Blog Heap o'Urantiana Links 25 March 2009

There is a similarity between Scientific Theory and Religion and The Urantia Book. "When the elements were arranged in increasing order of atomic weight it was found that elements with similar properties tended to recur at periodic intervals. [Frank Jakubowsky]

The Vermont Senate has given its final stamp of approval to a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the state. Lawmakers passed the measure on Tuesday in voice vote with no debate. Now the issue moves to the House, where the a committee has scheduled a week's worth of testimony on the bill.

Hurdia victoria was originally described in 1912 as a crustacean-like animal. Now, researchers from Uppsala University and colleagues reveal it to be just one part of a complex and remarkable new animal that has an important story to tell about the origin of the largest group of living animals, the arthropods. ... Although the first fragments were described nearly one hundred years ago, they were assumed to be part of a crustacean-like animal. It was not then realised that other parts of the animal were also in collections, but had been described independently as jellyfish, sea cucumbers and other arthropods. ... had a segmented body with a head bearing a pair of spinous claws and a circular jaw structure with many teeth. But it differs from Anomalocaris by the possession of a huge three-part carapace that projects out from the front of the animal's head.

Researchers have found evidence which suggests that evolution drives animals to become increasingly more complex. ... "If you start with the simplest possible animal body, then there's only one direction to evolve in — you have to become more complex.... Sooner or later, however, you reach a level of complexity where it's possible to go backwards and become simpler again. "What's astonishing is that hardly any crustaceans have taken this backwards route. Instead, almost all branches have evolved in the same direction, becoming more complex in parallel. "This is the nearest thing to a pervasive evolutionary rule that's been found. "Of course, there are exceptions within the crustacean family tree, but most of these are parasites, or animals living in remote habitats such as isolated marine caves. "For those free-living animals in the 'rat-race' of evolution, it seems that competition may be the driving force behind the trend. "What's new about our results is that they show us how this increase in complexity has occurred. Strikingly, it looks far more like a disciplined march than a milling crowd."