For those of you out there peeing in your pants over the recent Disney acquisition of Marvel... please, please, think before you rant. Please take into account the fact that Disney almost certainly only wants a cut of the many licesing fees recently raked in by comic book companies licensing out to Hollywood to make movies based on their comics. Please take into account the fact that Disney already owns several edgier, more adult subsidiaries and that they are no strangers to pg-13 and R rated content. People hear "Disney" and they suddenly think Mickey Mouse. It's only common for the unwashed masses to make that simple minded association (that any 5 year old would). PLEASE, I'm begging you! You are Deviants! Keep in mind that Disney also owns Miramax, Touchstone, and Dimension films! (For a list of Disney's assets, see [link]) Do you really think Disney wants to kill a cash cow by capping off Wolverine's claws with fuzzy, pink, bunny sheaths? Seriously, people. Damnit. I'm done.

Some may have already heard about the recent shark-parthogenesis event (A shark reproduced without male fertilization of their eggs). It isn't, by far, the first incidence of a sexually-reproducing species being found to be able to reproduce asexually through parthenogenesis.
Anyone who read my last rant, on the increase of UV radiation increasing the rate of mutation in many species, might see the problem here. This form of asexual reproduction means little to no genetic variation. It has been speculated that this ability to reproduce without a male allows a shark, and other species with this ability, to carry on it's genetic lineage in the midst of a lack of sexual counterparts... in other words, with no way to contribute new combinations of genes to increase the variety in the gene pool, the shark may "opt" (biologically speaking) to simply hold out (genetically) until a mate is available to merge genes with.
From the short list of species known to be able to perform such feats, it seems to me that this is available to species that haven't changed much in millions of years. This could have been an ability picked up to survive ice ages and other mass extinction events. Regaurdless, it proves that A) genetic variation isn't neccesarily the only factor in the survival of a species... sometimes it's a mechanism that works AGAINST genetic variation that can help a species survive... and B) That this very survival mechanism may hinder a species ability to change and evolve.
I won't even begin to speculate that this could have important applications for the human race. It's just a fascinating look into the inner workings of the genetic lineage of life itself on earth.
It seems so logical... so rational... so mechanical... that a species can put it's genes in queue to await processing. Each species seems almost like a different module in an overall program that is earth's genetic pool program. What species will be "printed out" as the final product?
On a completely stupid note, it brings to mind my old ponderings that all of life may exist as a precursor to god... each generation becoming more and more advanced til finally, the last organism is born who is god... in the throws of the universe's destruction... and left in the void of nothingness, he recreates the world anew, exhausting himself to death, but birthing a universe that will complete the cycle anew. It's just mind numbing entertainment to think such whimsical thoughts...

[link]

Oh joyous day! Genetic mutations are excelerating in amphibian species! Their evolution will increase biodiversity and usher in a new era for amphibians! Of coarse, the masochists and self-loathers in society will beat their chests and cry out that humanity is evil, and that we're killing amphibians. Let's just forget our science here. In times of increased genetic mutations, progress occurs within a species. Millions of evolutionary misteps do lead to a high mortality count... but revolutions are bloody, and the advances of tommorow are built upon the foundation of yesterday's dead bodies. Of coarse... we should be wary... lest the amphibians overtake the mammilian lords of the earth... >.>

So I'm pretty sure they'll be selling "I survived hurricane Ike!" T-shirts soon... They already started throwing "Hurricane Ike After-Party"'s. Houston faired okay, minus the annoyances of the absence of modern conveniences (lo and behold, all of today's modern marvels operate on electricity! And many here have no power at all... some are running generators for neccesities, and there is one unconfirmed report of a hamster-driven power device though the source of this report is still under investigation). There's alot of foolish speculating about it being "one of the most devestating storms in this city's history", but the kitten like storm didn't even manage to wipe out my enemies, so I've deemed it a failure. *smokes a corn-cob pipe and looks of finto the distance all squinty-eyed* I stood in the brute lashing rain and endured the gale forced winds. Arrr... she was nary a fledgling.

OMG, I JUST escaped from being held captive by mad aliens with rabies in their spaceship, and THAT's why I haven't updated my journal since... oh... February. >.>
Nothing much to report. Hopefully I'll have something to post someday soon.