A mathematical model shows a global trend towards mutualism between species

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID

A team led by researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has developed a new mathematical model to study changes in ecological interactions between microbe populations. One of the conclusions they have found is that there is a trend towards mutualism, that is, towards a relationship in which species benefit each other.

There are various types of ecological interactions between species in ecosystems. One of the best known is predation (one species feeds from another, to put it simply), but there are other varieties, such as competition for resources, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, etc. However, it is known that these are not permanent states, because there may be transitions between these interactions as a result of evolution. For example, a predation relationship between species may eventually become a mutualistic or symbiotic relationship between them during the course of evolution.

This new mathematical model makes it possible to study the type of transitions in ecological interactions. “One of the conclusions we have found is that there is a clear trend towards mutualism: ecological interactions can start in any way, but in the majority of cases they eventually lead to a mutualistic relationship”, says one of the researchers, José Antonio Cuesta Ruiz, professor in UC3M’s Mathematics Department, who recently published this work in the scientific journal Physical Review E together with researchers from UPM, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid and Universidad del Pacífico at Lima (Peru).

In this article, they have also shown the high frequency with which these transitions occur in nature, discovering evolutionary trajectories that go through various intermediate states, according to the researchers: “Despite being a simple model, its emergent behavior is complex, it shows transitions between different ecological relationships, and is able to go through different stages of mutualism, predation and competition before reaching its final state”, add Javier Galeano and Juan Manuel Pastor, lecturers at UPM and co-authors of the work.

For their study, the researchers have used classical models of population dynamics, to which they have applied a standard technique in evolutionary theory, called adaptive dynamics. This technique allows them to find dynamic equations for the parameters of the population model, which determine the nature of ecological interactions, making it possible to study how these interactions change over time. “These types of models, despite being very simple, are able to capture essential elements to provide mechanisms of emergent phenomena. They are very useful when studying complex systems”, says Cuesta.

Video: https://youtu.be/Dgh9c6pFQMs

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JOURNAL

Physical Review

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevE.106.054401 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Prevalence of mutualism in a simple model of microbial coevolution

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kropotkin-peter/1902/mutual-aid/index.htm

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, Peter Kropotkin 

Peter Kropotkin 1902. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. Source: Anarchy Archives. Proofed: Zdravko Saveski, 2021. Contents. Introduction

Coral reefs are spatially distributed to maximize the availability of resources

A new study in collaboration with the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has found that these ecosystems grow towards the main current and are able to self-organize to capture more food

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUT DE CIÈNCIES DEL MAR (ICM-CSIC)

 

IMAGE: SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE EXPECTED REEF GROWTH, TOGETHER WITH THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS OCCURRING ON THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM SIDES OF THE REEF STRUCTURE. GREEN AND RED ARROWS INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS RESPECTIVELY. ORANGE DOTS REPRESENT ARTEMIA SALINA NAUPLII. INITIAL NUBBIN LOCATION CORRESPONDS TO THAT OF THE PRESENT EXPERIMENT. view more 

CREDIT: SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE EXPECTED REEF GROWTH, TOGETHER WITH THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS OCCURRING ON THE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM SIDES OF THE REEF STRUCTURE. GREEN AND RED ARROWS INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS RESPECTIVELY. ORANGE DOTS REPRESENT ARTEMIA SALINA NAUPLII. INITIAL NUBBIN LOCATION CORRESPONDS TO THAT OF THE PRESENT EXPERIMENT.

Scientists from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), the Universitat de Barcelona, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and other European research centres have found that cold-water coral reefs -similar to those located in tropical areas but found at greater depths- are distributed in a specific way throughout space to maximize the availability of resources, acquired through capturing particles of organic matter that are transported by marine currents.

The details of this research are reported in a study published recently in the journal Scientific Reports, which has modelled the hydrodynamic factors that control the growth and morphological evolution of these reefs, considered hotspots of biodiversity in deep environments. This is a major breakthrough, since until now very little was known about the processes that induce the formation of the complex three-dimensional structures that characterize them.

To carry out the study, the authors designed a complex experiment by placing an artificial reef with live corals in a tank and exposing it for months to unidirectional currents, thus recreating the physical characteristics in which these reefs are found in deep sea environments.

Thanks to this, they were able to test a long-standing hypothesis: that corals grow towards the prevailing current. In this sense, the results of the experiment revealed that the colonies at the frontal part of the reef, and therefore more exposed to the currents, grew much more and showed a lower degree of stress.

In addition, the team observed greater growth in colonies located at some distance from the front of the reef, where the speed and direction of bottom currents are re-established and allow other reefs to develop. These patterns strengthen the idea that corals are able to self-organize in space to take better advantage of available resources.

"Our results show that the presence of a reef causes a deviation of the bottom currents above it, creating a shaded area at the back where the exchange of oxygen and ions involved in the calcification of corals decreases, and through which much of the food that is in suspension does not pass. This is reflected in the reduced growth and in the expression of stress-related proteins in the corals that inhabit these zones," explains Guillem Corbera, the lead author of the study.

Claudio Lo Iacono, co-author of the study, points out that "we have been able to observe the growth of a reef by studying the processes of interaction between its morphology and the surrounding hydrodynamics, which even affect the physiological processes of the colonies themselves. Therefore, we believe that these bio-constructions can self-organize in space and time".

Knowledge about cold-water coral reefs is important because of their uniqueness and key role in the ocean, where they act as architects of deep ecosystems and serve as refuges for many species. In addition, the analysis of their chemical composition provides insight into their past climate, as this depends mainly on climatic oscillations associated with ice ages, changes in sea surface productivity and sea level variations.

---

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-24711-7 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Local-scale feedbacks influencing cold-water coral growth and subsequent reef formation

Dining dinosaur fossil has mammal in belly, sheds light on ancient ecosystems

EDMONTON — A rare fossil of a dining dinosaur is shedding new light on ancient ecosystems and behaviours.

Dining dinosaur fossil has mammal in belly, sheds light on ancient ecosystems

 Provided by The Canadian Press

"It's one of the few things that really give you an idea of ecology and behaviour in the fossil record," said University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan, who describes what he and his colleagues found in the belly of a 120-million-year-old Microraptor Zhaoianus in a newly published paper.

Zhaoianus (pronounced zhay-OHN-us) was a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur. Fully fledged but with a bony tail and a jaw full of sharp little teeth instead of a beak, it likely glided around the forests, swamps and lakeshores of the early Cretaceous era.

"It's transitional between dinosaurs and birds," Sullivan said.

This particular Zhaoianus was part of a huge fossil collection in an institute in China where Sullivan and his co-authors worked. It had never been carefully examined until they took a closer look.

Inside the dinosaur's belly was the unmistakable ankle and foot of a mammal.

"It's got a well-defined heel," said Sullivan. "And the toes -- there are no more than three toe bones in each digit, which matches the condition in mammals but not in reptiles."

It's rare to find any dinosaur intact, said Sullivan, rarer still to find a small, intact dinosaur.

"There's a ferocious bias against any small delicate animals being preserved in the fossil record. Their bones just fall apart."

The odds against finding a small, intact fossil with an even smaller intact fossil of its last meal are astronomical, Sullivan said.


"Just think of what has to happen. The fossil carnivore has to be fairly intact -- the rib cage at least fairly preserved. The fossil has to be of an individual that had a meal shortly before death.

"And that meal had to have had hard bones or shells so it will be preserved."

As it happens, there are a couple of other Zhaoianus fossils from the same fossil bed as this one. Sullivan said that's likely because they were all found in the bed of what used to be an ancient lake, an ideal environment for fossilization.

But those other fossils contained birds, lizards and fish. This is the first mammal found in the belly of a Zhaoianus.

The foot in its belly doesn't look as if it came from a climber, so maybe the raptor dropped down from the sky in its hunt. Or maybe the dinosaur was simply gobbling down carrion it didn't have to kill at all.

The finding shows Zhaoianus was opportunistic and dined on whatever it could, not unlike the crow it superficially resembles.

"Microraptor was running or possibly gliding around, feeding on many different kinds of vertebrates," Sullivan said. "It wasn't specialized and that's interesting."

It may suggest the same was true of other microraptors, he said.

But quite apart from its scientific value, Sullivan finds the fossil compelling because it captures a moment millions of years old, a tiny pixel from a bigger picture of a long-lost world.

"That makes it neat," he said.

"A lot of the specimens I work with are skeletons or parts of skeletons that don't contain behavioural signals. When you see a specimen like this, that individual microraptor ate that individual mammal. We have an interaction between two vertebrates. And that's rare."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2022.

-- Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

‘Big challenges’: choosing a nuclear career in Japan

The 2011 Fukushima disaster made working in the nuclear industry unappealing, but a new government push to revive the sector could start to shift the narrative - Copyright International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)/AFP/File Handout

Etienne BALMER
AFP
December 21, 2022

The 2011 Fukushima disaster made working in the nuclear industry unappealing for many Japanese students, but a new government push to revive the sector could start to shift the narrative.

It’s a welcome development for some young professionals, who have experienced the stigma sometimes associated with their job.

Chisato, who declined to give her family name, studied chemistry and radiation biology as a student, looking for a deeper understanding of the Fukushima disaster than what she read in anxiety-inducing media reports.

“I just wanted to know the facts, in a neutral way — especially about the effects of nuclear radiation on the human body,” the 28-year-old told AFP at a recent international conference for young nuclear professionals.

Still, when she applied for a job in 2017 at the operator of the stricken Fukushima plant, she was “surprised” when the interviewers asked what her parents thought of the role.

She later learned that other candidates had pulled out of the recruitment process because of family disapproval.

She took the job, despite the concerns of her parents.

“They asked me if I would work at Fukushima Daiichi, and I explained to them that it wouldn’t affect my health,” she said.

The 2011 disaster was triggered by a massive tsunami that overwhelmed generators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The resulting radiation released forced the evacuation of people in a 20-kilometre radius (12-mile radius), and while no-go zones now account for around 2.4 percent of Fukushima prefecture, many people chose not to return to their former homes.

– ‘We must be motivated’ –

In the decade after the disaster — the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl — the number of atomic science students in Japan fell by more than a quarter, according to the education ministry.

But now the government is hoping to revitalise the sector, aiming to reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels, and move towards carbon neutrality.

After working in Japan for three years, Chisato moved to Europe for a new job in the nuclear industry.

She returned home for the International Youth Nuclear Congress, a biennial forum for students and early-career professionals in the sector.

The November event, the first held in Japan, convened in a symbolic location, Koriyama in northeastern Fukushima region. Several hundred Japanese and foreign attendees gathered to network and hear speeches on the industry’s future.

“We must be motivated,” enthused Kota Kawai, president of a Japanese youth network for the nuclear energy industry, and a co-chair of the congress.

“We have to express what we think, what we do, to others,” he told AFP at the event.

“After the Fukushima accident, students got interested in how we can overcome big challenges. Many students got interested in the decommissioning field.”

He insists the drop in students entering the field shouldn’t be overinterpreted, as numbers vary each year, but acknowledges there are some gaps.

“The problem is there are very few people who know how to construct nuclear power plants,” he said.

– Carbon neutrality –

Japan took all its nuclear reactors offline immediately after the 2011 disaster, and the majority remain out of action.

But with the nation facing sky-high costs for imported energy because of the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for more plants to be restarted.

By 2030, the government wants nuclear power to account for 20-22 percent of electricity production, up from around seven percent now, as it targets carbon neutrality by 2050.

Hikari, a 28-year-old who asked to be referred to by her first name only, works in the nuclear energy research department of a large Japanese conglomerate.

Her parents and friends have never criticised her choice, she said.

However, it took “years” of discussions for her husband to come round to the idea.

“He might not agree 100 percent, but he now respects my decision, and understands that I want to do my job properly,” she told AFP.

And while the government’s ambitions might be a boon for those in the industry, some are cautious.

Kyohei Yoshinaga, who works on electricity and energy innovation at Mitsubishi Research Institute think-tank, fears the enthusiasm for nuclear could wane fast.

The 30-year-old, who began his university studies the same year as the Fukushima disaster, understands that “there is a need right now” for nuclear power.

But he fears public opinion could harden against the restart of nuclear reactors if energy prices fall again.

“The situation can change very easily and fast,” he said.

‘Give me my youth back’: students return to forefront of China protests


In China, what began as vigils for victims of an Urumqi apartment blaze expanded into protests calling for an end to Covid restrictions and greater political freedoms - Copyright AFP Michael Zhang

Laurie CHEN

By AFP
Published December 22, 2022

Students played a major role in recent nationwide rallies that sprouted up across China, upholding a long tradition of campus protest in the country and challenging the cliche that their generation is more apolitical than the last.

In cities and universities across China in late November, what began as vigils for victims of a deadly apartment blaze expanded into calls for an end to Covid restrictions and greater political freedoms.

The country has a long history of student movements triggering wider social unrest, including 1989 pro-democracy rallies which ended in bloodshed when the army moved in on peaceful protesters, most famously in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

But China’s current student cohort — the first generation with no living memory of that crackdown — have received a wholly patriotic education from birth, and are often characterised as less politically defiant than their predecessors.

That view has now been tested.

“I think today’s Chinese students are a lot more knowledgeable about the world than they are sometimes given credit for,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University.

“They can be ‘liberal nationalists’, patriotic yes, but also exhibit typical middle class yearnings for civil liberty.”

At the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing, students called for “freedom of expression, democracy and rule of law”, while at rival Peking University, slogans echoing an earlier anti-government bridge protest were daubed on a wall.

At campuses nationwide, young people held up blank sheets of paper symbolising rejection of censorship.

The government abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy following the protests, in an apparent concession to the widespread public anger.

Long-term economic worries and the fact the virus was spreading rapidly despite the curbs, according to the World Health Organization, also played an important role.

And though authorities moved simultaneously to quash the demonstrations through intimidation and arrests, some believe the seeds of a greater political awareness were already sown.

“I think student participation is a symbol of hope, because it suggests that… young people still have a social conscience and political potential, and are willing and able to change current circumstances,” one Tsinghua protester told AFP.

– ‘First movers’ –

Besides students, migrant workers and locked-down homeowners were involved in the rallies.

“We shouldn’t overestimate students’ role,” the Tsinghua student said, contrasting the largely peaceful events on campuses to iPhone factory workers in Zhengzhou who physically clashed with authorities.

“The image of students in this wave of protests remains at the surface level.”

Still, some universities in Beijing and Guangzhou, apparently spooked, sent students home early for the holidays.

Since the early 20th century, Chinese universities have been hotbeds of activism — although this has been heavily suppressed since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

Historically, as well as the pivotal role played in 1989, the May Fourth anti-imperialist movement started by Beijing students in 1919 was a political awakening for many future Communist Party leaders.

More recently, Marxist student activists helped organise factory strikes in southern China in 2018, but suffered a heavy crackdown.

This year, many of the viral protest slogans and pictures originated at arts colleges before spreading to elite universities.

“There has historically been a tradition of art students using installations and other forms of art to engage with sensitive political issues such as censorship in China,” said political scientist Dali Yang.

This generation’s digital savvy and ability to circumvent internet firewalls — likely gained from trips overseas — makes them “great ‘first movers’ in sparking protests”, ANU’s Sung said.

– ‘Time to express dissent’ –

Students have experienced some of the strictest zero-Covid measures in China, with classes moved to online teaching, campuses closed to outsiders, frequent exam delays and home visits requiring written permission.

Graffiti reading “Give me my youth back” was written on testing booths at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in November, reflecting the prevailing mood among students — some of whom had been confined to campus for months.

“All of them have been feeling really sad and angry (since Covid)… All these things have been bubbling up for a long time,” said Ting Guo, assistant professor at the University of Toronto, on a recent podcast.

“These emotions tie all these social differences together into what we’re witnessing today.”

Guo’s colleague Diana Fu said the protests “reflect a consensus among Gen-Z that it is time to express dissent”.

“(They) show that patriotic education has not completely wiped away yearnings for freedom,” she said.

Even after the loosening of restrictions, sporadic protests erupted at campuses, including at Wuhan University by students still prevented from going home.

Last week, medical students in Jiangsu and Sichuan demonstrated over unequal pay and working conditions, as more toil in frontline shifts to battle a surge in Covid cases.

“Perhaps the impact (of the protests) is that everyone realised they can begin to act and take a small first step, and it wasn’t that hard,” the Tsinghua student said.

Indonesia’s ‘all-gendered’ priests on verge of extinction

Less than 40 Bissu remain in just a few areas across Indonesia's South Sulawesi, according to anthropologists - Copyright AFP INDRA ABRIYANTO

Andi Hajramurni

AFP
Published December 20, 2022

After dawn in a small eastern Indonesia town, a young man holds an ornate umbrella over non-binary priest Puang Matowa Nani, as they walk barefoot to a nearby pond to perform the annual ritual of Mappalili.

The ceremony marks the start of the planting season on the island of Sulawesi, where the androgynous Bissu community to whom they belong once held divine status, but are now fighting against extinction.

Less than 40 Bissu remain in just a few areas across South Sulawesi, according to anthropologists, and they now perform cultural and shaman-like roles to prevent their traditions from dying.

Nani, a Bissu in their 60s who was born male, said they faced opposition from their family when they experienced a gender identity crisis as a child, but was now at peace with who they are.

“My family disliked it, especially my older brother,” they recalled. “He kept beating me to force me to be a real man.

“I’ve tried to change but I could not.”

In the 1950s, a rebellion led by the Islamic State of Indonesia group sought to create a caliphate in the country, leading to many Bissu being accused of violating Islamic principles and facing persecution.

They were hunted, murdered, or forced to behave as masculine men.

“Since then, Bissu no longer wanted to show themselves, they disappeared, and they didn’t want to do any cultural activities,” Halilintar Lathief, an anthropologist at Makassar State University, told AFP.

“They were scared and decided to hide.”

The community is now on the brink of extinction, seeing their numbers dissolve into the majority Bugis ethnic group in South Sulawesi.

Bugis people believe in five genders: “makkunrai” or cis woman; “oroane” or cis man; “calabai” or men who take on traditional roles for women; “calalai” or women who take on traditionally male roles; and the “Bissu”, who are neither male nor female but embody all genders.

Older Bissu have died and without financial or cultural support, not enough of the younger generation are replacing them.

The remaining few, however, are trying to keep their heritage alive.

– A ‘floating soul’ –

At the pond, bordering a lush green rice field, Nani led the Mappalili ritual and chanted a prayer as other Bissu in bright silk blouses, headdresses and embroidered skirts walked behind in a parade.

The Bissu performed a dance to the beat of a drum before stabbing themselves with a slim, long dagger known as a keris, appearing as if they were in a trance.

To become a Bissu, one must receive “Pammase”, or a direct calling from God. You cannot join the community by marriage or birth.

They must then undergo extensive training to perform different rituals and learn a secret language only Bissu can understand.

Many Bissu say they receive enlightenment from God through their dreams.

In one such dream, Julaeha, who goes by one name, told AFP they were sick for two months in a delirious state in which they saw a man riding a horse telling them to join the community.

“I felt like my soul was floating,” they said.

– ‘Messengers of God’ –

The Bissu once lived a prosperous life. They were revered and owned lands granted by the Bugis Kingdom that preceded the modern-day Indonesian state.

“Bissu held a very important role during the kingdom era. They were considered the intermediaries between God and the people,” anthropologist Lathief said.

But now, with little money to be made, the attraction of joining the community has dwindled.

Some of the Bissu community now make a living working regular jobs such as doing bridal make-up.

“Not many are interested in becoming a Bissu because there is no salary from the government,” Nani said.

Despite the past persecution and split opinion on the community, the non-binary figures still have a place in the staunchly Islamic Bugis society.

“Since I became a Bissu, I have always been accepted by the public,” Julaeha said.

“I’ve never been insulted or ostracised. I even got called a lot to perform (rituals).”

An eager Muslim spectator at the Mappalili ceremony, Pattola Ramang, said Jakarta must do all it can to prevent the community’s extinction.

“What they do is culture and tradition which we must preserve,” the 66-year-old said.

“The government should pay attention and support the Bissu so they will survive.”

Spain votes on trans rights bill that has split the left


By AFP
Published December 21, 2022

Spanish lawmakers will vote on a transgender rights bill that allows anyone 16 and over to change gender on their ID card - Copyright AFP Thomas COEX
Hazel WARD

Lawmakers vote Thursday on a transgender rights bill that allows anyone 16 and over to change gender on their ID card, legislation that has sparked divisions within Spain’s left-wing government and its feminist movement.

The draft bill effectively simplifies the procedure for changing gender on a person’s national identity card, allowing them to request the change based on a simple statement.

But the text has sparked a bitter dispute among activists in Spain’s powerful feminist lobby and LGBTQ equality campaigners.

If it passes its first reading on Thursday, the bill will move to the Senate and if left unchanged, as expected, will become law within weeks.

It would make Spain one of the few countries in the world to allow transgender people to change their status with a simple declaration.

In Europe, Denmark was the first country to grant such a right in 2014.

Until now, only adults have been allowed to request the change in Spain and have had to provide a medical report attesting to gender dysphoria and proof of hormonal treatment for two years.

But the new law would drop that requirement and allow anyone from age 16 to freely change their designated sex on their ID card. Even those as young as 12 could apply but only under certain conditions.

After submitting the request, the applicant must confirm the demand three months later, then it will become valid.

The legislation is one of the flagship projects of the equality ministry which is held by Podemos, the radical left-wing junior partner in Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist-led coalition.

“At last this law depathologises trans lives and guarantees trans people’s rights,” said Equality Minister Irene Montero, a strong advocate of gender self-identification who has been robust in her approach to any opposition.

“Today the feminist majority in this House responds to transphobia.”

– Friction on the left –

Adopted by the cabinet in June 2021, the bill has sparked tensions between Podemos, the driving force behind the legislation, and the Socialists who have tried in vain to modify it.

It has also divided the feminist movement between those supporting Montero and the powerful feminist lobby allied with the Socialists who are implacably opposed to the text.

“The state has to provide answers for transgender people, but gender is neither voluntary nor optional,” said Carmen Calvo, who was Sanchez’s former deputy and headed the equality ministry when it was held by the Socialists.

“When gender is asserted over biological sex, it does not seem to me to be a step forward in a progressive direction; it seems to be a step backwards,” she told the El Mundo newspaper in September.

Activists fear the law will be open to abuse and erode women’s rights, allowing men who self-identify as women to compete in women’s sport or request a transfer to women’s prisons.

They have also raised the alarm about minors having the right to self-determine gender — with parental authorisation from the age of 14 and with both parental and judicial approval from 12.

Although the Socialists pushed for an amendment that would have extended judicial authorisation to include 14 to 15-year-olds, it was ultimately rejected in what was widely seen as a victory for Montero and Podemos.

Tensions around the legislation prompted Socialist LGBTQ activist Carla Antonelli — the first and only trans woman to serve as a lawmaker — to resign from the party after decades of activism.

“One more step and it will be law, the triumph of reason over hatred,” she tweeted on Wednesday.

Op-Ed: New genes show humans continuously evolving — Into what?


ByPaul Wallis
PublishedDecember 22, 2022

Conservationists fear that edited genes might be passed on to non-target species like pollinators — © POOL/AFP/File Ludovic MARIN

New research shows that humans are always evolving, and don’t stop. No less than 155 new genes are making that statement very unequivocally. These are definitely new genes.

This isn’t necessarily good news. Genes related to defects are also in the mix. According to the study published in Cell Magazine, there may be more undetected microproteins and therefore “novel” genes.

… This leads to an inevitable question: What is evolving into what?

It should be remembered that humans are a relatively young species in evolutionary terms. Just about everything else on Earth is much more evolved. Many mammals in particular are far from their genetic origins.

The usual statement that humans are 99% identical to chimpanzees (the range is anything from 96% to 99%, depending on the source) is a case in point. If a 1% of difference in genes makes so much difference, what happens in the next million years or so? What if a 5% different form of human evolves in the near future?

The changes would be fundamental. A Stanford study in 2020 indicates the human body is now about 1 degree cooler than it was 150 years ago. That’s a truly critical issue. Heat demand in organisms, particularly from the brain, is extremely important. This finding indicates more thermal efficiency in crucial systems and functions.

Applied to an entire statistical population, and in such a short time frame, it could actually mean evolution is accelerating. It also implies that other correlative changes have occurred. There’s just no getting around organic thermodynamics. In humans, when a difference of X degrees means alive or dead, being able to reduce demand for heat is a very good move.

The problem is that looking for and studying evolution, even with far more advanced tech, means doing a lot of science. You’re searching for an unknown number of needles in an unquantifiable number of haystacks. …When you have to guess whether it’s a needle or a haystack every time.

DNA. — By P99am — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

Natural selection vs getting lucky or both?

The much-overworked science fiction cliché of something evolving just in time for a movie is pretty ridiculous, really. However, it’s not all wrong. It is possible a few stray genes can deliver positives. There’s something much more likely, though. There’s a process called speciation in which diverse groups of the same animal are separated and go their own way in evolutionary terms. They adapt to their different environs, diets, etc. Sound familiar? It should.

Does this very well-known process involve gene adaption? Of course, it does. These adaptions are much faster than the usual plodding pace of the traditional view of evolution. Speciation can happen in a few generations, through necessity.

…So Homo Sapiens, that ever-so-endearing global tourist from Africa, might pick up a few traits and genetic options in the last couple of millions of years. More likely good old Homo Sap has needed to evolve in order to adapt.

OK, now take this doggedly trudging bit of logic a nanometre further – How much more different from the original environment of humanity could the modern world be?

This leads to a few questions:

Will success spoil Homo Sapiens?
Ain’t we supposed to have brains?
You call this mess a success?
What if you screw things up faster than you can adapt to them, golly gosh gee?

For a global freeloader species, H. Sapiens has been fairly lucky in evolutionary terms. The question is now whether adaption and evolution can keep track of the mess that H. Sap has made for itself. How do you adapt to polluted air and water?

The really interesting thing (yes, humans can be interesting; you just have to look a bit harder) is the brain. You may have read a lot of commentary on brain size, for example. Small brains mean dumb.

…Or maybe highly evolved organisms which have been around for much longer than H. Sapiens have evolved much higher efficiencies in brains. Redundant structures aren’t much of an asset in evolutionary or even basic functional terms. Evolution would discard the useless bits.

To get to the degree of evolution of most other species, humans would need millions of years. The only advantage humans have is that they’re despecialized omnivores that can live anywhere. The fact that humans are also making a lot of the world uninhabitable for themselves, of course, might be a factor in evolution.

What if a new human species evolves which can live in toxic waste dumps? You can thank the food sector for that if it does. The human brain can apparently evolve to exist in an environment of pure drivel, non-information, and idiotic levels of totally unnecessary stress.

This is the challenge to science – Can humanity adapt to itself? This might be the first time we have to assess evolution as a truly unnatural process.

Canada and UK lead global national debt rankings

By Dr. Tim Sandle
Published December 22, 2022

Wall Street — © Digital Journal

With Christmas just around the corner and the cost of living on many people’s minds, credit cards are often turned to. This might seem like the best option for many in the short-term but it is something that can lead to problems in the longer-term when debts need to be repaid.

Analysts at Invezz have analysed global data looking at several debt-related factors including credit card ownership, household debt and government debt to reveal the countries with the highest levels of debt.

With the analysis, Canada comes top as the most indebted of nations, followed by the U.K. (with the U.S. in third place). Canada has the biggest overall debt problems, with a combined debt score of 8.42 out of 10, having appeared in the top 10 countries for each factor. The 10 countries with the most debt are:

Rank	Country	Credit Card Ownership	Household Debt (% of disposable income)	Government Debt (% of GDP)	Debt searches per 100,000	Overall Debt Score
1	Canada	82.74%	185.62%	87.16%	801.54	8.42
2	United Kingdom	62.11%	147.74%	83.85%	2,385.47	7.92
3	United States	66.70%	101.11%	108.80%	1,445.57	7.75
4	Norway	66.74%	246.30%	40.94%	232.25	7.09
5	Finland	65.29%	154.20%	59.59%	212.06	6.75
5	Australia	51.41%	203.02%	46.80%	1,165.99	6.75
7	Japan	69.66%	114.69%	236.14%	27.40	6.34
8	Switzerland	69.21%	222.09%	39.80%	131.99	6.33
9	Ireland	54.96%	123.64%	57.22%	733.44	6.17
9	Netherlands	37.43%	228.20%	47.56%	433.90	6.17

When it comes to the UK, the research reveals that despite the relatively high position, the U.K. has the most debt-conscious population, at least if Internet activity is a good measure. The data suggests that the U.K. has the most searches per 100,000 people for debt and credit-related terms.

The U.K. has also been revealed as the most debt-conscious country in the world. There are 2,385.47 searches per 100,000 people. This indicates that people in the U.K. are the most engaged with the world of debt, either by seeking new lines of credit or looking for help with managing their financial situation.

The U.K. also has by far the highest number of searches for “debt advice” per head at 44.23 per 100,000 people. The highest number of searches per head for each debt-related search term analysed. With 122.19 searches for “borrow money” per 100,000 people, as well as 2219.05 for “credit card” per 100,000. As these search rates are actually almost double that of the U.S. (which is in second place for this criterion).

The U.K. also made the top 10 for government debt, placing tenth, as well for credit card ownership, for which it placed eight. Eight place equates to 62.11 percent of the adult population owning one.

The highest percentage of credit card ownership however goes to Canada with 92.74 percent of the country owning a credit card.

ECOCIDE

Keystone pipeline raises concerns after third major spill in five years

By Karen Graham
PublishedDecember 21, 2022

TC Energy restarted a portion of the Keystone Pipeline, but the part of the pipeline where the oil spill occurred was still off line - Copyright AFP Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

TC Energy’s Keystone oil pipeline leaked an estimated 14,000 barrels of oil into a Washington County, Kansas creek on Dec. 7, 2022.

TC Energy claims its crews have recovered a total of 6,973 barrels of oil – nearly half of the 14,000 barrels released into Mill Creek on December 7. TC Energy also says it has restarted parts of the Keystone Pipeline unaffected by the leak in Washington County.

According to The Guardian, this incident was the largest onshore oil spill since at least 2013, the Keystone pipeline’s third major spill in the last five years, and the largest since it began operating in 2010.

Officials are now scrambling to clean up the mess, a mixture of heavy bitumen oil that has been diluted so that it is able to flow through the pipeline.

“This spill in Kansas is going to take years to clean up. TC Energy currently is pretending that this is going to be a two-week cleanup job and everything’s going to be fine,” said Jane Kleeb, founder, and president of Nebraska non-profit Bold Alliance, which helps communities fight fossil fuel projects.

About 22 oil spills have occurred on the Keystone pipeline in the past 12 years, with two other large incidents. TC Energy has only paid $300,000 in fines for previous spills on the Keystone pipeline, even if the spills caused more than $111 million in property damage.

Reuters points out that a review by U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) this year highlights growing questions by legislators about whether special use permits contribute to oil spills.

As it turns out, the Keystone Pipeline is the only pipeline to have a special permit to pump oil at a higher pressure. T%his has raised questions about the integrity of the pipeline itself.

The 2021 report to Congress by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that TC Energy performed worse than nationwide averages in the previous five years due to major spills in 2017 and 2019. PHMSA allowed Keystone to run at a higher pressure than other pipelines starting in 2017, subject to 51 conditions.

The latest Keystone spill raises doubts about whether PHMSA adequately assesses risk in granting special permits, said Don Deaver, a pipeline consultant.