Natural Genetic Engineering

Shapiro, looking excited

We live in exciting times, when we are finally beginning to understand the workings of evolution.

One of the things Aristotle said about living beings is that they contain within themselves the principles of their own movement.  The more we learn about genetics, the more this seems true, down to the deepest levels.   In  his latest blog on natural genetic engineering, James Shapiro has some interesting things to say.  It is worth quoting the entry extensively. 

First caution.  By "natural genetic engineering" (NGE) Shapiro does not mean an explanatory principle, but rather all the biochemical mechanisms cells possess to "cut, splice, copy, polymerize and otherwise manipulate the structure of internal DNA molecules, transport DNA from one cell to another, or acquire DNA from the environment. Totally novel sequences can result from de novo untemplated polymerization or reverse transcription of processed RNA molecules." 

On the Razor's Edge

A book description appears on Amazon, which I share with you:

The secret war among the Shadows of the Name is escalating, and there are hints that it is not so secret as the Shadows had thought. The scarred man, Donovan buigh, half honored guest and half prisoner, is carried deeper into the Confederation, all the way to Holy Terra herself, to help plan the rebel assault on the Secret City. If he does not soon remember the key information locked inside his fractured mind, his rebel friends may resort to torture to pull it from his subconscious.

Meanwhile, Bridget ban has organized a posse—a pack of Hounds—to go in pursuit of her kidnapped daughter, despite knowing that Ravn Olafsdottr kidnapped the harper precisely to lure Bridget ban in her wake. The Hound, the harper, and the scarred man wind deeper into a web of deceit and treachery certain of only one thing: nothing, absolutely nothing, is what it seems to be.

Banners of the Shadows

The Shipwrecks of Time - Excerpt

I'm early by a couple of days.  

There'll probably be two more after this one.  I think.  I can't put the whole thing up here, guys, and I'm skipping some of the kool stuff regarding Ogier the Dane, Gregory of Tour's History of the Franks, and the Res gestae arturi britanni.  Not to mention what Frank will find early next year at the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe. 

     Frank wore a blue blazer over dark slacks and, as a concession against the snow, big rubber galoshes with metal clasps.  He shed these and the overcoat, muffler, and fur-lined cap at the coat-check and followed Nelson into the Stone Toad.  As instructed, he rubbed the Toad on the head before circling the fountain into the night club.
     “Let’s see what’s on display tonight,” Nelson called into his ear.  

See what's on display here: 

    

Inanity or Insanity? You Decide!

The science blog at the Guardian contains this fascinating gem:

The RSC's Shakes Sphere talks are designed to explore Shakespeare's world, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council provides funding for research. It occurred to me that comparing fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans of the brain of an actor with those of an astronomer might yield some clues to Galileo and Shakespeare's drives.

Why would such a bizarre notion occur to the writer?  Galileo and Shakespeare are both as dead as Francisco Franco and their brains are unavailable for scanning.  So we get this:

This Way Lies Madness

h/t Mark Shea

The Shipwrecks of Time - excerpt

This may be the next-to-last excerpt.  

     Wilma decided that Jonathan Henkle could be remarkably dense.  He absolutely could not understand why she had gone ape-shit over Delacorte’s assignment.  “This is my third year at the Institute,” she told him when she confronted him in his office, “and I’ve never been sent to Europe for so much as a demitasse!” 

READ HERE

Boskone 50

Back from Boskone.  Boston was snowed up, but not impenetrably so.  I am told that a week earlier was a different story, but that is ever a risk for a con in mid-February in Boston.  On the waterfront.  The Westin was its usual self, with the additional twist that its main restaurant no longer served dinner.  Well, it was pricey-plus.  But the "pub" is not large enough to handle the dinner crowd.  Fortunately, I didn't care, since I was staying in a different hotel entirely.