Evolutionary Models Reward Complexity for Complexity’s Sake

Artificial Cell Model, avida, calculations, Christoph Adami, complex systems, Complexity, Computational Sciences, computer models, enzymes, Evolution, evolutionary models, fitness, genomes, information, Intelligent Design, metabolites, precursor molecules, pykaryotes, simplicity, The Evolution of Biological Information, Thomas Ray, Tierra
But then the complexity is not interesting. Crucially, it’s not really information. Source
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In Defense of The Edge of Evolution, a Response to Dave Farina

bacteria, biology, Cit+, complex molecular interactions, Darwin Devolves, Darwin's Black Box, Dave Farina, Educating Dave Farina (series), eukaryotes, Evolution, fitness landscapes, generation time, genetics, genomes, HIV, mammals, Michael Behe, mutation rates, mutations, patients, population sizes, proteins, The Edge of Evolution, viruses, Vpu, YouTubers
If evolution is capable of producing complex molecular interactions, the place where we would most expect to find them is in viruses like HIV. Source
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Human Evolution Needs Subhumans, and Needs Them Badly

Amazon, archeology, Ascent of Man, astrobiology, China, Cultural Anthropology, Darwinian evolution, Eurasia, evolutionary psychology, forebears, genomes, glaciers, Greece, Human Origins and Anthropology, Jonathan Cheng, Matthew Phelan, Neanderthals, rainforest, Ross Andersen, Sanxingdui, Stone Age, subhumans, The Atlantic, UC Berkeley, Wall Street Journal
Excavation of Neanderthal and other sites is leveling even further the fabled Ascent of Man. Source
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Testing Phylogenetic Hypotheses: A Question for You

Chordata, chordates, common ancestor, Evolution, genomes, hominid, Homo sapiens, inference, Last Universal Common Ancestor, LUCA, mammals, Metazoa, Network of Life, ontology, organisms, Pan troglodytes, paragraphs, phylogenetic inference, phylogenetics, phylogeny, species, statistical noise, Systematic Biology, systematics, traits, Tree of Life, zoology
You can read this proposition a dozen times over and still be unable to say what it disallows in phylogenetic inference. Source
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Could Genetic Mutations Be Non-Random? New Evidence for Mutational Bias

Africa, African sleeping sickness, APOL1, Daniel Melamed, diseases, Engineering, Evolution, genes, genetic mutations, genetics, genomes, germline genome, haploid, heterozygotes, HindIII, homozygotes, Intelligent Design, Israel, malaria, MEMDS, mutation DNA, Mutation Enrichment followed by Maximum Depth Sequencing, mutation frequency, mutations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, randomness, restriction enzyme, sperm, sperm DNA, Trypanosoma brucei, University of Haifa, wild-type DNA
The researchers examined the emergence of a mutation in the human APOL1 gene that confers protection from African sleeping sickness. Source
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Happy New Year! No. 1 Story for 2025: Bombshell Overturns Myth of 1 Percent Difference

1 percent myth, 1 percent myth (series), burying the lede, chimpanzees, common ancestry, David Klinghoffer, DNA, Evolution, gap difference, genomes, human exceptionalism, Human Origins and Anthropology, humans, Icons of Evolution, Jonathan Wells, Kevin Williamson, Museum of Natural History, National Review, Nature (journal), science journalism, Smithsonian Institution, statistics, Supplementary Data, zombies
This finding should be major news in the science world, yet those involved don’t seem interested in highlighting the discovery. Source
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Critics Change the Topic: Do Human-Human Genetic Differences Matter? 

1 percent myth, Amazon, chimps, Chimps and Critics (series), CHM13, common ancestry, DNA, Evolution, Financial Times, function, genetic difference, genetics, genomes, Genomics Proteomics & Bioinformatics, Han Chinese, human exceptionalism, Human Origins and Anthropology, human-human genetic differences, humans, Jared Diamond, Joel Duff, Junk DNA, Nature Communications, non-alignable DNA, Nucleic Acids Research, nucleotides, objections, reactions, repetitive DNA, Science (journal), Smithsonian Institution, University of Chicago Press, Zachary Ardern
One of the common yet unexpected reactions from critics to the discovery that humans and chimps are 15 percent genetically different is to change the topic. Source
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Letter to the Smithsonian: Correct Your Signage on Human-Chimp Genetic Similarity!

1 percent myth (series), Casey Luskin, chimpanzees, differential, DNA, Evolution, gap divergence, genetic code, genetic difference, genomes, Gorilla gorilla, gorillas, human exceptionalism, Human Origins, Human Origins and Anthropology, humans, Intelligent Design, National Museum of Natural History, Nature (journal), orangutans, Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, primates, Progressive Cactus, signage, single nucleotide variation, Smithsonian Institution, Supplemental Data, telomere, University of Johannesburg
Unfortunately, the 1 percent myth is promulgated as fact at, among other places, the nation's own Smithsonian Institution. Source
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Fact Check: New “Complete” Chimp Genome Shows 14.9 Percent Difference from Human Genome

ape genomes, bonobos, Bornean orangutans, chimpanzees, chimps, deletions, DNA, Evolution, gap difference, gap divergence, gene duplications, genomes, Gorilla gorilla, gorillas, human genome, Human Origins and Anthropology, humans, insertions, Kateryna Makova, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Nature (journal), order of magnitude, Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, Science Reporting, short nucleotide variations, siamangs, Smithsonian Institution, SNVs, Sumatran orangutans, Supplemental Data
I suspect that this radical finding has implications — for human exceptionalism and more — that people will be discussing for a long time. Source
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