Daily Archives: April 3, 2017

Robot epigenetics: Adding complexity to embodied robot evolution Science Daily Evolutionary robotics is a new exciting area of research which draws on Darwinian evolutionary principles to automatically develop autonomous robots. In a new research article published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI, researchers add more complexity ... and more »

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Robot epigenetics: Adding complexity to embodied robot evolution - Science Daily

New York Times

What Makes a City Ant? Maybe Just 100 Years of Evolution New York Times Acorn ants have adapted to their urban environment in about 20 of their generations, which takes nearly 100 years. Credit Ryan Martin. It can often take millenniums for organisms to evolve. But for crumb-size acorn ants in Cleveland, a single human ...

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What Makes a City Ant? Maybe Just 100 Years of Evolution - New York Times

When the government last shut down, in 2013, Mick Mulvaney considered himself part of "the Shutdown Caucus" a group of conservative House Republicans who held such a hard line that they were willing to let the lights go out.

Now, four years later, Mulvaney is on a collision course with his former comrades, responsible for convincing intransigent House Republicans to make a different kind of choice and pass a new spending bill by April 28 to avert another shutdown.

The former South Carolina congressman who was elected in the tea party wave of 2010 and took pride in rejecting his own party's budget proposals, one after another now serves as President Donald Trump's budget director, making him the administration's chief salesman over the next month on spending matters.

Once an outspoken leader of the House Freedom Caucus, Mulvaney now is tasked with bringing along the group with which his boss has plainly lost patience. Frustrated by their obstruction on health care, Trump last week threatened to destroy Freedom Caucus members in the 2018 midterm elections, even as Mulvaney is working with them to forge consensus on an agreement to keep the government funded.

But there are clear limits to Mulvaney's influence, as last month's embarrassing collapse of the Republican health-care bill laid bare. Some Freedom Caucus members speak privately of Mulvaney's "philosophic convulsion," as one put it, and are quick to note that he no longer speaks with the ideological purity they came to respect in him, but rather as an agent of a president on the hunt for a deal.

"All of our lives are composed of trade-offs," said Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., a Freedom Caucus member. "Each person has a different calibration on where 'go' means 'go' and where 'no' means 'no.' I wouldn't attempt to suggest for another where their own lines ought to be on that balancing act of personal philosophy and assigned roles or jobs, but what I would say is that I wish Mick the absolute best."

Trump and his other advisers, however, see Mulvaney as their bridge to the Freedom Caucus, believing he still has unique credibility with the conservative hard-liners, however hostile they may be to some of the administration's priorities.

"If you have to have somebody on your side that understands the complexity of these (bills) and the stakes around a government shutdown, who would you rather have than Mick Mulvaney?" asked Stephen K. Bannon, the chief White House strategist.

Bannon called Mulvaney "the unsung hero of this administration, because he's doing yeoman's work on just about every front. He's a rock star."

Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, said Mulvaney is "anchored in his core philosophy," but that he has said, "As much as he loves his colleagues in the House, sometimes it's less about winning the argument than about actually advancing the ball."

One example of Mulvaney's dramatically altered role came with Sanford, who told The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, that Trump used Mulvaney as an intermediary to threaten to oust Sanford in retaliation for not supporting the health-care bill. Sanford said Mulvaney told him, "The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped you voted 'no' on this bill so he could run (a primary challenger) against you in 2018."

The episode marked an uncomfortable evolution for a man once allied with Sanford who saw his previous job in Congress as protecting the American taxpayer against runaway spending - even for the military and even if the cuts he championed caused pain for his constituents.

Now as director of the Office of Management and Budget, however, Mulvaney has proposed a large increase in defense spending, which would be offset by steep cuts in social services such as housing, job training, and after-school activities, as well as foreign aid.

Some of these positions have infuriated antipoverty advocates, particularly his statements that federal assistance for low-income students and the elderly is ineffective.

"Rarely will any program be able to fully accomplish its goals because the needs are so great, but if you took those programs away, there would be a huge impact," said Libba Patterson, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who ran the state's social services agency for four years.

Fiscal hawks had a different reaction to Mulvaney's first budget. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., a Freedom Caucus member who served with him in the South Carolina legislature before they were both elected to Congress in 2010, cheered Mulvaney's moves. "We were all dancing in the street that Mick was chosen to be OMB director," he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., praised Mulvaney, a friend, as "a committed conservative." But, he said, Mulvaney is wearing "a different hat. He is now representing the administration's policy, so he doesn't have the same freedom he had as someone who represented the people of South Carolina."

During the health-care push, Mulvaney was one of the most visible administration officials. He appeared regularly on television news - Trump thinks he is an especially smooth and punchy communicator, aides said - and lobbied lawmakers incessantly, from negotiating sessions on Capitol Hill to a game of bowling in the White House basement.

Duncan said Mulvaney helped persuade him to support the Affordable Care Act replacement bill, even though many Freedom Caucus colleagues were opposed.

"He couldn't convince everyone," Duncan said. "But even when he was in Congress and the Freedom Caucus, he couldn't convince everyone."

One of Mulvaney's selling points for the budget director job was his connection to the Freedom Caucus, Trump aides said, and there is some disappointment that he fell short on selling the health-care bill. But advisers said blame for the failure has fallen on many officials, including White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, not just Mulvaney.

"There's nothing more that he could have possibly done," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said of Mulvaney. He called the budget director "a very well-steeped, well-regarded workhorse" who has "an instant sense of credibility on Capitol Hill."

Mulvaney was well-liked in the House, a rare Freedom Caucus member who made friends with House leaders, including Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis.

"I think it's easy for the media to paint him in a corner philosophically, but his friendships obviously go across the entire spectrum of the Republican conference, and I think that's why he's such a great asset," Short said.

Yet in the Senate, Mulvaney barely won confirmation. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined all 48 Democrats and independents in opposing his appointment, in part because of Mulvaney's past opposition to higher defense spending levels.

Before coming to Washington, Mulvaney, 49, was a state lawmaker and also owned and operated a South Carolina franchise of Salsarita's Fresh Cantina. He first got elected to the House by unseating one of Congress' long-serving lions John Spratt, then the House Budget Committee chairman in a district that Democrats had controlled for more than 100 years.

Spratt said he was surprised Mulvaney had pulled off getting appointed budget director, arguing that he has no "real experience in budget-making."

"I'm still surprised that he was able to pull down a prize like OMB," Spratt said. "It's one of the most difficult jobs in the United States. He's got to prove himself worthy of the job."

Mulvaney's colleagues said he has proven a quick study, and that he helps them see around corners politically.

Mulvaney has instructed the career staff at the budget office to read Trump's 1987 bestseller, "The Art of the Deal." He supported Paul in the 2016 presidential primaries, but came around to Trump once he emerged as the presumptive nominee.

Now one of Trump's employees - he attends the White House senior staff meetings every morning - Mulvaney is forging a bond with the president. Aides said that whenever Trump talks about numbers, he summons Mulvaney if he is not already in the Oval Office.

Trump also invited Mulvaney to join him last weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, according to one of the president's advisers.

"He can take the mundane budget policy is not the sexiest thing in the world, let's face it and not only make it interesting, but talk to you about the different angles of it," said Rick Dearborn, a deputy White House chief of staff. "It's not just the policy piece of it, but his political insights that make it very interesting. He gives you these 'aha moments' of, 'Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about that.'"

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Mulvaney's evolution from 'Shutdown Caucus' to budget salesman - MyAJC

Recently the Alabama House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 78, an academic freedom resolution that would protect teachers who help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.

Alabamas House should be applauded for taking a proactive step that will benefit Alabama students, who will learn critical thinking, practice scientific inquiry, and delve into more scientific evidence. This resolution advances high-quality, active, and engaging science instruction.

And Alabama is right in step with the rest of the country. A recent national poll revealed that fully 93 percent of American adults agree that teachers and students should have the academic freedom to objectively discuss both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution.

Both the nationwide poll and Alabamas resolution are also in line with what Discovery Institute has advocated for science education for the past two decades. Discoverys Science Education Policy states that

evolution should be fully and completely presented to students, and they should learn more about evolutionary theory, including its unresolved issues. In other words, evolution should be taught as a scientific theory that is open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that cant be questioned.

HJR 78, sponsored by Representative Mack Butler and 28 of his colleagues in the House, takes much the same approach. The resolution simply supports academic freedom for teachers who wish to discuss scientific evidence for and against evolution, and other scientific theories already in the state curriculum.

Unfortunately, the media have distorted the legislation. So what else is new?

Yellowhammer News, for one, claimed the bill would introduce intelligent design in the classroom:

House Joint Resolution 78 was filed by Rep. Mack Butler (R- Rainbow City), who served as a school board member of Etowah County Schools for 10 years. The legislation aims not to remove discussion of evolution in the classroom, but to broaden scientific conversations to include conversation over intelligent design. Related subjects that are addressed by the bill include global warming and human cloning.

No, HJR 78 is not about introducing intelligent design into classrooms. It applies solely to theories already in the curriculum and intelligent design is not in the curriculum anywhere in Alabama.

Representative Butler defends the resolution and explains that it adds nothing new to the existing curriculum.

Certainly, when teaching on controversial topics, classroom discussions already may touch on theories and ideas that are not part of the curriculum. That just comes with free speech and we should welcome such discussions. HJR 78 doesnt change that.

Discovery has always maintained that students questions are protected free speech, but that is very different from mandating that a teacher insert entirely new material into the curriculum. The resolution doesnt support that.

Butler is clear about what the resolution does do:

The real focus of HJR 78 is on scientific subjects required to be taught under the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education. So the resolution does not change the curriculum.

HJR 78 does expressly support teachers in engaging their students in examining the scientific strengths and weaknesses of those topics currently being taught. Science is characterized by open-minded critical analysis of data, and Alabama students will benefit from gaining more knowledge about subjects being studied and learning to reason like scientists.

To head off further media misinformation, lets say it again. What specifically does the resolution call for? It says educational leadership and teachers

should endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions, develop critical thinking skills, analyze the scientific strengths and weaknesses of scientific explanations, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific subjects required to be taught under the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education.

Moreover, educational leadership

should refrain from prohibiting any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught within the curriculum framework developed by the State Board of Education.

It is all too common for teachers to feel intimidated and thus simply avoid teaching scientific information about origins. This poorly serves the interests of students. The resolution supports protecting teachers and advancing education something approved by the overwhelming majority of Americans.

None of this is difficult to understand. Why is it so challenging for the media to simply report the basic facts?

Photo: Alabama State Capitol, by Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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On Teaching Evolution Objectively, Alabama Is Right In Step with the Vast Majority of Americans - Discovery Institute

A light microscopy image of a Cyanobacterium (Oxyphotobacteria).

Fischer Laboratory/Caltech

One of the most momentous events in the history of the planet is now better understood thanks to the newly uncovered evolutionary history of pond scum the erroneously named blue-green algae.

Research published in Science provides fresh insight into the when and how of the Great Oxidation Event the period in Earths history during which the levels of atmospheric oxygen rose dramatically. Paradoxically, this event caused one of the largest-known extinction events and simultaneously paved the way for life as we know it.

Rochelle Soo, Donovan Parks, and Professor Philip Hugenholtz from the University of Queensland and Jim Hemp and Professor Woodward Fischer from California Institute of Technology have published their findings concerning the evolutionary tree of cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria are sometimes called blue-green algae, despite not being algae at all, and are thought to be one of the most ancient organisms on the planet. Fossilised cyanobacteria in the form of stromatolites found in Western Australia have been dated as far back as 3.5 billion years ago.

Importantly cyanobacteria are photosynthetic, which means they convert sunlight into usable energy and produce dioxygen (O2) as a by-product. But just when, and how, this oxygenic photosynthesis became a feature of these archaic life forms (called oxyphotobacteria) has been a topic of some speculation.

Making this even more difficult was the absence of evidence of closely related organisms (sister taxa) or evolutionary precursors. In 2013, however, a sister taxa, Malainabacteria, was discovered for the first time. Soo and colleagues are now reporting the discovery of yet another: Sericytochromatia.

Interestingly these sister taxa seem not to have been able to carry out photosynthesis of any kind, indicating that these taxa split from the known cyanobacteria before the latter evolved the ability to photosynthesise.

This leads the researchers to conclude the ancestors of modern cyanobacteria gained this capacity by lateral gene transfer the transfer of genetic material between extant organisms, in contrast to vertical gene transfer, which is the process of parents conferring genetic material to offspring.

Genes for parts of the photosynthetic process must have come from some other microbe, the authors argue, and then these evolved further within the ancestors of Oxyphotobacteria. Remarkably, this indicates that oxygenic photosynthesis evolved in only one branch of the cyanobacterial family.

This is the first time anyone has been able to establish how the oxyphotobacteria might have evolved. As Fischer says: Its a big deal that we can now say with some certainty that lateral transfer was important.

It is also a big deal that it is these bacteria responsible for the Great Oxidation Event.

This explosion in abundance of molecular oxygen in the Earths atmosphere had profound consequences. The first was the extinction via oxygen-toxicity of many types of anaerobic bacteria. The second was the production of the environment conducive to the evolution of the most recent and familiar of the three domains of life, the eukaryotes, to which all plants, animals and fungi belong.

Fischer suggests that while it might be tempting to think the genes for oxygenic photosynthesis came, via lateral transfer, from one of the six phyla of extant bacteria capable of non-oxygen producing photosynthesis, it seems just as possible that whoever gave Cyanobacteria the genes for photosynthesis went extinct long ago.

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Bacteria's evolution sheds light on great oxygenation event - Cosmos