On the Origin of the Genes of Viruses - 11

RNA is not alive.

Today we take a look at the evolution of "abiotic communication" or "abiotic signalling."

Microbial communication is a primary discovery of Microbiology (Weekend Rebel Science Excursion - 35).

It is also a concern of the scientific discipline which I envision as "Abiology or Micro-Abiology" (Weekend Rebel Science Excursion - 27).

More specifically, today's post concerns evolutionary Abiology, a.k.a. "abiotic evolution" (ibid) via abiotic signalling.

Another valid way of describing evolutionary Abiology would be "the evolution of quanta into atoms, then atoms into molecules of various and sundry shapes and sizes" (ibid).

Previously in this series (On the Origin of the Genes of Viruses, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) the Big Bang cosmological model was shown to theorize that molecules are a foundation of very diverse and complicated evolutionary developments:

Molecule, the smallest identifiable unit into which a pure substance can be divided and still retain the composition and chemical properties of that substance ... from a structural point of view, a molecule may consist of a single atom, as in a molecule of a noble gas such as helium (He), or it may consist of an aggregation of atoms held together by valence forces.

(Encyclopedia Britannica, "Molecules", emphasis added). RNA and DNA are complex molecules that are not alive, rather, they are structures composed of different atoms bound together to form a unique entity.

DNA is not alive.

In previous posts in this series we started with the premise that RNA preceded the more complex DNA:

Most biologists now agree that the very first replicating molecules consisted of RNA, not DNA.

(Nature Education 3(9):37, "The Origins of Viruses"). Then let's also isolate and focus on the very next sentence in that paper:

We also know that some RNA molecules, ribozymes, exhibit enzymatic properties; they can catalyze chemical reactions.

(ibid, emphasis added). RNA is of three types: Messenger (mRNA), Transfer (tRNA), and Ribosomal (rRNA).

Like a copy machine or a 3-D printer machine that is not alive, the rRNA molecule is instrumental in replication functions (Encyclopedia Britannica, "Ribosomal RNA").

In previous posts in this series I also reflected on the hypothesis that RNA viruses of an ancient RNA type (On the Origin of the Genes of Viruses - 2) were the first self-replicating abiotic entities (cf. RNA World).

I think that abiotic signalling, messaging, or communication would have had to be in existence prior to the functional evolution of such ancient molecular machines into more complex molecular machines (such as current DNA, RNA, and ribosomes).

I brought up the notion of a primitive macro-level "robosome" as the cosmic copy machine at the macro level of solar systems (On the Origin of the Genes of Viruses - 6).

In addition to that, a primitive, prototype microcosm, a primitive rRNA robozyme, is a further necessary hypothetical entity, but one that would require almost instant signalling (ibid).

That entity would be able to work via a form of electromagnetic signalling, which is no longer considered science fiction:

It is well accepted that all objects, whether living or nonliving, are continuously generating electromagnetic fields (EMFs) due to the thermal agitation of their particles that possess charges. Interest in EMFs as alternative forms of cell-to-cell communication can be traced back to at least the second decade of the 20th century. Interactions between EMFs and biosystems have been intensively studied for over a century and a quantitative understanding of many interaction mechanisms exists, There is much evidence that biological processes can be induced or modulated by induction of light of characteristic frequencies.

Recently, distant interactions between mammalian cells through EMF coupling have been shown. Distant (non-chemical) interaction in biosystems is not limited to interactions at the cellular level. Biosystem interaction has been reported at the level of plants, insects and other biosystems.

In 1997 Cosic proposed that there is a resonant interaction between macromolecules that plays an essential role in their bioactivity. The key point of Cosic's finding is the assignment of specific spectral electromagnetic (EM) characteristics of proteins to their specific biological function. Proteins with common biological functionality are known to share one significant peak, called the Consensus Frequency, which is acknowledged to represent the region responsible for the biological functionality. Bio-molecules with the same biological characteristics recognize and bio-attach to themselves when their valence electrons oscillate and then reverberate in an electromagnetic field. Protein interactions can be considered as resonant energy transfer between the interacting molecules. In simple words each protein and biomolecule has its fingerprint electromagnetic characteristics that can be used for its identification. In living systems long-range electromagnetic fields exchange messages across a distance because of matching emissions and absorption spectra. Non-resonating, unwanted random signals are excluded simply because they do not resonate.

(HCV Electromagnetic Signalling, emphasis added; cf. this). Remember that electromagnetism, electromagnetic fields, and electromagnetic radiation are abiotic dynamics (not biotic, not alive).

For example, electromagnetic radiation in the form of light is not alive, it is composed of quanta of light which we call "photons."

Electromagnetic communication between and among bacteria is also known to take place:

The chemical mode of communication [between and among microbes] is the best studied of all. Nevertheless, bacteria also use electromagnetic signals as part of sophisticated signalling [systems] that function over distances that are substantially larger than cellular dimensions (which are the order of one to a few micrometers). The following descriptions focus mainly on the investigations in the area of electromagnetically mediated communication of microorganisms.

"Dude, microbes use wireless?"

Research into the electromagnetically mediated communication of microbes started immediately after the discovery of mitogenetic radiation (MR) by Alexander Gurvitch in the 1920s. His observation stimulated early research, which led to over 500 publications on the ability of information exchange by means of electromagnetic fields between micro-organisms.

(Electromagnet Fields - Bacteria, PDF, emphasis added). Research needs to be conducted into the possible use of electromagnetic signalling (wireless) by the hypothetical primitive RNA virus entities (a possible origin is proton tunnelling ... see The Uncertain Gene).

In the RNA World + Virus First concept, prototypical RNA viruses are believed to have preceded single celled biological organisms.

Eventually the primitive RNA virus would have to evolve signalling, messaging, and communication of more focused sorts (coordinated genetic assembly & replication ... see Ancient RNA and Virus World, PDF).

More complex signalling, messaging, and communication could lead to primitive DNA, and then more advanced viruses.

Carbon-based organisms that developed later could then evolve more advanced genetic dynamics.

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

A Tale of Coup Cities - 12

Do you have your papers?

This Dredd Blog series and associated series (e.g. Will The Military Become The Police?, 2, 3, 4, 5) concern the slow coup by the military to do to us what has been done to countless other nations in history.

The military NSA spies on all Americans (ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).

"We have a warrant for your freedom."

The military ideology is slowly eating up the police forces.

This is being done by hiring then installing soldiers who typically do not like to report PTSD and other war related issues as it might keep them out of police work.

Their military training and experience is, as a consequence, replacing the traditional police mentality of "protect and serve" with a dangerous warmongering policy coup as shown in the videos below, in prior posts in this series, as well as in the related series linked to above.

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

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The Last Known Photo of Robin "Mork" Williams Heading Home

Mork returning to Ork

On this date in 2009 we considered one of our "ringed planets."

Saturn is the most famous of the ringed planets, garnering that "fame" before we discovered that other planets in our solar system also have rings.

The photo to the left (click to enlarge) is of "an object" traversing the F ring of Saturn, which made me think of Robin Williams and his character Mork of the Mork & Mindy Show.

Mork probably dropped a few F bombs while going through the F ring on his way back to Ork (perhaps because of what Earth Civilization seemed like to him).

Anyway, here is the post from that date:

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One Mystery After Another At Saturn

The school bus sized Cassini spacecraft has photographed another strange phenomenon.

An object was photographed travelling through the "F" ring of the planet Saturn. Is it a small satellite in a strange orbit, a stray asteroid, or the Enterprise going through a time warp heading back to Earth?

As you can see, the object made the ring very bright behind it, and cast a shadow on rings closer to the camera.

It seems that constantly there are new discoveries around Saturn, from satellites orbiting "the wrong way" (e.g. Norse Group), to the great hexagon, to Enceladus, which is building rings around the planet with water from its own geysers.

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Will The Military Become The Police? - 5

Jay walking can get you killed in Ferguson, MO

When I first started this series some years ago, the first sentence mentioned that it would probably sound crackpot to many people.

I then went through some activity that took place in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina where the military had become the police to some degree.

I mean, the military was patrolling the streets in military vehicles, wearing military uniforms, and giving people traffic tickets (Will The Military Become The Police?).

I sensed that we had fallen asleep to the dangers our founders warned us about, in terms of the dangers that a military inherently presents to a nation (The Greatest Source Of Power Toxins?).

Especially when it becomes an institution that competes for increasing amounts of tax dollars year in and year out (MOMCOM: A Mean Welfare Queen).

Is the military already the police?

And competes with domestic needs such as infrastructure and health care dollars (Your Health Is Their Number 1 Enemy?!, 2).

Why, in our cultural mindset, is using the military all the time better than using it rarely?

The notion of an increasingly militarized police army is no longer a crackpot idea, now that all the Iraq military equipment is showing up in police vehicle yards around the country.

Then showing up in a neighbourhood near you or me (Interactive Map of Military Arms Sent To Counties in U.S.).

Whatever happened to concern for the good of the people (The Common Good, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)?

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

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NATO: Nanny America Turns Oily

"We had to destroy it in order to save it."

I. Introduction

How did the United States become the Nanny Empire that protects the dirty oil necessary for the destruction of the global climate system and the global ecosystem?

How did the United States become the Nanny Empire that enables, protects, and encourages the minions of Oil-Qaeda, whose business it is to pollute the natural systems that must be healthy and thriving before human civilization can be healthy and thriving?

How did dirty oil become "the lifeblood" of the U.S. economy (The Fleets & Terrorism Follow The Oil), then become the drug used to execute current civilization (Civilization Is Now On Suicide Watch)?

How can a global theatrical tragedy last so long (The Peak of Sanity - 3)?

And why is Nanny America bombing stuff near Erbil, Iraq ?

All this does sound so very World-War-Two-ish after all:

Notice the following quote from a book, published in 1944, commenting on U.S. exceptional propaganda of that time, aptly describing the McTell News generated perception and concept of a "national enemy":

The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the Deity to regenerate our victims, while incidentally capturing their markets; to civilise savage and senile and paranoid peoples, while blundering accidentally into their oil wells.

(As We Go Marching, by John T. Flynn, 1944, page 222). Some experts expect Iraq to "accidentally" become the largest supplier of oil now, since we blundered "accidentally into their oil wells".

(Myth Addiction Is Establishment's LSD - 3). Let's go back to a time before World War I and II when NATO did not exist, and the U.S. was not one of the Nanny States of Oil-Qaeda.

II. Act One

Act One of this theatrical tragedy was the decision of The British Empire to switch from one dirty fossil fuel (coal) to another dirty fossil fuel (oil) to be used in its gunboat diplomacy engines in its Naval Fleet (Viva Egypt - 2, The Universal Smedley - 2).

What made that decision relevant to today's post's title (which includes "NATO" and "Nanny America") is that Britain had plenty of coal under its own land, but the new dirty fossil fuel, oil, was at that time not under the lands of Britain (ibid).

That dirty fossil fuel, oil, was at that time under the lands of the Middle East (ibid).

Therefore, control of the Middle East region became the new Western Foreign Policy (ibid).

III. Act Two

Act Two was World War One --a war among empires:

Before the conflict began, empires ruled the world. The British Empire was at its peak. The Ottoman Empire controlled almost all the Middle East. [The Russian Empire] was run by a czar. The modern ideas of nationalism and owning a passport as we know it today simply did not exist.

By the end of the war, Europe’s power structures had completely changed. The Ottoman Empire broke up, and the Sykes-Picot treaty redrew the Middle East [e.g. Persian Empire] with consequences we deal with today. The Bolsheviks overthrew the czar, and the Soviet Union succeeded the Russian Empire.

(WW I, emphasis added). That oil war, which broke out soon after big oil deposits were discovered in the Middle East, substantially shaped the world today (A Closer Look At MOMCOM's DNA - 2).

IV. Act Three

That oil war also led to Act Three, the rise of the U.S. oil-based Empire:

The fighting essentially annihilated European economies, paving the way for the U.S. to become an economic powerhouse. Yet the U.S. was

MOMCOM becomes OIL Nanny

seen as a political teenager. The idea of turning to the Americans to play a decisive role in a global conflict was unheard of before then.

The war effort shattered traditions of daily life. For the first time in history, women en masse left the home and went to work.

However, when women returned from the factories each day, many did not have husbands to return to.

In Britain, for example, nearly 1.2 million women ages 25 to 34 were still not married by 1921 because so many young men died in battle.

(ibid, emphasis added). Thus, Act Three was the U.S. becoming the main fighting force in the oil wars because of the relevant demise of the empires of that time.

It is also why the recent Ukraine crisis involves NATO and the United States:

When Russia seized Crimea in March, it acquired not just the Crimean landmass but also a maritime zone more than three times its size with the rights to underwater resources potentially worth trillions of dollars.

Russia portrayed the takeover as reclamation of its rightful territory, drawing no attention to the oil and gas rush that had recently been heating up in the Black Sea. But the move also extended Russia’s maritime boundaries, quietly giving Russia dominion over vast oil and gas reserves while dealing a crippling blow to Ukraine’s hopes for energy independence.

Russia did so under an international accord that gives nations sovereignty over areas up to 230 miles from their shorelines. It had tried, unsuccessfully, to gain access to energy resources in the same territory in a pact with Ukraine less than two years earlier.

(The Peak Of The Oil Wars - 10). The NATO Nanny pushed Europe in the wrong direction on that one.

V. Act Four

This NATO vs Russia tension is leading to Act Four, which is the cracking and splitting of the interests of Europe from U.S. interests.

Much of that is a result of Russia being a player as a supplier of oil to Europe.

Gabor Steingart (the publisher of Germany’s leading financial newspaper Handelsblatt) writes:

"In view of the events in Ukraine, the government and many media have switched from level-headed to agitated. The spectrum of opinions has been narrowed to the width of a sniper scope. The politics of escalation does not have a realistic goal – and harms German interests.
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The politics of escalation show that Europe sorely misses a realistic goal. It’s a different thing in the US. Threats and posturing are simply part of the election preparations. When Hillary Clinton compares Putin with Hitler, she does so only to appeal to the Republican vote, i.e. people who do not own a passport. For many of them, Hitler is the only foreigner they know, which is why Adolf Putin is a very welcome fictitious campaign effigy. In this respect, Clinton and Obama have a realistic goal: to appeal to the people, to win elections, to win another Democratic presidency.

Angela Merkel can hardly claim these mitigating circumstances for herself. Geography forces every German Chancellor to be a bit more serious. As neighbors of Russia, as part of the European community bound in destiny, as recipient of energy and supplier of this and that, we Germans have a clearly more vital interest in stability and communication. We cannot afford to look at Russia through the eyes of the American Tea Party.”

(The West On The Wrong Path, emphasis added). One facet of that splitting and cracking is that the Europeans were not willing to join U.S. invasions in recent times.

Germany and Britain have not wanted to get into the bombing of Syria or the new bombing Iraq being done by the dwindling "coalition of the willing."

VI. Conclusion

That is why the U.S. is bombing stuff near Erbil, Iraq on its own (Erbil Oil Conference, The Real Reason The US Is Bombing Iraq, Oil and Erbil).

And why al Maliki is acting out like Karzai had been acting out, before "the ISIS" went all rogue and mavericky to bite the hand that had been feeding it.

NOTE: in this post, the use of the word "oil" can include "natural gas" when appropriate in the context.

The point of this post is to point out a long history of reliance and/or addiction to fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) as well as the consequences for so doing.

A "reliance" that can and has morphed into "addiction" and war in times past.

And still can and does, even to the point of "going nuclear" (Civilization Is Now On Suicide Watch - 2).

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Long Time Gone, by Crosby Stills & Nash (lyrics here):

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