I sometimes get asked if non-coding elements (usually "junk DNA" is what they say) can ever evolve into genes. I usually say that transposable elements, at least, can be coopted into functional…

Present study was aimed to increase latex yield in Euphorbia antisyphilitica. It was observed that GA3 supported maximum above ground plant height and fresh weight and biomass yield of the plant…

CALOTROPIS PROCERA : A POTENTIAL PLANT FOR HYDROCARBONS FROM SEMI-ARID AND ARID REGIONS   Ashwani Kumar   Bio-Technology Lab, Department of Botany University…

Some of you already will know about the special issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach on the evolution of eyes that I edited last year (see below). There is now another excellent collection of…

One of Doug Futuyma's great quotes is this one: "...no biologist today would think of publishing a paper on ‘new evidence for evolution’... it simply hasn’t been an issue in scientific circles for…

Some time ago, I posted about my search for a new reference management program for Windows that would be the rough equivalent of Papers for Mac (which is the rough equivalent of iTunes for PDFs). I…

I have updated the free Darwin Matrix wallpaper that is available at Evolver Zone. You can find it in different desktop sizes over at EZ.

New beautiful images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have been released recently, and they are, as always, a pleasure to behold. The HST was serviced in a mission by the Space Shuttle Atlantis…

While delivering a lecture at Centre for community economics and development consultants society Jaipur (www.cecbedecon.org) the orgniser Dr Alka Avasthi and participants posed some interesting…

You may know that correlation studies have shown that the risk of becoming obese is 2.5 times higher for those who have double copies of the best known risk gene for being overweight or obese, the…

The smell of 'death' that repels insects turns out to be a truly ancient signal for avoiding disease or predators, says David Rollo, professor of biology at McMaster University in the journal…

Older people have noticed their thinner arms and legs and perhaps you have as well.   It's no secret muscle is harder to maintain, much less build, as we age but science was unclear exactly why.…

Michael Cosmopoulos was raised in Athens but has been in St. Louis since 2001.  Yet his heart and his science never left Greece.   Since 1999, he has been working at a site in Pylos and he…

Vegetable oils can be chemically reacted with an alcohol (methanol is the usual choice) to produce chemical compounds known as esters. Biodiesel is the name given to these esters when they are…

The Voynich Manuscript Part 9 : An Amateur's Work? I am nearly ready to publish my results of a semantic (topical) analysis of the Voynich manuscript.  My programs have generated a wealth of…

A large number of plants around the world are unexplored Some of which could sereve as bioenergy plants and still have medicinal value. Let us compile the world list of such plants from each regions.…

Growth and productivity of Jatropha curcas under semi arid conditions . ASHWANI KUMAR Engery Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center. Bio-Technology Lab…

The other day I went to a talk about the fall and revival of metaphysics, given by Sebastian Kolodziejczyk at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Metaphysics these days has a bad…

I love it! As soon as I start whining about how humans are always exploiting resources without checking first for sustainability, along comes a story to prove me wrong. The Giant Pacific Octopus or…

Biodiesel There is nothing to stop biodiesel making an immediate impact in reducing the world's dependence on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. Using biodiesel requires no major changes…