This is so funny!
June 26, 2008 5:45 AM
Bonn/deuHello football experts! I'm just a humble person who doesn't know much about football. I just thought that the 3 (three) german goals looked very nice, especially number 1 and 3. The 2 turkish goals could have been saved by Lehmann who didn't have a very good day yesterday, to put it mildly.
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Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of Escherichia coliIn other words, specifically those of a blogger at conservapedia.
Zachary D. Blount ,Christina Z. Borland , andRichard E. Lenski* Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
Contributed by Richard E. Lenski, April 9, 2008 (received for review March 26, 2008)
The role of historical contingency in evolution has been much debated, but rarely tested. Twelve initially identical populations of Escherichia coli were founded in 1988 to investigate this issue. They have since evolved in a glucose-limited medium that also contains citrate, which E. coli cannot use as a carbon source under oxic conditions. No population evolved the capacity to exploit citrate for >30,000 generations, although each population tested billions of mutations. A citrate-using (Cit+) variant finally evolved in one population by 31,500 generations, causing an increase in population size and diversity. The long-delayed and unique evolution of this function might indicate the involvement of some extremely rare mutation. Alternately, it may involve an ordinary mutation, but one whose physical occurrence or phenotypic expression is contingent on prior mutations in that population. We tested these hypotheses in experiments that "replayed" evolution from different points in that population's history. We observed no Cit+ mutants among 8.4 x 1012 ancestral cells, nor among 9 x 1012 cells from 60 clones sampled in the first 15,000 generations. However, we observed a significantly greater tendency for later clones to evolve Cit+, indicating that some potentiating mutation arose by 20,000 generations. This potentiating change increased the mutation rate to Cit+ but did not cause generalized hypermutability. Thus, the evolution of this phenotype was contingent on the particular history of that population. More generally, we suggest that historical contingency is especially important when it facilitates the evolution of key innovations that are not easily evolved by gradual, cumulative selection.
There are two claims made in the paper: that a strain of E. colii evolved the ability to utilize citrate, and that the strain first had a mutation which while it did not allow the utilization of citrate, in some fashion potentiated the later mutation. The first claim is supported by the optical density data in figure 1.The argument on the talk page is not significant here. I only wanted to highlight this because it is totally going to cause a storm within the creation vs. evolution community. What this indicates is that life is capable of creating new abilities without having previously the genetic code.
The second claim is demonstrated by repeat experiments using stored samples. In some cases, the ability to utilize citrate evolved, in some cases not. They report on the strains used, how often the ability evolved, etc. - divaricatum 11:30 June 20 2008 (PDT)
Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab
A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.Of course I didn't get how serious this was until I read the words of NS writer Bob Holmes. So it isn't just novel information, it required a series of mutations to do it. That could be the model for why eyes evolved, or how scales became breasts or how eggs became wombs. Either it mutated over and over again because it wouldn't give up until it got what it wanted, or it was part of a sequence of planned steps to achieve more robust colonies through learning how to take what was once nothing of value and turn it into a source to metabolize.And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.
Twenty years ago, evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, took a single Escherichia coli bacterium and used its descendants to found 12 laboratory populations.
The 12 have been growing ever since, gradually accumulating mutations and evolving for more than 44,000 generations, while Lenski watches what happens.
Profound change
Mostly, the patterns Lenski saw were similar in each separate population. All 12 evolved larger cells, for example, as well as faster growth rates on the glucose they were fed, and lower peak population densities.
But sometime around the 31,500th generation, something dramatic happened in just one of the populations – the bacteria suddenly acquired the ability to metabolise citrate, a second nutrient in their culture medium that E. coli normally cannot use.
Indeed, the inability to use citrate is one of the traits by which bacteriologists distinguish E. coli from other species. The citrate-using mutants increased in population size and diversity.
"It's the most profound change we have seen during the experiment. This was clearly something quite different for them, and it's outside what was normally considered the bounds of E. coli as a species, which makes it especially interesting," says Lenski.
Rare mutation?
By this time, Lenski calculated, enough bacterial cells had lived and died that all simple mutations must already have occurred several times over.
That meant the "citrate-plus" trait must have been something special – either it was a single mutation of an unusually improbable sort, a rare chromosome inversion, say, or else gaining the ability to use citrate required the accumulation of several mutations in sequence.
To find out which, Lenski turned to his freezer, where he had saved samples of each population every 500 generations. These allowed him to replay history from any starting point he chose, by reviving the bacteria and letting evolution "replay" again.
Would the same population evolve Cit+ again, he wondered, or would any of the 12 be equally likely to hit the jackpot?
Evidence of evolution
The replays showed that even when he looked at trillions of cells, only the original population re-evolved Cit+ – and only when he started the replay from generation 20,000 or greater. Something, he concluded, must have happened around generation 20,000 that laid the groundwork for Cit+ to later evolve.
Lenski and his colleagues are now working to identify just what that earlier change was, and how it made the Cit+ mutation possible more than 10,000 generations later.
In the meantime, the experiment stands as proof that evolution does not always lead to the best possible outcome. Instead, a chance event can sometimes open evolutionary doors for one population that remain forever closed to other populations with different histories.
Lenski's experiment is also yet another poke in the eye for anti-evolutionists, notes Jerry Coyne, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago. (Am thinking creationists would wonder "what other pokes do you mean?" --ed.)
"The thing I like most is it says you can get these complex traits evolving by a combination of unlikely events," he says. "That's just what creationists say can't happen."
(H)is skating and balance are poor, and his defensive zone positioning is awful. He simply cannot read developing plays quickly and react properly.
Last year the 2nd rd pick was wasted on that goalie. This year....
Good thing new guys are running the draft.
From Blueshirt Bulletin:
E.J. Maguire calls Del Zotto, who wears #4 in honor of Bobby Orr, "the new breed offensive defenseman who jumps up into the rush effectively; he either follows up a rush to add a second dimension or is capable of leading the rush himself."Like in what universe is that "new breed"? It's like these quotes are made up.
"He continues to improve defensively on a daily basis." His GM, Brad Selwood, said.
That quote is moronic! "On a daily basis"? Sounds like it either was said mindlessly or insincerely. If it was said at all.
"I'm trying to work on my game right now to be an all–around defenseman."
How about "I'm working to be an all around defenseman"? Who's writing these quotes?
"I got off to a slow start but I really wanted to focus on my defensive game."
Good Gawd! After the season the scouts called him out for sucking defensively. "I really wanted to focus on my defensive game." Is he ultimately saying, "I can't get better defensively"?
"I've found the best way to shut down a player is not having them have the puck."How about "crushing a guy is the best way to shut down a guy"?
"Whenever they have the puck, I get a chance to play the body and make them not want to come back into my corner."
Oooh...very scary!
"He's a great passer with a good shot," said TSN analyst Pierre McGuire. "Maturity is a question mark."
Great...just what we need! He could make us all forget about Roszival. I don't even want to speculate about that second part.
"There probably isn’t a defenseman in this class that has a higher offensive upside than Michael Del Zotto."
Yeah right! Guess that's why Dubi won't vouch for it. "Above and beyond normal"? wtf
Woodlief, again via Dubi @ Blueshirt Bulletin:
"(H)is decision making in his own end can be downright atrocious, and hockey sense is not something you can work on or acquire, as with some other skills."
At least he's "cute".
*sigh*
Sean Avery, who's spending his summer working at Vogue magazine, wants $3.5 million a season. But the New York Rangers, as much as they know that Avery is a huge fan favourite, aren't going to give him that much. He's a third-liner and he's not that popular in his own dressing room.Sunday past Matheson had this item. Slats shows no mercy as he lacerates Avery with extreme prejudice.
"Elisha Cuthbert, who co-stars on the television program 24, looks better on the arm of Edmonton product turned Calgary Flames star defenceman Dion Phaneuf than NHL pest Sean Avery, her former beau."Wonder if that mentioning of Edmonton in the Phaneuf item was a slick Sather reference. Like, look, don't fuck with me, boy! Or, maybe he just wanted Avery to know ultimately how he appreciated Sean's contribution. These items seem designed not just to cushion Rangers fan disappointment. It's like Sather wants to eff it up for him with other teams.
So, we have two guys closely associated with her. And with od'ing.Franz Anton Beckenbauer (born September 11, 1945) is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed der Kaiser ("the emperor") because of his elegant style, his leadership qualities, his first name "Franz" (reminiscent of the Austrian emperors called Francis in English), and his dominance on the football pitch.
Beckenbauer is one of two men (with Mario Zagallo) to have won the Cup as player and as coach, and he is the only man to have won the title as team captain as well as coach.Beckenbauer runs the German National Team and Bayern Munich.
In his first ever World Cup match, against Switzerland, he scored twice.From 28 December 1993 until 30 June 1994, and then from 29 April 1996 until 30 June of the same year, he coached Bayern Munich. His brief spells in charge saw him collect two further honours - the Bundesliga title in 1994 and the UEFA Cup in 1996.
In 1994 he took on the role of club president at Bayern, and much of the Munich giants' success in the following years has been credited to his astute management. Following the club's decision to change from an association to a limited company, he has been chairman of the advisory board since the beginning of 2002.
In 1998 he became vice-president of the DFB. At the end of the 1990s, Beckenbauer headed the successful bid by Germany to organize the FIFA World Cup 2006. He chaired the organizational committee for the World Cup and was a commentator for the Bild-Zeitung.
INNSBRUCK, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Franz Beckenbauer has called for Jens Lehmann to cede his position as Germany goalkeeper after Euro2008 in order to give younger players a chance.According to Deutsche Welle's report on Monday, the German soccer monarch hailed the ongoing European Championship at Switzerland and Austria as a perfect opportunity for Lehmann, 38, to step aside from national duties to make room for the country's up-and-coming prospects.
"Such a tournament is always an opportunity to quit and to allow a new era to start," said Beckenbauer.
"I would tell Jens to retire after Euro to give younger men a chance to play."
What are the odds Lehman is capped in South Africa?
Hamburg - Germany must even fear Austria at Euro 2008 after being brought down to earth harshly by Croatia, German football icon Franz Beckenbauer warned on Friday. Beckenbauer said in his column in Friday's edition of the Bild daily that he had never expected such a decline in the form of a 2-1 loss the previous day against Croatia, four day's after Michael Ballack and company had convincingly beat Poland 2-0. "I said after the Poland match that we don't have to fear any one if we play like this. After this defeat it's the other way round: We must even fear Austria if we play like this," Beckenbauer warned. Germany require a draw to make the quarter-finals.The video was mesmerising. Opens with der Kaiser playing keepy uppy. It reminds me of a five point star. In the background is a graven image of Petr Cech. It's pentagonal. His opening line is tight. He he.
Beckenbauer said he was "aghast" about Germany's performance, saying "I have rarely seen such contrasting showings." He urged coach Joachim Loew and the team to analyse the game quickly and then "to approach the Austria match on Monday with power."However, Beckenbauer, who captained Germany to its first of three Euro titles in 1972, remained upbeat that the Germans will advance into Thursday's knockout match with Portugal, naming elimination "unthinkable."Bild itself spoke of a "Kroatastrohe," Spanish sports daily AS named the German game "primitive" compared to Croatian "genius" and England's The Guardian said that Germany was "mortified" in the end.
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and western European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, more than 10,000 employees with annual revenues and income on the scale of €1 billion. It was started in 1946/1947 by journalist Axel Springer [1].Along the way I've come across:
Springer Science+Business Media or Springer (IPA: [ˈʃpʁɪŋɐ]) is a worldwide publishing company based in Germany with major offices in Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht (Netherlands) and New York, which focuses on academic journals and books in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, and medicine. Within the Science, Technology, and Medicine sector, Springer is the largest book publisher, and second-largest journal publisher worldwide (the largest being Elsevier), with over 60 publishing houses, 1,900 journals, 5,500 new books published each year, sales of 924 million euro (in 2006) and 5,000 employees.[1]
Just looked for Springer in the 1929 Britannica, Vol. "Sord to Text", Vol. XXI, p. 264 ) and the 1973 New Standard XXII, S-563:SPRINGER, the term given in architecture to the stone from which an arch springs (see ARCH) ; in some cases this is the stone resting on the impost or capital, the upper surface of which is a plane directed to the centre of the arch.NSE got nothing:
Spring Caliper. See Caliper.Owen Hargreaves was raised in remote Canada until at 16 he moved to Munich, to play for der Kaiser. Weirdly mirrors the youth of Prince Philip. I apologize for the indelicate association.
Spring Tide. See Tide.
You know what? I'm going to change the name now,” Milbury said, according to the Globe and Mail. “It's gonna be Tiger Wuss. Here's a guy that took about three months to get over a simple arthroscopic surgery. You look at Ryan Malone (a Penguins forward). His face exploded with a slap shot last night – he's back out in 10 minutes!Hey Mike, what should we expect? Golf and C SPAN share a common ancestor.“Keep your yap shut, Tiger, or I'll send a couple wingers down there – to tidy you up a little bit, meathead.”
The most crucial decision is Shanahan. If he’s brought back there’s no way the Rangers can achieve unity of purpose like both finalists have. With an up tempo team Jagr would thrive. We’ll see, since he kind of made it known he doesn’t want more “5 in the picture” system from Renney, that donkey.
Renney is totally full of himself. That’s why he coaches like he does. If he turned the team loose and they dialed in and played to win, not make the shootout, he’d be accused of being a good coach in the sense that he stays out of the way.
But if he can get Jagr playing defense then from afar people will say he must be a great coach to get Jagr to play that way. Even if it kills the Rangers the donkey has probably earned another head coaching job after Sather torches him when we miss the playoffs.
As further proof of Renney’s motives, the power play which he never shook up. To the fans he never says I made a mistake, he says we tell them what to do and they don’t do it.
June 25, 2008 11:47 PM
Berlin/deuI watched the game in Kreuzberg, a part of Berlin mostly inhabited by Turkish and it was just amazing. The Turkish supported the Germans and likewise. The streets were packed with cheering people (from both sides) after the game. Just great! In would have loved to see Turkey vs. Germany in the finals. What a great game it would have been. Congratulations to the Turksih for a fighting so hard!!!!
[Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]June 25, 2008 11:54 PM
Berlin/deuI cannot tell you what the spirit in Berlin was like this evening - all Turkey's goals were enthusiastically applauded by the audience in a restaurant where I watched the game - indeed cheered. Spontaneous applause.
The fireworks and the car horn blowing continue now. I am cheering with the Germans, with no reason to do so other than living here and having seen an absence of loutishness and xenophobia in coming to this point.
I want Germany to win - if only for the party on Sunday night ;)
[Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]June 26, 2008 12:09 AM
Berlin/deuHi juti!
I watched it in Neukölln (Ä), we too had a great communal atmosphere between both sets of fans.
June 26, 2008 1:50 AM
Berlin/deuJune 26, 2008 3:05 AM
Mainz/deuI liked the pictures of the German players comforting Hamit. Nuff said.