Light sense

In what sense does 'nothing make sense except in the light of evolution'?

Dobzhansky argued that biology only makes sense if life on earth has a shared history. But his dictum is often reinterpreted to mean that biology only makes sense in the light of adaptation. Some philosophers of science have argued in this spirit that all work in 'proximal' biosciences such as anatomy, physiology and molecular biology must be framed, at least implicitly, by the selection histor...

Biodiversity only makes sense in the light of evolution

Biodiversity is a key to human well-being. However universally acknowledged, this reality is not appreciated as much as one might imagine or hope. Having achieved a high standing in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, biodiversity appears to have gradually fallen from that position in the 20 years since. This is evidenced by the fact that most discussions and actions in relati...

Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction

Bacterial phototaxis was first recognized over a century ago, but the method by which such small cells can sense the direction of illumination has remained puzzling. The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 moves with Type IV pili and measures light intensity and color with a range of photoreceptors. Here, we show that individual Synechocystis cells do not respond to a spatiote...

Biodiversity only makes sense in the light of evolution

Biodiversity is a key to human well-being. However universally acknowledged, this reality is not appreciated as much as one might imagine or hope. Having achieved a high standing in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, biodiversity appears to have gradually fallen from that position in the 20 years since. This is evidenced by the fact that most discussions and actions in relati...

Red Light, Green Light: Making Sense of the Organizational Context for Issue Selling