- Over the last month, UD has been down more often than it has been up. In addition, Barry and News have been AWOL, leaving the keys to the kingdom to a pompous, arrogant, sermonizing narcissist. My apologies. That was uncharitable. It appears that Gordon Mullings, the Montserrat messiah, has been left to clean up after the party.
If UD does go the way of the dodo, I worry about Bornagain77 and Kairosfocus. Two individuals whose entire meaning for existence appears to be centred on their UD personas. Hopefully they have other outlets for their “sky is falling” rants.
Flint makes a good point–every organism resulting from sexual reproduction differs from its parents. Except clones. It’s basic meiosis–change over time. And we know it happens because we can see it happen in real time. Unless, of course, you believe that electron microscopy is another conspiratorial hoax……….
And it’s much more extensive than sexual recombination. Genuine novelty results from various error-introducing sources, from copying errors to radiation to horizontal gene transfer. Viruses are arguably not quite alive, but they sure evolve in a hurry.
So the blatantly false “change over time” became the benign “they are different”. Who are you fooling besides yourself?
Not my case. Yours? It is the case of a number of people publishing here, the so called “evolutionary biologists”. Haha.
Another guy trying to fool someone… A split cannot be redefined as change.
What’s “not quite”? It is or it isn’t. And viruses are clearly not alive.
Good grief! So many examples of anagenesis and cladogenesis exist, it makes me wonder if Non-lin has a blind spot (of course he has two) when it comes to observed reality.
I previously suggested you take note of this site’s rules.
Unless you are stuck in the groove of miracles all the way down, viruses must have ancestors who were free-living. They have evolved to be the most minimalist of all parasites, having seconded all metabolism to their hosts.
The point, apparently not obvious, is that there are changes from one generation to the next. Which is why you are not identical to your parents, and if you have children, god forbid they’d be identical to you. Now, consider a small change each generation, multiplied by a zillion generations. TRY to consider this!
I had to look up the meaning of these wooden tongue terms. Of course they are just mumbo jumbo. You either didn’t read the relevant comments above or didn’t understand why “descent with modification” is not what happens in biology. At least Flint and Chuck are looking for a save-face escape.
How would you know? Can you prove your outrageous claims? You seem to be the one stuck in some miracle.
You’re retracing your mistake. You are neither of your parents “changed”. You are a brand new individual. Why is this so hard to get?
I’m encouraged you made the effort.
There’s a whole field of study looking at evolution of viruses.
I had asked you to think, but perhaps this was unreasonable.
Credulous Alan lacks critical thinking skills so he just taps the net for anything remotely favorable.
Just for kicks and giggles, let’s follow Alan’s links and confirm that there’s nothing but dreams and wishes there. At least they’re somewhat honest and qualify everything with “suggest”, “indicates”, “maybe may” and “probab-lies”. If only Alan could read the fine print… Not with his horse goggles on of course.
Nonlin.org,
You left out the links.
Oh look! Another recent study on virus evolution. Maybe worth its own thread. It, in my imperfect understanding, considers the conundrum, can there be viruses before there are hosts?
A direct link to the paper discussed in the article I linked to above.
Kairosfocus has resurfaced on his blog, promising more content.
“For some time, I have been at low ebb on KF.
Given developments internationally and regionally, I intend to ramp up activity here, to address a range of issues.
So, DV, let’s roll. END”
Acartia,
You made me look!
*shivers*
Alan Fox,
It is cringe-worthy. I will read them until I see a picture of some guy using a plumb-line beside a stone wall. Oops. I spoke too soon.
I just noticed that Denyse O’Leary has been very active lately over on Twitter/X. I don’t know if this has just been since the doctor assisted suicide of UD or if she has always been active there.
Acartia,
Me neither. Not going to look, though, as Elon is dead to me.
Any ideas for an alternative to twitter?
I’m on Bluesky. It’s ok. Not many people on there yet. Kind of slow. But I’ve quit Twitter entirely. I’d rather be off social media completely for the rest of my life than endure one more day of Twitter.
I’ve uninstalled the twitter app but sometimes follow links published in news stories. I did try Mastodon but I couldn’t get to grips with it. Maybe it will improve in time. I’m also giving Tribel a go. Certainly an unashamedly leftwing view on events.
Bluesky is invite only at the moment, so I could only go on the waiting list. I guess I need someone who is an existing member to invite me. Unfortunately, I don’t know any members.
Oh wait… 🤔😄🤞
Should any Bluesky members wish to send me an invitation, they can reach me at alanfox@free.fr