natural selection

Metabolism accounts for why natural selection favors only some species

harminka — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:10:20 -0600

Why are some species of plants and animals favored by natural selection? And why does natural selection not favor other species similarly?

Fish study helps strengthen Darwin's natural selection theory

harminka — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:59:17 -0500

Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a UBC study published today in Science Express.

Natural selection may not produce the best organisms

harminka — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:30:41 -0500

"Survival of the fittest" is the catch phrase of evolution by natural selection. While natural selection favors the most fit organisms around, evolutionary biologists have long wondered whether this leads to the best possible organisms in the long run.

Detecting natural selection in microbial evolution

harminka — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:57:47 -0500

Scientists at MIT have come up with a mathematical approach for analyzing a protein simultaneously in a set of ecologically distinct species to identify occurrences of natural selection in an organism’s evolution.

Could mathematical model predict demise of business?

harminka — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:43:08 -0500

Many gamblers claim to have a "system", whether they're shooting craps, backing horses, or punting on the stock market. Now, researchers in Taiwan have devised an approach to spotting when a company is likely to fail based on the principles of natural selection. They report details of their system in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Electronic Finance.

Genetic differences influence aging rates in wild

harminka — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:01:30 -0600

Long-lived, wild animals harbor genetic differences that influence how quickly they begin to show their age, according to the results of a long-term study reported online on December 13th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

Gene divided reveals the details of natural selection

harminka — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:52:26 -0500

In a molecular tour de force, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided an exquisitely detailed picture of natural selection as it occurs at the genetic level.

U.S. researchers devise way to calculate rates of evolution

jpastor — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:39:32 -0500

If there were an evolutionary arms race between a small, hot animal and a cold, big animal, it’s going to be awfully hard for the cold, big animal to keep up.

Scientists proposekind of chemistry that led to life

harminka — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:11:38 -0500

Before life emerged on earth, either a primitive kind of metabolism or an RNA-like duplicating machinery must have set the stage - so experts believe. But what preceded these pre-life steps?

New theory on the function of barn swallow tail streamers

harminka — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:38:37 -0500

Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Cambridge have turned a textbook example of sexual selection on its head and shown that females may be more astute at choosing a mate than previously thought.

Ocean model precisely mimics microbes' life cycles

harminka — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:22:29 -0500

Scientists at MIT have created an ocean model so realistic that the virtual forests of diverse microscopic plants they "sowed" have grown in population patterns that precisely mimic their real-world counterparts.

No sex for 40 million years?

harminka — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:47:01 -0500

A group of organisms that has never had sex in over 40 million years of existence has nevertheless managed to evolve into distinct species, says new research published today. The study challenges the assumption that sex is necessary for organisms to diversify and provides scientists with new insight into why species evolve in the first place.