Transcript Lecture Slides (powerpoint)

• THEN CAME HUMANS
The evolution of speech
• Humans uniquely have a complex oral
communication capability based on speech
and speech recognition.
• This trait has allowed our species to rapidly
communicate information without resorting to
genetic selection
• Has speech allowed humans to escape the
Red Queen contraint?
• The biology of speech
The Foxp2 gene – A gene for the
evolution of language?
•
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PQQMQQILQQQVLSPQQLQALLQQQQAVMLQQQQLQEFYKKQQEQLHLQL
LQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQHPGKQ
AKE
QQQQQQQQQQLAAQQLVFQQQLLQMQQLQQQQHLLSLQRQGLISIPPG
QAALPVQSLPQAGLSPAEIQQLWKEVTGV
HSMEDNGIKHGGLDLTTNNSSSTTSS
{N}TSKASPPITHHSIVNGQSSVL{S}
ARRDSSSHEETGASHTLYGH
<GVCKWPGCESICEDFGQFLKHLNNEH>
ALDDRSTAQCRVQMQVVQQLEIQLSKERERLQAMMTHLHMRPSEPKPSPK
PLNLVSSVTMSKNMLETSPQSLPQTPTTPTAPVTPITQGPSVITPASVPN
VGAIRRRHSDKYNIPMSSEIAPNYEFYKNADV
[RPPFTYATLIRQAIMESSDRQLTLNEIYSWFTRTFAYFRRNAATWK
NAVRHNLSLHKCFVRVENVKGAVWTVDEVEYQKRRSQKITGSPTL]
VKNIPTSLGYGAALNASLQAALAESSLPLLSNPGLINNASSGLLQAVHED
LNGSLDHIDSNGNSSPGCSPQPHIHSIHVKEEPVIAEDEDCPMSLVTTAN
HSPELEDDREIEEEPLSEDLE
• FOXP2 (forkhead box P2) is located on
human chromosome 7q31, and its major
splice form encodes a protein of 715 amino
acids belonging to the forkhead class of
transcription factors2.
• It contains a glutamine-rich region consisting
of two adjacent polyglutamine tracts, encoded
by mixtures of CAG and CAA repeats.
• Such repeats are known to have elevated
mutation rates.
• When compared with a collection of 1,880
human–rodent gene pairs5, FOXP2 is
among the 5% most-conserved proteins.
• The evolutionary lineages leading to
humans and mice diverged about 70
million years (Myr) ago.
• Thus, during the roughly 130 Myr of
evolution that separate the common
ancestor of humans and chimpanzees
from the mouse, a single amino-acid
change occurred in the FOXP2 protein.
• The fixation of the Fox2P genes in
humans occurred during the last 200,000
years of human history, that is,
concomitant with or subsequent to the
emergence of anatomically modern
humans.
• This is compatible with a model in which
the expansion of modern humans was
driven by the appearance of a moreproficient spoken language.
The evolution of
KNOWLEDGE Lateral knowledge transfer
1. Individual knowledge
2. Collective knowledge
3. Moral or altruistic knowledge
Humans have massively
altered Earth’s biological and
biogeochemical processes
• The evolution of “economies”, “wealth” and religion
• Fear of death and derivations of new fitness models
based on acquisition of resources rather than
acquisition of survival skills. Wealth provides a
mechanism of ensuring progeny without skills.
The Antropocene
Source: Falkowski 2002 Scientific American
Who Is Using What ?
Size of the Country Shows Relative Proportion of
Indicated Parameter
Population
Fuel
Use
Fuel
Imports
Fuel Use
Increase
http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/index.html
Renewables Share of U.S.
Energy Supply (2004 data)
Solar <1%
Geothermal 5%
Nuclear 8%
Natural Gas 23%
Biomass 47%
Renewable
6%
Petroleum 40%
Coal 23%
Source: Renewable Energy Trends 2004; Energy Information Administration, August 2005.
Note: Total U.S. Energy Supply is 100.278 QBtu; Energy Information Administration, August 2005.
Wind 2%
Hydroelectric 45%
Renewable Energy Sources
SOLAR: 126,000 TW
FUEL (H2)?
GEOTHERMAL: 92,000 TW-YR
GEOTHERMAL: 92,000 TW
Renewable, CO2-free
energy sources …
TIDAL POWER: 0.1 TW
TW-YR
WAVE: 2 TW
TW-YR
WIND: 5 TW-YR
TW
OCEAN THERMAL: 10 TW
TWYR
BIOMASS: 172 TW
TW-YR
WORLD ENERGY DEMAND: 13.5 TW
Thanks to Ben
Hankamer
Areas of Corn, Switchgrass, and Algal
Photobioreactors Required in the US to Displace All
Gasoline or Diesel Consumed
Third
Generation
Algal H2 at 10% Solar
Efficiency to Displace all
US Gasoline
Algal BioDiesel at 2%
Solar Efficiency to
Displace all US Diesel
Corn Grain Ethanol to Displace
all US Gasoline—0.05% solar
efficiency
First
Generation
2006 Corn
Crop
Second
Generation
Cellulosic
Ethanol to
Displace all US
Gasoline—0.5%
solar efficiency
Copyright 2009, Midwest
Research Institute. Created
with U.S. Government funding.
5
Recent
emissions
Trajectory
of
Global
Fossil
Fuel Emissions
0
1850
1900
1950
2000
2050
CO2 Emissions (GtC y-1)
10
9
8
7
Actual emissions: CDIAC
Actual emissions: EIA
450ppm stabilisation
650ppm stabilisation
A1FI
A1B
A1T
A2
B1
B2
50-year
constant
growth rates
2006
2005
to 2050
B1
1.1%,
A1B
1.7%,
A2
1.8%
A1FI 2.4%
Observed
6
2000-2006
3.3%
5
1990
2100
1995
2000
Raupach et al. 2007, PNAS
2005
2010
Changes in Glacier Mass
Oculina kept in pH 7.2
…after 2 months
…after 4 months
Phytoplankton & Climate
Stratified Oceans
Earth is “hard wired” by
mircobial metabolism
Effectively, the metabolism of
Earth was created over 2 billion
years ago - and hasn’t changed
very much.
Humans are effectively, fragile,
inefficient E. coli that have learned
how to plunder the planet
CONCLUSIONS
• THE EARTH IS FUNDAMENTALLY A “BOTTOM UP” SYSTEM IN
WHICH MICROBES HAVE ADAPTED OVER (LITERALLY) BILLIONS
OF YEARS TO MAINTIAN A QUASI-STEADY STATE
• HUMANS, THROUGH EFFICIENT RESOURCE PLUNDER, WILL
MODIFY EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE - BUT MICROBES
WILL EASILY SURVIVE.
• ANIMALS (INCLUDING HUMANS) AND SOME PLANTS ARE
EXTREMELY VULNERABLE TO HUMAN ACTIVITIES - AND MANY
SPECIES PROBABLYWILL GO EXTINCT IN THIS CENTURY.