There was an interesting article about Charles Darwin in Smithsonian Magazine recently that mentioned something that I found really interesting, and surprising. In addition to inherited genetics, genes can also be passed between other individuals, even between those of a different species. Animals, including humans, don’t usually gain whole genes in this manner, but our DNA is full of smaller pieces of genetic material that we received from various viruses throughout our evolutionary history. This includes much material that is responsible for deciding when genes are active or dormant. Apparently this horizontal transfer of genetic material is quite common in bacteria, being how antibiotic resistance spreads from one strain of bacteria to another.
Elsewhere in the same issue of the magazine was a great example of this phenomenon. A sea slug, Elysia chlorotica, contains chloroplasts that it extracts from the algae that it eats. It is the first animal to have gained at least one gene necessary for photosynthesis, from these algae, and it can photosynthesize for months on its own.
Aussiegall has the most amazing photos on Flickr. She takes a lot of pictures in her obviously beautiful garden, featuring birds, bugs and bees, and of course gorgeous flowers. She also takes photos in and around Sydney, and does remarkable macro work as well.
Aussiegall-Snacktime
Aussiegall-Female Cloak & Dagger Cuckoo Bee?
Europeana
Europeana.eu is a prototype virtual library created by the European Commission, with links to over 4 million digital items, including images, texts, videos and sounds, which went live in November of 2008. It can be viewed in a variety of languages, and is intended to provide inspiration through access to Europe’s cultural and scientific heritage. Contributors include amazing museums, galleries, archives, libraries and audio-visual collections from all over Europe.
Certain aspects of the site are still very much a work in process, such as the Communities pages, and they are actively soliciting feedback from users as to what final form these features will take. Already up and running is a My Europeana feature, with which items, searches and tags can be saved. There is also a timeline navigator function, the ability to browse recent additions to the content, and a look into others’ searches.
As someone who just loves discovering a new resource to explore, and loves anything artistic, finding this site felt like I had just entered Valhalla (The project is run by a team from the national library of the Netherlands).
Europeana Version 1.0, which will include access to over 10 million digital items, is planned to launch in 2010.
