
“The researchers…have studied transcription factors, the signalling molecules inside cells that activate or deactivate genes. They found that the strength of the signal is less important than the...
View ArticleArticle on the Avida genetic programming system
Avida is an open-source software laboratory, which uses evolving computer programs to study evolution. Here’s an interesting article called Testing Darwin from Discover magazine, which is about...
View ArticleProgress toward virtual E. Coli
For those who contemplate the day when we can say the workings of the brain are fully understood and solved, this article (Building a Virtual Microbe, Gene by Gene by Gene – New York Times) about the...
View ArticleVesicle release in bacteria
Bacterial speech bubbles : Nature Bacteria secrete signals to other bacteria of the same species through vesicle packets. Mashburn and Whiteley describe the unexpected convergence of two seemingly...
View ArticleRobert Trivers: The kindness of strangers
The Guardian has posted a very well written and entertaining profile of Robert Trivers, an evolutionary biologist who proposed controversial but influential ideas concerning the emergence of concepts...
View ArticleMachines vs. humans, A machine candidate to enter in the club of the most...
Soon machines will obtain higher IQ’s than humans in intelligence tests. Traditionally the intelligence quotient has been considered the best indicator for scientifically evaluating natural...
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A ubiquitous human parasite that shapes human culture?
In the provocative-hypothesis-of-the-week department: Kevin Lafferty, a parasitologist, has put forth the idea that a fairly ubiquitous parasite (infecting O(10%) of Americans, and up to 2/3 of people...
View ArticleNeuroengineering and the MIT TR35 innovators
Today MIT’s Technology Review magazine released its annual list of innovators under the age of 35 who were nominated for recognition. Interestingly, almost a full quarter are doing work relating to or...
View ArticleMore on “Quad Nets” (new brain/mind theory)
In September, 2006, I described my “new brain/mind theory” here and received some challenging criticism from Eric Thomson and Mike S. (see below). To meet these challenges, I prepared a reduced model...
View ArticleRobust Systems
A great essay by Gerald Sussman, “Robust Systems”. In the first half or so (my favorite part) he describes architectural principals of biological systems that contribute to robustness. In the second...
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