The latest PNAS has an article on the increase in complexity and information without ID-style intervention in biological systems:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/97/9/4463.pdf
Evolution of biological complexity
Christoph Adami*†, Charles Ofria‡§, and Travis C. Collier
To make a case for or against a trend in the evolution of complexity in biological evolution, complexity needs to be both rigorously defined and measurable. A recent information-theoretic (but intuitively evident) definition identifies genomic complexity with the amount of information a sequence stores about its environment. We investigate the evolution of genomic complexity in populations of digital organisms and monitor in detail the evolutionary transitions that increase complexity. We show that, because natural selection forces genomes to behave as a natural ‘‘Maxwell Demon,’’ within a fixed environment, genomic complexity is forced to increase.
The latest Science has a short note about shell beads ca. 70,000 BP. Not only does the apparent artwork suggest human-like awareness, the choice of mollusks as a material of interest indubitably indicates high intelligence and culture.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Thu Apr 15 21:57:50 2004
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